December 8, 2011 in News

School officials object to proposed state cuts

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OLYMPIA – School officials from across Washington urged legislators to reject plans to cut four days out of the school year or reduce payments designed to help poor districts keep pace with richer ones.

The Legislature should consider other ways to cut education costs, they said, like state spending per student, teacher bonuses, or eliminating things the state requires but doesn’t pay for.

A key player in the ongoing budget debate floated an idea to stave off the cuts proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire by increasing the state’s property tax levy and spreading it among districts throughout Washington. But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, acknowledged his plan was in its early stages and represents a shift in the way tax rates are currently calculated.

The committee held a “work session” Wednesday on Gregoire’s proposed education cuts, particularly a plan to save $99 million by shortening the current 180-day school year for 2012-’13 by four days, and to save $152 million by reducing a form of state aid to poorer schools districts known as levy equalization. Money for both would be restored if voters approve a half-cent per $1 increase in the state sales tax the governor wants the Legislature to put on the ballot next spring.

Jonathan Johnson, of the Tacoma NAACP’s education committee, called the shorter school year “an equation for failure.” Ben Rarick, executive director of the state Board of Education, said the 180-day standard is part of the definition of basic education, which the state has a constitutional duty to provide, and shouldn’t fall victim to hard economic times.

But Rarick said the state might need to rethink how it handles levy equalization money. Schools use it for transportation costs and many things that are considered basic, but the system was designed to help poor districts.

“How do we define poor?,” he asked. “When three-fourths of districts qualify, one wonders: What’s the definition of poor?”

Some school officials said they could support a lower per-pupil payment from the state, suspending step salary increases or eliminating bonuses rather than cutting school days or reducing levy equalization, which Cathy Gillespie of the Vancouver School District said is designed to reduce “the gap between the haves and have nots.”

Hunter said his change in the property tax system would be a fairer way to collect and distribute money. The state’s levy would increase by $1.17 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, raising about $1 billion statewide. School districts would receive payments to replace all or part of the money they now receive from their property taxes, and their levies would drop. Residents of some districts would pay lower property taxes overall, some would pay the same and some would pay more.

But Republicans said they’d want to hear from one group not present for the session – taxpayers. Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, said Hunter had testimony about schools in the Puget Sound region, Vancouver and Yakima, but “you really did not represent us on the real East Side of the state.”

Hunter agreed, adding he wanted to hear from taxpayers and schools all over the state as he works on the plan, which is not yet drafted into a bill.

Nine comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  westerly on December 08 at 9:54 a.m.

  “The state’s levy would increase by $1.17 per $1,000 of assessed valuation”, about $200 a year increase in your local property taxes.

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  slamdunk on December 08 at 10:13 a.m.

  Once again, do what Idahole did. Eliminate the union, shift tax dollars to private on-line providers. In other words, the repubs can finance their special interest buds on the backs of the taxpayer. This is what thew slobbering idiots in the good ole boy club called the Idaho legislature did.

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  bmjbolt on December 08 at 10:20 a.m.

  The problem I have with these cuts is this - best said in a Representative’s email: ‎”While the governor is seeking to reduce education funding by another $411 million that she would “buy back” through her proposed sales tax increase, SHE HAS YET TO REDUCE THE BUDGETS OF SEVERAL OF HER OWN AGENCIES. For example, the total operating budgets of each of these departments have INCREASED by the following amounts over the previous budget cycle:

  Agriculture - UP 8.2 percent;
  Natural Resources – UP 7.6 percent;
  Ecology - UP 10 percent;
  Parks and Recreation – UP 12.2 percent; and
  Fish and Wildlife – UP 14.8 percent.” (Taken from an email from Rep. Matt Shea)

  So basically - our Governor believes that agriculture, natural resources, ecology, parks & rec and fish & wildlife - while obviously important - she is making them MORE important than educating our kids???!!!! REALLY? Is this what an “Education Governor” looks like to you???? It is the PARAMOUNT CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY to make ample provision for the education of all Washington children. Show us PLEASE where you have cut & trimmed the fat from your government agencies, to show you are keeping education the “paramount duty” of our Washington State Government. We’ve already cut 7-10% to our local school district budgets over the last 3 years. And yet these other agencies budgets are actually increasing 8-14% a year?!!! Doesn’t seem right or moral to me.

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  Auko on December 08 at 10:22 a.m.

  So the value of my home keeps going down..yet the taxes still keep going up. It seems like all we ever do is keep throwing money at the education system.

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  oneanddone on December 08 at 11:03 a.m.

  Slamdunk is exactly right. All you Washington peeps have to do is what Idaho did to us. Have your legislature stick you with an income tax. Voila, all your problems solved.

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  deacon46 on December 08 at 11:18 a.m.

  Education is an investment by the state but like all investments it has to be valued or analyzed against the cost of it. Frankly parents do not pay enough for the state educating their children. I have no children and see very little return on my investment (taxes). Too much out of control costs employing unionized teachers and low grade administration and money spent on “trendy” ideas in how to teach children. Teachers should employed based on their output. Teaching should be 12 month a year activity. On line education is a very good investment and method to teach. Too much time and money goes into baby sitting and trying to educate children who do not want to learn. Ones who are handicapped should be educated but aspiring future hamburger flippers and dead beats should be out working and paying taxes as soon as they fail or become problems.

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  bpackley on December 08 at 12:19 p.m.

  To Bmjbolt and the rest of you:

  Finally!! Someone who get’s it!! Why should all the taxpayers of Washington state pay MORE in property taxes when that thief Gregoire (who has been in office waaaaaaaay too long) keeps raising funding for HER buddy programs! Yet, where is her REAL leadership? She can cut her own salary and perks, cut her staff and office hours, and mandate that all of the rest of the elected officials do the very same thing! But no, tax tax TAX!!! That is ALWAYS the answer! If the government would actually seriously cut their personal budgets and wages and perks, I guarantee you that there would be money in the budget for the schools and other important projects!
  But no, another sad day for Washington residents; your taxes are going up again! And don’t bother coming over to Idaho thinking it is any better here! Ha!! That moron Tom Luna has completely screwed up the state education here!!

  Good luck Washington residents!

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  fhstorey on December 08 at 3:31 p.m.

  At some point, hopefully, we will discern that education reform must be undertaken. Believe it or not, it is happening elsewhere with tangible results. Cutting the class time is a step in absolutely the wrong direction. While I have no doubt the teacher unions will scream to high heaven, the class time needs to be dramatically increased if we want to be competetive with the rest of the world. That class time needs to be led by the most proficient, not those with the most seniority, again an attack if you will on the underlying assumptions of the unions. In such an environment, the more deserving teachers should earn more while the less should seek other employment. Be clear, we need to appreciate the many dedicated teachers but reject underperformance. People like the Friedman Foundation and the Washington Policy Center have studied these issues for years. It is about time we listened.

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  watch22 on December 08 at 5:13 p.m.

  What many voters probably don’t realize is that the school districts and state has had a tremendous INCREASE in educational costs thanks to our state testing. Many districts used to pay a nominal fee for standardized testing, such as Iowa Testing of Basic Skills. Districts would pay for a book that could be used for MANY years to come, a bubble sheet, and a fee for computerized scoring. The WASL, HSPE, MSPE requires each child to have 3-4 testing books PER testing YEAR. Teachers have to be paid to score portions of the exam. The booklets CANNOT be reused. What’s more, teachers, and parents are never allowed to view the materials (unless a special petition is made).

  The tests do NOT inform instruction and are really a tremendous waste of time. The public and private universities HATE the exams and feel that they are not a strong indicator of student performance. These colleges prefer an SAT or ACT score. Many of them don’t CARE about the state results because our state exams are so shakey. Yet, LARGE portions of our educational dollars go toward the exams. Someone is making money off this SHAM of an assessment, and it is NOT assisting in the education of Washington’s children in any clear manner. Ask a teacher about it (when they’re off the clock). Ask students about the exam. Ask a schoool administrator. Ask a college professor. Hopefully, they are willing to be frank about the costs tied to the exam versus the benefit they see for students. It’s quite alarming. The WASL, HSPE, MSPE has been one of the LARGEST WASTES of tax dollars.