State lawmakers shopping for cash for education
SEATTLE (AP) - Lawmakers are making their holiday school funding wish list and it's a short one: please send cash.
They need the money to give every child free all-day kindergarten, to pay for bus service for about a million school children and to take the pressure off local tax levies that help pay for basic education.
A down payment on all of that will cost at least a billion dollars in the next biennium to answer the Supreme Court's orders to pay for the Legislature's own education reform plans by 2018.
The court's January decision in the so-called McCleary case - that the state is not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to amply pay for basic public education - will shape nearly every action of the Legislature this year and for years to come.
The school funding lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts, education and community groups as well as parents sought to force the government to fulfill its obligations to the state's schools.
In the past decade, education spending has gone from close to 50 percent to just above 40 percent of the state budget, despite the fact that some education spending is protected by the constitution.
With the court decision hanging over them, lawmakers will face an even greater conundrum when they convene in January on how to pay for all those things while trying to fill yet another year of budget deficits.
State lawmakers have in recent years been dealing with large budget deficits, and earlier this year they cut $300 million in state funding.
They'll face another deficit of at least $900 million in January, and the state economic forecasters say yearly deficits should be expected to hang around for the foreseeable future.
A committee of lawmakers has been meeting since summer to discuss their options for responding to the ruling. The Joint Task Force on Education Funding basically has two choices: cut state spending or raise taxes or fees.
The long list of possible cuts include some options that are controversial. Those include cuts to the state higher education system, supervision of all parolees or preschool or health insurance for poor children.
"Most of this stuff is not going to happen. It just doesn't make sense," says Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina and the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
He acknowledged, however, that some of these ideas may end up in early budgets from the Legislature and the governor's office to generate discussion.
Hunter has a few other ideas - like eliminating the three-strikes sentencing rule and releasing enough inmates to close a prison - but none would bring enough money into the state treasury this year to make a dent in the total estimate of at least $4 billion to pay for the reforms required in the McCleary decision.
He said Gov. Chris Gregoire is right: the Legislature isn't going to find a way to fully fund basic education without new tax money.
Another way to potentially bring in more money while solving another of the court's complaints is the "levy swap," which governor-elect Jay Inslee criticized during the campaign as a tax increase.
The plan would replace some local property taxes with a statewide education property tax and essentially take tax money from property rich taxpayers and distribute it to areas with schools in greater need.
As the idea was presented last year by Hunter, the levy swap would likely raise taxes on some homeowners, but it would also make the state property tax system fairer by distributing the cost for education more evenly.
The school finance committee is looking at a number of ways to increase state tax revenue, including increasing the state sales, property or business taxes or eliminating loop holes or starting a state income tax.
Inslee has said he expects an improved economy, combined with more efficient state government would take care of most of the dollars needed to increase education spending.
Hunter said neither of the plans presented by the gubernatorial candidates is going to be enough to solve this year's budget problems. "We've made most of the cuts that you can make. We're facing an environment with very constrained choices," he said.
Meanwhile, Gregoire is deep into her own budget process. She, not the Legislature and not governor-elect Inslee, will write the first draft of the budget for the 2013-15 biennium.
Gregoire's aides said she will address the McCleary question, but how she will do that is still being discussed, said the governor's spokesman Cory Curtis and Ralph Thomas from the state Office of Financial Management.
They need the money to give every child free all-day kindergarten, to pay for bus service for about a million school children and to take the pressure off local tax levies that help pay for basic education.
A down payment on all of that will cost at least a billion dollars in the next biennium to answer the Supreme Court's orders to pay for the Legislature's own education reform plans by 2018.
The court's January decision in the so-called McCleary case - that the state is not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to amply pay for basic public education - will shape nearly every action of the Legislature this year and for years to come.
The school funding lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts, education and community groups as well as parents sought to force the government to fulfill its obligations to the state's schools.
In the past decade, education spending has gone from close to 50 percent to just above 40 percent of the state budget, despite the fact that some education spending is protected by the constitution.
With the court decision hanging over them, lawmakers will face an even greater conundrum when they convene in January on how to pay for all those things while trying to fill yet another year of budget deficits.
State lawmakers have in recent years been dealing with large budget deficits, and earlier this year they cut $300 million in state funding.
They'll face another deficit of at least $900 million in January, and the state economic forecasters say yearly deficits should be expected to hang around for the foreseeable future.
A committee of lawmakers has been meeting since summer to discuss their options for responding to the ruling. The Joint Task Force on Education Funding basically has two choices: cut state spending or raise taxes or fees.
The long list of possible cuts include some options that are controversial. Those include cuts to the state higher education system, supervision of all parolees or preschool or health insurance for poor children.
"Most of this stuff is not going to happen. It just doesn't make sense," says Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina and the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
He acknowledged, however, that some of these ideas may end up in early budgets from the Legislature and the governor's office to generate discussion.
Hunter has a few other ideas - like eliminating the three-strikes sentencing rule and releasing enough inmates to close a prison - but none would bring enough money into the state treasury this year to make a dent in the total estimate of at least $4 billion to pay for the reforms required in the McCleary decision.
He said Gov. Chris Gregoire is right: the Legislature isn't going to find a way to fully fund basic education without new tax money.
Another way to potentially bring in more money while solving another of the court's complaints is the "levy swap," which governor-elect Jay Inslee criticized during the campaign as a tax increase.
The plan would replace some local property taxes with a statewide education property tax and essentially take tax money from property rich taxpayers and distribute it to areas with schools in greater need.
As the idea was presented last year by Hunter, the levy swap would likely raise taxes on some homeowners, but it would also make the state property tax system fairer by distributing the cost for education more evenly.
The school finance committee is looking at a number of ways to increase state tax revenue, including increasing the state sales, property or business taxes or eliminating loop holes or starting a state income tax.
Inslee has said he expects an improved economy, combined with more efficient state government would take care of most of the dollars needed to increase education spending.
Hunter said neither of the plans presented by the gubernatorial candidates is going to be enough to solve this year's budget problems. "We've made most of the cuts that you can make. We're facing an environment with very constrained choices," he said.
Meanwhile, Gregoire is deep into her own budget process. She, not the Legislature and not governor-elect Inslee, will write the first draft of the budget for the 2013-15 biennium.
Gregoire's aides said she will address the McCleary question, but how she will do that is still being discussed, said the governor's spokesman Cory Curtis and Ralph Thomas from the state Office of Financial Management.
 here you go . Stop all day kindergarten,stop giving social services to illegals,stop giving illegals sanctuary so others can get jobs. That will generate more money than raising taxes .
What does it cost to house an inmate in prison/ jail? 40,000 to 70,000 a year? There is so much money wasted in government from top to bottom and yes I'm including you Teacher Unions, they don't care about educating , just getting tenure and milking the system. Why? every year the sheep voters pass levy after levy and yet nothing changes but they keep getting more and more tax payer money, just wait Seattle voters there gonna need more money in 2013. The biggest problem facing the nation is government pension plans across the board, we cannot continue to pay these at the current rate and expect to get our nation on the right fiscal track, city's will go bankrupt just like what's happening in California. You cannot spend more than your taking in year after year and expect taxes to fix it all.Â
@hinterland ah yes typical sheep response. Government employees should work for free with no right to benefits. While high school drop out Boeing workers strike for a fraction of the crap state workers deal with.
Pay now or pay later. For this country to succeed in the world we need the best educated people. If we don't  have the best educated we will be turning over jobs and success to those other countries who can educate the young.Â
Not all need to go to college, we also need vocational training for those who fail to reach college level.
 @rockguy We once had all that and more. The the federal Department of Education came along ,and teachers unions. Since then AMERICAN  teaching system and schools have gone down continuously. There is no discipline in the schools,student are taught their is no punishments for anything,no accountability ,no respect. part of school used to be showing up ON TIME,Dressed in a clean manner,NO Tattoos or piercings,not high,or smoking marijuana. Another words the student was taught to be prepared for a job. Â
@Maynard G Krebbs @rockguy Why do you feel the schools are responsible for the attitudes and dress codes of students? Seems to mee the PARENTS should be responsible for what their kid wears and their attitude toward teachers, homework and the community at large.
I say cut all unnecessary programs and put a reasonable cap on government salaries. Hire someone to keep a close eye on fraudulant government spending (for instance the government officals who use state funds for vacations, electronics, dinners, ect). Deny lawmakers per diem when they are in Special Session, ESPECIALLY if they live within a certain mileage from Olympia. (Here's a story about lawmakers and their per diem: http://www.kxly.com/news/State-Lawmakers-Soaking-Up-Thousands-In-Per-Diem-Pay/-/101270/679952/-/item/1/-/tbk1gn/-/index.html)
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My point is that the government is refusing to look at how much money can be saved within their own offices! They would much rather beg for the money, tax the citizens, and let crooks out of jail before taking money from themselves. Give me a week and I could find our schools some money!
More lotterys, that must be the answer!!
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Sarcasm off.
There is no "shopping" for cash...It's deciding who we're going to take money from and justify it.Â
"The school funding lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts, education and community groups as well as parents sought to force the government to fulfill its obligations to the state's schools." Â Note they include parents so that the others like the teachers unions and employees of the school districts who stand to benefit from said lawsuit, and a lot of those parents are spouses of school employees which also have a special interest in making more money. it is like the employees are running the "company" at the expense of the boss. MORE TAXES MEANS LESS MONEY TO SPEND to keep the country growing.
 @32jim2 Was trying to follow your logic... so if many people involved in the lawsuit have connections to people who work in public education and have an additional vested interest in public education spending... then we would want them to have more money so that they can spend and keep the country growing. Actually historically that is how the gov't has gotten us out of a recession/Depression, by investing in government jobs to get people back to work so that they can contribute to the economy.
Regarding teacher pay, all of that information is public, although it is general knowledge that logically it comprises the largest portion of the state education budget. Teachers in Washington are paid relatively low compared to most states and also have larger class sizes. The issue is our state fully funding education in general which as the decision in the lawsuit concluded, we have not been doing. I do not envy Mr. Hunter or his colleagues with difficult decisions ahead of them, but investing in our children is crucial for all of us.
 @zorazane I tell you what look up your public information. it also has contract days and contract hours. Then do the math . Divide salary by contract day,then divide by contract hours,that is the hourly wage. Don't be surprised if it is more than you make. Don't be surprised if it is more than the local hourly wage either.Â
First the state better attract more FULL TIME jobs for its citizens so they can have more tax base. We are in this current depression because of part time work. it looks good on paper but now that so many full time jobs turned into part time jobs no one has money to keep the economy going. Extra money keeps the economy going. FULL TIME JOBS FOR A STRONG AMERICA!
how much is spent on teacher pay and benifits for their part time job at full time pay ie 180 days of work 3 months off in the summer and very holiday ever created, half days teach days ect
 @armor Get over this kind of reply... it's getting so old. Yep, you're right - teachers make soooo much money for working part time and they have that whole three months off. Please.
 @skm what other job gets 3 months off and every holiday off?
 @skm proved my point they are over paid
 @armor  @skm Here's the insulting part: "working part time", "3 months off", "70-80 k a year"... really, it's not even worth my time to reply, as it will fall on deaf ears. Oh well, we're all entitled to our own opinions.
 @skm 70-80 k is a little i guess to you
 @armor First off, why don't you stop complaining and go get a teaching degree if you think we have it so well. Second, do you want baby sitting or quality education? As an educator I have always said we should have year round school. No one wants to pay for it but everyone wants to blame the teachers. Enough already. When almost 60% of the state budget is spent on something other than educating kids there is a problem. Of the slightly over 40% that is spent on education, not all of it pays for teachers salaries. There are so many unfunded mandates that lawyers and "the people" have passed on to the schools, that you have to pay for huge administration costs to make sure the local school district does not get sued. You get what you pay for. We the people have created this mess and we will either buck up and pay to fix it or continue to sit around and complain. Personally, I would like to see our kids get the best education system in the United States.
 @RomeIsBurning  @armor Then get rid of the federal department of Education,the teachers union,and things will get better. Until then get used to more unfunded federal mandates.
 @RomeIsBurning like a teach degree is so hard to get stop bitchingÂ
 @armor Too bad that you didn't learn to write a coherent sentence with all that edumacation.
 @RomeIsBurning well i have a business degree from the university of washington which is not an easy degree as you would no if you could get in, no i did not get the 70-to 80 k from fox news just what teachers are getting paid in seattle, redmond, tacoma, kirkland ect. remember teachers pay is public record. so nice try and that does not include benifits.Â
I'm not bitching, but I am enjoying my 4 day weekend. You could to. Just go and spend the money for the 4 year degree, then get a job and pay out of your own pocket the same amount of money you just spent to get your "easy" degree within the first 5 years of your "$70-$80K a year job" just to keep your job. Oh that's right your figures which must come for "Fair and balanced" news sources are incorrect. No teacher is making $70-$80K a year with just their teaching salary. If you are including our medical benefits to reach that number than don't worry because within two years I predict our legislature will cancel our health care benefits and put us on the  Obamacare system that I am sure you hate (As do I),  but at least you won't be able to complain anymore about our lucrative lifestyles.Â
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Again, the problem is priorities, not educators. If you want to know this for yourself, then go get a teaching degree and test it for yourself.Â
 @RomeIsBurning we do not have quality education look where we rank.
 @RomeIsBurning  @armor getting paid more will not change the quality of education. replacing the teachers with better ones would BUT the teachers union runs the schools and they won't allow that.
I remember years ago when they asked asked approval to have a lottery in this state that the proceeds would go to education. I remember them even saying that education in Washington would never suffer because the money from the lotto would support it well in the next century. Unfortunately those same politicians couldn;'t keep their sticky fingers out of the lotto cofferes!
funding of schools should  be 100% by the federal government. We can't afford the taxes it will take to fund the teachers unions for the next 50 years. the party's over and the tax money well has run dry.
 @32jim2 where will they get the money
 @armor  @32jim2 That's the nice thing about the Fed. They have a printing press when it comes to getting more money.Â
 @32jim2 You do understand the federal government is $16,000, 000,000,000 in the hole.
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http://www.usdebtclock.org/
 @al_wa So you think the state should tax us each another $1000 a year to pay for all the schools and charter schools so they can pay the same salary for teachers in elma as they do in seattle? should a teacher get more pay to teach a high schooler than a 5th grader?Â
 @32jim2 The thing with charter schools is that they can also get funding elsewhere not just from being taxes another grand a year. I look forward to seeing what the charter schools can bring to the table.Â
"Most of this stuff is not going to happen. It just doesn't make sense," says Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina and the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee."
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Well, what *is* going to happen? Â It's either cut spending or raise taxes, and there's no way you can raise $900M in new taxes. Â Especially in Seattle, where the school board will ask the people for an additional $695M under BEX 4. Â And we won't even get into the costs of setting up a parallel governing system for charter schools...
"In the past decade, education spending has gone from close to 50 percent to just above 40 percent of the state budget" Must be some kind of "new math"Â Â
In 2007 thru 2009 23.2% was spent on basic education, kindergarten thru K12.   14.9% was spent on higher education. Human services is the highest at 35.8 %
The court made it clear the Legislature has to pay for basic education, before any other state program or financial obligation.
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Source: Citizenâs Guide to the Washington State BUDGET
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Good thing you all voted for charter schools. The same fund to pay for those along with public schools. Nice move, Einsteins.
@jelisized Maybe the charter schools will give our children a half-ass decent education that they aren't receiving from public schools right now. I don't care where the money goes as long as my child receives an actual education instead of the joke of one he's receiving now.
 @Tattooed_Angel I volunteer at my daughter's school every day and also work around the district. I'm very impressed with her education. You're also allowed to ask for a waiver to move your children to another school if you have a problem with the present one.
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Maybe you're right on one account though. Maybe the previous people who voted to spend more tax dollars from the same education funds should have taken math more seriously. But then again, look at all the other things people vote for here and allow in the forms of fees and taxes. Tolls, corrupt highway project contracts, illegals getting licenses and tax-backed assistance, etc. I'm not sure if that falls under mathematics or common sense. Must be a money tree somewhere.
One loophole that should be looked at is the timber / forest land tax system. Those who choose to export raw logs need to pay for the jobs that they are exporting. Tax raw logs on board feet rather than stumpage estaminets would give a much more accurate number to tax.
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Nice and now the state has forty more schools to fund ..