Senate OKs $544 million for K-12 construction
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The Washington state Senate voted unanimously Monday to authorize $544 million in bonds for school construction projects, including $10 million for security upgrades spurred by the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
In addition to Senate Bill 5445, the upper chamber unanimously passed a measure detailing that the school security money go toward panic alarms alerting local law enforcement of emergencies, reducing the number of public entrances to schools and controlling and monitoring those entrances to make it harder for unwelcome parties to get inside.
Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, said he introduced Senate Bill 5197 in response to the December elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 students and teachers dead.
"I wish we lived in a world where our schools were entirely secure and our kids were perfectly safe," Dammeier said. "Sadly, that's not the world we live in. But we can make them safer than they are today."
The measure is in contrast to one introduced last week in the House that would permit school districts to authorize teachers and administrators to carry guns at work. That measure, House Bill 1788, sponsored by Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, has not been scheduled for a hearing in the Democratic-controlled House.
The Senate passed the two measures a day before several school districts, including Seattle, Tacoma and Puyallup, vote on school funding levies of their own.
Traditionally, the Legislature passes a construction bonding measure late in its annual session that covers everything from building upgrades to parkland acquisitions.
Sen. Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, said the push to fund school construction separately from other projects underscores the Republican-dominated Senate majority's focus on funding K-12 education.
"We want to make sure that we're sending a very clear message that it is a priority for us, in both the capital in the operating budget," Litzow said.
Litzow and other Republicans in the Legislature are pushing a "fund education first" agenda that would allocate K-12 dollars separately and in advance of other moneys. With two Democrats joining 23 Republicans to form a one-vote majority in the Senate, the school construction bonding measure's passage on Monday can be seen as part of that broader effort.
In addition to Senate Bill 5445, the upper chamber unanimously passed a measure detailing that the school security money go toward panic alarms alerting local law enforcement of emergencies, reducing the number of public entrances to schools and controlling and monitoring those entrances to make it harder for unwelcome parties to get inside.
Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, said he introduced Senate Bill 5197 in response to the December elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 students and teachers dead.
"I wish we lived in a world where our schools were entirely secure and our kids were perfectly safe," Dammeier said. "Sadly, that's not the world we live in. But we can make them safer than they are today."
The measure is in contrast to one introduced last week in the House that would permit school districts to authorize teachers and administrators to carry guns at work. That measure, House Bill 1788, sponsored by Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, has not been scheduled for a hearing in the Democratic-controlled House.
The Senate passed the two measures a day before several school districts, including Seattle, Tacoma and Puyallup, vote on school funding levies of their own.
Traditionally, the Legislature passes a construction bonding measure late in its annual session that covers everything from building upgrades to parkland acquisitions.
Sen. Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, said the push to fund school construction separately from other projects underscores the Republican-dominated Senate majority's focus on funding K-12 education.
"We want to make sure that we're sending a very clear message that it is a priority for us, in both the capital in the operating budget," Litzow said.
Litzow and other Republicans in the Legislature are pushing a "fund education first" agenda that would allocate K-12 dollars separately and in advance of other moneys. With two Democrats joining 23 Republicans to form a one-vote majority in the Senate, the school construction bonding measure's passage on Monday can be seen as part of that broader effort.
It's about time. Â We have needed to invest a ton of money into our schools for many, many years. Â Our schools need to be the shining beacon of our communities. Â They need to be the place where children want to learn because it's cool to be smart. Â They need to feel it is the place to be. Â Schools all over have all sorts of after school activities and providing a safe atmosphere only makes things better. Â The whole community will benefit. Â I like going to my local high schools plays, sports games, and the other community functions. Â This is truly a step in the right direction. Â It's only going to make things better.
Funny to hear all the negative comments by people who have never spent a day in a classroom teaching 30-150 kids a day. The generalizations and stereotypes are laughable. So funny to hear the virgins talk about sex..
Not sure why we need more money for schools when we have schools closing down in the State.
i am all for new schools when the structure is failing. however, i am NOT for all new furniture when the "old" furniture will suffice. wasted money down the drain. those of us reading here do not replace functional furntiure no matter how outdated it is if we are on a budget/ because is our money.  the money Olympia has is not theirs, it is ours. how very easy to spend someone else's money when one does not have the tough budget to handle.Â
30 years ago, John Spellman (R) was governor and passed the State lottery which was created 'with revenues to go solely to schools and education'. He was the last Republican Governor in our state.
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Shortly thereafter , he was voted out and the liberals have ruled ever since. The lotteries' funds then went into the slush fund and have been happily ever after spent on anything but schools and education (WEA compensation excluded).
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And so it goes. Year after year, decade after decade... And the voters can't figure it out.
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Yeah, we need Olympia to spend another half a billion $$ of our hard-earned money so our children can spend 12 years in first-rate buildings with wholesome lunches and graduate with barely rudimentary language and math skills, Â What the heck, colleges and universities can bear the cost of expanding their remedial English and math programs for college freshmen (freshpersons?) and sophomores. Â
man, your kids should be genius level by now with all the $$ being thrown around ....
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i'd like to see a tax increase for parents of SPS kids to help pay for this - I've chosen to NOT have kids, you've chosen TO have kids....not my fault.
@SwampThing There seems to be some kind of belief out there that if you can just throw billions at the public schools then they will have all the problems solved. I haven't had kids in school for well over 20 years and still my property taxes are 5 times what they were when I purchased my home. I can't afford their kids education anymore.
 @Jatok  @SwampThing As a parent, I completely agree with each of you. My son goes to private school, and the public school district still gets the funding for him even though we chose to pay for his education elsewhere. The per-student allocation to public schools is several thousand $ higher than what I pay for private school tuition, the public system gets to keep that funding to put towards educating other kids, yet they still cannot compete with all that cash?Â
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It's not the funding, its the system. You can dump all the cash into your VW, but it will never be a Benz.Â
Maybe since the state has decided to fund school construction these levies should just not exist. This sounds very much like double dipping by the school districts and quite frankly I think these levies should not exist at that rate to begin with. The property owners should not have to fund these building projects.
"I wish we lived in a world where our schools were entirely secure and our kids were perfectly safe," Dammeier said. "Sadly, that's not the world we live in. But we can make them safer than they are today."
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Where is this mythical safe place? In the land of unicorns and skittles? There is no place that is safe. None. But we needn't stress over it. Just be cautious. Why don't they react like this to changing the schools completely? Public schools need an overhaul and the politicians are concerned with the minority of mass shootings. sigh. Â
Wasn't Hans Tax and Spend' Dunshee's $1 billion bonds for jobs bill supposed to go to school improvements? How come it's being used to pull pilings from Puget Sound that have been there for 50 years when this isn't a capital project with a 30 year life span?
Might I suggest RADICALLY improving the education "supposedly" going on on the EXISTING schools before alotting non-existent tax payer money for building unneeded and unwarranted new construction? Just a thought...
This spending is absurd, we need to privatize schools....
 @Thedudeabides Teachers union would never go for that then they would actually have to have performance reviews and merit raises....
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