Educators push for better funding

OLYMPIA – The state must do a better job of financing education, representatives from five of the state’s largest education groups said Thursday, as they called for lawmakers to beef up support for the state’s 1 million public school students.

Officials with the education groups – which included the Washington Association of School Administrators and the Public School Employees of Washington – said the state is not living up to its constitutional obligation to fully finance basic public education.

The state’s expected $1.9 billion surplus and prosperous economy present a “historic opportunity” to ease the current crisis and develop a long-term plan based on student needs, said Charles Hasse, president of the Washington Education Association.

Washington is currently near the bottom in the nation in contributions made by the state per student, Hasse said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, has made education a top priority for the upcoming session. She has proposed an expansion of early childhood education, a move to full-day kindergarten for more children and efforts to help students pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Education makes up more than half of new spending in the governor’s budget plan.

Leaders of the five groups said they were encouraged by the governor’s budget proposal, but said the Washington Learns commission, whose findings are being used as a springboard for the governor’s agenda, did not address ways to best provide stable educational funding in the state.

Gregoire, who headed the commission, has readily conceded that the commission did not take up school financing and that the job still needs to be done. However, she told a legislative forum Wednesday that she doesn’t want to just add more money to the system. She said she’s also looking for more reforms and greater accountability.

Grandview High School Principal Arcella Hall, president of the Association of Washington School Principals, said the current financing plan was developed in the 1970s and does not support today’s education system, which places more emphasis on standards.

“Giving a kid a D for good attendance doesn’t cut it anymore,” she said, adding that all students are expected to reach a certain educational level by a certain grade.

Every student learns at a different rate, so after-school, tutoring and summer school programs need more money, she said.

“Now is the time to make these changes,” said Ted Thomas, president-elect of the Washington State School Directors Association. “This is a funding system that is antiquated and out of date.”