What's New: Funding WA Schools - What To Know, Updates

Understand the consequences of underfunded K-12 students

What’s New—The latest news and resources

BREAKING NEWS ARCHIVE — Additional Bill Info and Recent News Archive

Local School Levy Feb. 9th Results: Check your County Elections Office.

An alternative viewpoint to legislative reforms in progress (Spring 2009)

· Request to Gov. Gregoire to veto 2261 reforms — WEA Pres. Lindquist, May 1st

· The Wrong Bills at the Wrong Time - WEA

· WEA Legislative Priorities and Our Voice - WEA

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Feb. 04: BREAKING NEWS! Judge John Erlick ruled in NEWS' favor on all elements of our lawsuit against the State of Washington! The court declared the State out of compliance with the Constitution and ordered the State to determine the actual cost of providing an ample education to all K-12 students and to determine a stable and reliable source of funding—the full Ruling doc. Gov. Gregoire’s statement on the ruling. Seattle Times article Feb 4th, SeattleTimes Feb. 5th, King 5 News Feb. 4th, Seattle PI Feb. 4th, The Olympian Feb. 5th, The Columbian Feb 5th. More at Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) Trial .

2010 Regular Session begins January 11th—the budget is the main topic. The session cutoff dates are adopted the first day of the session and will posted here: House bills hearing schedule, and Senate bills schedule.

Jan 14: OSPI School District Data from ‘08-09 now available: specific reports include Funding per Pupil per District (9 pg PDF, avail. as Excel also), Statewide Average Financial Tables and Charts (13 pg PDF) and State Summary School District Financial Reports (42 pg PDF).

Jan. 13: New docs: Gov. Gregoire’s Book II Budget : QEC’s Final Initial ESHB 2261 Report; Supt. Dorn’s 2010 Supplemental Operating Budget proposal;

January ‘10: Verdict expected for Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) Trial, which made a straightforward case: the State has consistently failed to comply with its constitutional mandate to amply fund education for all children—- Seattle Time article.

Dec 28: 41st’s D-Rep. Marcie Maxwell to remain in House (not take Senate seat vacated by Jarret’s move to King Cnty), replaces Hse. Spkr . Chopp as voting member on the QEC—this is good news for ed reform, Maxwell is a terrific asset.

Dec. -: Senators McAuliffe & Oemig travel for Education Listening Tour—lessons learned as K-12 Ed Chairs.

Dec. 10: OSPI Supt. Dorn responds to Gov. Gregoire’s budget.

Dec. 09: Gov. Gregoire proposes supplemental budget to close $2.6 billion shortfall.

Nov. 12: The WA State Supreme Court overturns the King County Superior Court ruling brought 3 years ago by the Federal Way School District — cost-of-living inequity ruled constitutional: education reform lost out in the case.

November: Election results - I-1033 failed with 59% and R-71 passed with 53% of the vote.

Sep13: State Senators McAuliffe and Oemig (both QEC members) want to hear from you as they do a statewide Education Reform Listening Tour: Oct 21 in Northshore; Oct 22 in Federal Way; Oct 28 in Seattle (exact locations and times TBD) – more info at LEV .

Sep: 25: TVW’s On Capitol Hill Quest for Quality: The Debate Over Education Reform and Funding; both video segments are available on TVW (linked from above) following their first airing in September.

Sep. 21: An article in the Seattle Times recapping the status of 2009 ed reform legislation today; a descriptive, factual article on the front page of the Seattle Times regarding consequences of funding.

Aug. 31: NEWS trial over education funding in Washington got underway; NEWS Web site; and a Seattle Times article.

Aug. 20: The first Funding Formula Workgroup meets at the Puget Sound ESD’s Blackriver Training Center —the agenda; the address is 800 Oakesdale Ave SW in Renton; driving directions; meetings are open to the public.

The agenda of the 3rd meeting by the K-12 Funding Formula Workgroup: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/k12funding/

Aug. 27: The Quality Education Council (QEC) hold its first meeting in Olympia. This group will oversee the implementation of ESHB 2261; the webpage at OSPI is www.k12.wa.us/QEC/

Aug. 11: PDF of email from WSPTA offers updates on a #2261 Funding Work Group Meeting scheduled and what's new on the OFM website, including up to date information about school district revenues and expenditures, and new stats on WA students and teachers.

June: Still, OSPI anticipates huge cuts in local school district budgets

Wondering how the 09-11 biennial budget impacts districts? Here are two PDFs of OSPI FY2009-10 budget projections for all 295 districts. One is sorted by district name, the other by enrollment (so you can see how budgets compare across similarly sized districts). I calculated the % difference, as well as the per-pupil loss per district, so any errors in that math are mine. The state summary is at the beginning of the list, and the average and median of the 295 districts are at the end. If you want to compare a certain district to the rest, compare to the median. By Heather Cope, Policy Analyst, League of Education Voters.

Find your OSPI district cuts #s here

May 19th: Governor Gregoire signed ESHB 2261 into law on May 20th. Education advocates, coalition partners and legislators witnessed the Governor sign HB 2261. The bill marks the first major change to the definition of basic education in over 30 years, with much of the work still to be done by the Work Groups created by the bill…especially in the areas of finding an adequate funding source for implementation and the evolution of teacher compensation / career professionalization.

Just prior to signing, it was announced that the Governor exercised her right to veto two bill sections:

Veto 1) The creation of a safety net for gifted education: reason given was that the plan needs more work before it can be put into statute (this section was appended near the end of the bill process, so not too surprising)

Veto 2) The Early Learning component of the bill: Gov wants a proposal brought back next session which would include the option of early learning for all children, not just those in poverty. This veto was an unexpected shock to many who had strongly supported this piece — expect there to be a strong coalition to continue on reinstating this component in the 2010 Session.

April 20th: ESHB 2261 passed out of the House 67 to 31 - the legislature moved on ed reform.

More on Monday April 20th’s passage of 2261 from WSSDA’s Dan Steele’s Report.

Voting ‘Yea’ on 2261 on Apr 20th: Reps. Anderson, Angel, Armstrong, Blake, Carlyle, Clibborn, Cody, Condotta, Dammeier, Darneille, Dickerson, Driscoll, Eddy, Ericks, Ericksen, Finn, Flannigan, Goodman, Grant-Herriot, Haigh, Haler, Herrera, Hinkle, Hudgins, Hunter, Hurst, Jacks, Kagi, Kelley, Kenney, Kessler, Kirby, Liias, Linville, Maxwell, McCoy, Miloscia, Moeller, Morrell, Morris, Nelson, O'Brien, Ormsby, Orwall, Parker, Pedersen, Pettigrew, Priest, Probst, Quall, Roach, Roberts, Rodne, Rolfes, Santos, Simpson, Smith, Springer, Sullivan, Takko, Upthegrove, Wallace, Walsh, Warnick, White, Wood, and Mr. Speaker. Voting ‘Nay’ on 2261 on Apr 20th: Reps. Alexander, Appleton, Bailey, Campbell, Chandler, Chase, Conway, Cox, Crouse, DeBolt, Dunshee, Green, Hasegawa, Hope, Hunt, Johnson, Klippert, Kretz, Kristiansen, McCune, Orcutt, Pearson, Ross, Schmick, Seaquist, Sells, Shea, Short, Taylor, Van De Wege, and Williams

Mon Apr 20th - Legislators are considering one more education reform proposal:

· the Senate version SB 6048 —currently evolving with leadership from Sens. Oemig, McAuliffe and Jarret of the Senate Ed Comm.—leaves the definition of basic education to be done later, depending on when money is available, and how much — it’s still a lot up for grabs, but hopefully less so than previous weeks;

· the Governor is equivocating, hoping the Senate & House will allow her to …..

It’s up to all of us—parents, educators, taxpayers, businesses and community leaders must ensure our lawmakers make the right decision on behalf of children this legislative session!

Thu Apr 16 - Championed by Sens. McAuliffe, Jarret and Oemig, ESSB 2261 passed off the Senate floor today by a vote of 26 to 23 back to the House (now Passed 04/20 by concurrence vote!).

· Response from WEA Pres. Lindquist to PTA Pres. Bay - ““...there would inevitably be issues on which we would not agree.”

· Letter to WEA Pres. Mary Lindquist from WA State PTA Pres. Bay - “...vested interests masquerading as concerned citizens…”.

THE ACTION STILL TO DO NOW

Please tell Governor Gregoire and Senate Majority Leader Brown to pass the strongest education reform bill this session that commits the Legislature to meeting our paramount duty in the State Constitution (and thank House Speaker Chopp for seeing ESHB 2261 through the House (360) 786-7920 or chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov):

Leave-behind note and Issues Overview to give legislators (by LEV / Stand / WA State PTA)

¯ Gov. Gregoire’s office at (360) 902-4111 or send an e-mail.

¯ Senate Majority Leader Brown’s office at (360) 786-7604 or brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov

¯ Sen. Ed. Comm Chair Sen. McAuliffe’s (360) 786-7600 or mcauliffe.rosemary@leg.wa.gov

Now is the time to redefine basic education and adopt systemic reforms and accountability measures.

A strong education reform proposal should include:

· Raising high school graduation requirements to 24 credits to prepare students for their choices;

· Adding a 6th period in the school day so students have time for remediation or can take more math, science & world language classes;

· All-day kindergarten and early learning for at-risk children to improve their school success ;

· The redefinition of Basic Education, the adoption of systemic reforms and accountability measures, and a responsible implementation schedule.

If we do so, we will be able to hold our state lawmakers and ourselves accountable for providing our children the kind of education they need to succeed in good economic times and in bad times. We would also better position Washington State to receive federal stimulus dollars and other funds tied to President Obama’s call for innovation in our public schools.

Thu Apr 16 - Championed by Sens. McAuliffe and Oemig of the Senate Ed Comm., ESSB 2261 passed off the Senate floor today by a vote of 26 to 23 back to the House, hopefully for a concurrence vote to pass it! More on the day from WSSDA’s Dan Steele’s Report.

Commentary from FWS

· Lessons about Reform - Testimony to Senate Education Comm. Hearing March 25th - Barb Billinghurst

· The FWS 2009 Manifesto - Barb Billinghurst & Byron Shutz

· A Call For the WEA to Negotiate - Not Kill - Bills - Barb Billinghurst

· Teachers Should Bring Their WEA to the Negotiating Table - Barb Billinghurst

· Crossing The Line - a provocation; what’s your perspective? Byron Shutz

UPDATE: 2009-11 State Operating Budget - Senate Version

Mon Mar. 30th: New Budget Overview—K-12 Ed on pg 13. All Senate Budget docs here.

Spreadsheet of Senate’s K-12 Operating Budget for 2009-11; explore the worksheet tabs across the bottom, especially the ‘EstimatedDistSD’ tab to see how your school district may be impacted by the stimulus dollars.

Overview of the Senate Democratic Caucus operating budget press conference (TVW) in regards to education; though education was the last cuts by budget writers, each school district still to receive a 2.5—3 % cut:

· K-12 education would be cut by $877 million; 391 million in levy equalization cuts.

· I-732 (teacher COLA) would be suspended; I-728 reduced over 90%.

· K-4 enhancement is cut.

· The Fed stimulus assumed to provide $410 million to backfill K-12 cuts.

· Attempt to restructure historically uneven funding between school districts.

· Higher education hit by substantial cuts up to $513 million. Tuition up 7% at 4-year universities, up 5% at community and technical colleges; an additional $45 million coming in to offset tuition increases.

2009-11 State Operating Budget Still to come: K-12 education being heard at the Ways and Means hearing Tuesday 1:30. On the House side, one public hearing is scheduled for the budget on Tuesday at 3:30.

March 30 WASSDA report by Dan Steele — more specifics of the budget impacts on Districts.

Senate Ed Comm, at the 1:30 pm executive meeting (TVW), voted in favor of passing ESHB 2261 out of the Senate committee (Hse added striker to turn it wholly into HB 2261). All agree much remains to be negotiated top reflect the intent and will of all the stakeholders and legislators.

Thu. Mar. 25: Governor Gregoire wrote legislators regarding current education reform — a comparison by LEV of Gov’s outline to the current bills HB-2261 and SB-6048; the Gov’s letter.

On March 19th: House Ed Appropriations Comm. heard public testimony on Senate bill ESB 6048; docs available to explain and contrast with HB 2261 are Conceptual Overview and Policy Comparisons. Links to the a bills’ legislative page: HB 2261 and SB 6048.

A call for decisive action in: Tacoma News Trib. op-ed, Seattle Times article ; Seattle PI op-ed

March 12th: Ed funding bill HB 2261 passes out of House!

House Bill 2261 passed with a bipartisan vote of 71 to 26 and will move on to the state Senate for consideration. The passage of HB 2261 leapt a huge hurdle for children and schools!

From LEV: Please send a “thank you” message to the four House members, Rep. Pat Sullivan, Rep. Skip Priest, Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Glenn Anderson, who were the architects of HB 2261. The House members worked together to improve HB 2261 to include reforms that children need to succeed in college, job training and the workforce. A major piece was added as an amendment to HB 2261 by Rep. Hunter to strengthen Washington’s high school graduation requirements.

Speak up for education reform at your town hall this week! View the list of Senate and House members who supported or opposed education reform legislation—thank you to yea voters!

March 9th: Ed funding bill SB 6048 passes out of Senate! But with little fanfare — so devoid of substance that some ed funding supporters (and originators) voted against it. Intent is for the much stronger (but still underwhelming) House bill 2261 to push its development to be a true companion bill.

Newest Ed Bills: Substitute Bill (APPE 09), HB 2261 and SB 6048

Keep up interest in transitioning the framework of BEF bills HB 1410 and SB 5444 -

Rep. Ross Hunter’s blog ed legislation progress and BEF Legislator’s Blog and LEV daily blog.

Fast moving legislation in February brought new bills by Rep. Sullivan, HB 2261 and Senator Oemig, SB 6048.

Rebuttals to viewpoints opposing the reform legislation in progress

· The FWS 2009 Manifesto - Barb Billinghurst & Byron Shutz

· WEA Distances Teachers from the Negotiating Table - Barb Billinghurst

· Teachers Should Bring Their WEA to the Negotiating Table - Barb Billinghurst

· Crossing The Line - a provocation; what’s your perspective? Byron Shutz

· A Rebuttal to WEA statements on HB1410 / SB544 - John Stokes.

· An Open Letter to Teachers from Rep. Ross Hunter - Feb. 15, 2009 (bill sponsor, BEFJTF member).

· Sen. Jarret’s FAQs on SB 5444 / HB 1410 - Senator Fred Jarret (bill sponsor, BEFJTF member).

· Sup. Kimball’s Note to Staff on Status of Ed Funding - LWSD Sup. Dr. Chip Kimball, Feb. 23, 2009.

· Open Letter to WA State Legislators from Superintendents of King/Pierce/Bainbridge - Jan 28th

The alternative viewpoint to legislative reforms in progress

The Wrong Bills at the Wrong Time - WEA

WEA Legislative Priorities - WEA

Our Voice - WEA

Lawmakers need our state-wide support to push through the reform legislation in progress right now!

· WA’s K-12 Portion of the Federal Stimulus Package - latest info in a Feb. 24th PowerPoint.

· State Economic & Revenue Outlook: Early Guidance March 2009 Forecast by Arun Raha, Exec. Dir. WSERFC.

· Talking Points on HB 1410 and SB 5444 - 1-pg overview by League of Education Voters.

· Talking Points on HB 1410 and SB 5444 - 6-pg explanations; by Barb Billinghurst.

March 12th: Ed funding bill HB 2261 passes out of House!

House Bill 2261 passed with a bipartisan vote of 71 to 26 and will move on to the state Senate for consideration. The passage of HB 2261 leapt a huge hurdle for children and schools!

From LEV: Please send a “thank you” message to the four House members, Rep. Pat Sullivan, Rep. Skip Priest, Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Glenn Anderson, who were the architects of HB 2261. The House members worked together to improve HB 2261 to include reforms that children need to succeed in college, job training and the workforce. A major piece in HB 2261 was added as an amendment by Rep. Hunter to strengthen Washington’s high school diploma to ensure students take the courses they need to pursue their dreams after high school.

Speak up for education reform at your town hall this week! View the list of Senate and House members who supported or opposed education reform legislation. Thank your Senator and Representatives for voting YES or let them know why you support education reform.

Jan 14 — Final Report: Basic Education Finance Joint Task Force — Just released final recommendations!