$8.9 Billion Proposed For Higher Education

Senate Republicans released an $8.9 billion public schools budget Wednesday that drew a favorable response from Gov. Gary Locke.

The GOP plan, announced by Senate budget Chairman Jim West of Spokane and Education Chairman Harold Hochstatter of Moses Lake, uses a major share of the state’s revenue growth to finance a $600 million boost in aid to education.

The budget would provide these increases:

A 3 percent pay raise for teachers. This would cost taxpayers $202 million. Gov. Locke, a Democrat, has proposed a 2.5 percent salary increase during each year of the two-year budget cycle, at a cost of $248 million.

State matching funds of $75 million for local school construction and repairs, roughly the same as Locke’s budget.

Over $40 million for education-reform grants, primarily for planning days for teachers as they prepare to adopt new curricula and tests aimed to meet “world-class” standards. Locke funds at $70 million.

Money to hire more fourth-grade teachers, to reduce the average class size to 20 pupils per teacher. The state currently funds one teacher for each 21.5 students in this grade. The cost for the new teachers - about 300 statewide - is $25 million. Previous legislative sessions have sought to reduce teacher-pupil ratios in kindergarten through third grade, and lawmakers now hope to extend that effort.

Over $5 million to help launch charter schools. Those are publicly funded, but independently operated schools. Legislation to authorize such schools is moving through both houses and is backed by the governor.

About $29 million for technology grants and $20 million for classroom materials.

Over $600,000 for testing the reading skills of all third-graders. The Senate is pushing a bill that sets a goal of 90 percent of third-graders reading at or above grade level by 2002.

The Senate plan would eliminate “magnet school” funding for five districts, a “complex needs” grant program for 17 districts, the superintendent and principal internship program, the school-to-work project and a ready-to-learn program.

Part of the savings would go into a $6 million block grant that gives each district $31.23 per student to use as the district sees fit.

Locke applauded the Senate’s commitment to education, but noted the differences in money for pay raises and education reform.

Ned Hammond, assistant to the superintendent for the Spokane School District, said the budget does not devote enough money to education reform. Such reforms include tracking students’ progression through a series of tests and rewarding schools that do well.

Currently, about $67 million is spent on learning improvement grants to help familiarize teachers with education reform. The Senate budget would spend only $40 million.

Instead, West opted to spend more money to reduce the size of fourthgrade classes.

“The governor peanut butters (money) across all grades,” West said. “We focus on the younger grades at a point in time when students are starting to develop.”

West said his plan drew “a big sigh of relief” from state School Superintendent Terry Bergeson and other representatives of the education community to whom he gave advance briefings.

“I don’t know what they expected. We have said from the very beginning that education would be our priority,” he said.

West will hold a hearing on the budget next Monday, hoping to move it through the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday and through the full Senate on Wednesday. House Republicans plan to unveil their public schools budget next week.

, DataTimes