Comprehensive education reform passed last session. That’s great. We have no idea how to pay for it. That’s not great.

When lawmakers are asked how to fund education reform, they often say, “We’ll find the funding. This is too important. We will, because we must.” But it’s more gratifying to focus energy on how to improve education than how to fund it. So we do just that.

No place is this felt more than in Olympia, where you can almost hear the dome whispering education reform. Perhaps it’s an echo of ESHB 2261, that comprehensive once-in-a-generation education reform bill. You must listen closely to hear it, though, because everyone is currently wailing budget crisis. And under the din, heard only by legislators, is another sound … a siren’s song that soothes: “You have an excuse not to act. Do nothing.”

And doing nothing about funding, without question, will run education reform aground.

Many legislators supported ESHB 2261. And why not? It promises needed improvements like smaller class size, all-day kindergarten, extensive learning assistance and timely curriculum updates. It also promises technology, teacher development, help for high-poverty schools and other compelling changes.

All are important. All are expensive, too.

As a result of ESHB 2261, reform activity is frenetic. Working groups are figuring out how to scale enhancements, implement programs, analyze results, and suggest revenue options, and must complete their work before the upcoming session.

For good reason: Our current school funding formulas disappear in September 2011. That may sound distant, but the Legislature meets only once a year, so that deadline feels a lot like tomorrow. And if we miss tomorrow’s deadline, it may be another generation before our next chance.

Now for the real trouble.

Revenue options are either tired or slim. Options like state income tax, sales tax hikes, or increased business taxes are political guillotines. Others, while numerous, simply don’t generate enough revenue.

I’ve been looking over those non-options for months, trying to figure out how to fund education reform. As a school board director and passionate education advocate, it was simply not OK to give up, give in or hope someone else figured it out.

So I vowed to find a solution. When ideas gelled, I asked knowledgeable folks to pick them apart. I incorporated feedback, carved out what didn’t work, and started discussing those ideas with anyone who would listen. The result is a plan to fund education reform … and in a word, the plan works.

It consists of five premises, or tenets, that collectively could fund education reform without a new tax. In fact, the plan decreases property taxes by an average of 60 cents per $1,000 statewide. Best of all, implementing the plan wouldn’t cost our Legislature anything.

Here are the five tenets, in extreme brief:

First, dedicate 50 percent of annual increases in state revenues to K-12 education.

Second, shift the existing 24 percent local-district levy lid to state collection and set every district to 24 percent.

Third, reserve the associated increase in state bonding capacity for the capital improvements ESHB 2261 will require.

Fourth, fund the neediest students first.

Fifth, reform local-district levy lids to 10 percent or $1 per $1000 of assessed value, whichever is more.

I know that’s a lot to take in. You can find details on the plan’s Web site, www.iseminger. com/education.html. You’ll also find links to ask questions, rant, or endorse it. All are welcome.

If education is important to you, tell your legislators about it. E-mail is almost free. If they have a plan that’s better than mine, great – ask them to act on it.

The siren’s song will lure legislators toward inaction this session, and if that occurs, education reform will break apart on the rocks. It’s up to us – you and me – not to let that happen.