{"id":2318100,"date":"2024-08-02T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T14:02:00","slug":"wa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"WA school leaders make case for more spending despite court-ordered funding bumps &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2318100&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) has launched a new\u200c website advocating for\u2064 increased\u200c state spending on K-12 education, despite current average \u200bexpenditures of $19,000 per student,\u200b which have significantly risen from $10,000 prior to\u200d the landmark McCleary decision. This 2012 State Supreme Court ruling mandated full funding of public schools as per \u2063Washington&#8217;s Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>WASA contends that the\u2063 existing funding formula is inadequate, leading districts to pressure state resources, even with recent increases \u2062and the\u200c lifting \u2063of caps on local levies. Declining enrollment, fading federal pandemic aid,\u2062 and inflation are compounding financial strains on school districts. WASA&#8217;s Executive Director, Joel Aune, emphasizes\u200c a\u200d pervasive financial crisis among districts, with five already\u2062 in deficit\u200b and\u2062 many more projected to face similar issues.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, such as Liv \u200bFinne from the \u2064Washington Policy Center, \u2062argue that funding has \u200bindeed increased significantly,\u200c outpacing inflation, and that the narrative of financial hardship is\u2064 misleading. \u2064They highlight that even though the percentage of the state budget dedicated to K-12\u200c education\u2064 has decreased, the total amount\u200d has\u200c risen dramatically \u200bin real terms. Additionally, the state \u2062is seeing \u2064a decline in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thousands-of-marginalized-students-are-missing-from-virtual-learning\/\" title=\"\u2018Thousands\u2019 Of Marginalized Students Are Missing From Virtual Learning\">public school enrollment<\/a>, further complicating funding challenges, as state money is linked to student numbers. Current student\u200c test\u2062 scores have not shown corresponding improvements despite the increase\u2063 in spending.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">WA school leaders make case for more spending despite court-ordered funding bumps<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1721373\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; The Washington Association of School Administrators launched a new website last month that makes the case for increased state spending on K-12 education, even as the state&rsquo;s public schools now spend $19,000 on average statewide for the education of each student, a dramatic rise over the pre-McCleary level of $10,000 per student.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The state Supreme Court&rsquo;s January 2012&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.wa.gov\/opinions\/pdf\/843627.opn.pdf\"><strong>McCleary decision<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;ordered the state to fully fund K-12 public schools as required by Article IX of the Washington State Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>According to the new website,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.waschoolfunding.org\/\"><strong>waschoolfunding.org<\/strong><\/a>, Washington&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/murphy-ciattarelli-go-head-to-head-in-final-n-j-governor-debate\/\" title=\"Murphy, Ciattarelli go head-to-head in final N.J. governor debate\">school funding formula<\/a> from the McCleary decision is the core issue. In general terms, school districts receive state funding based on the total number of students enrolled in their districts, in accordance with assumed staffing levels. School districts also receive funding from local and federal sources.<\/p>\n<p>For many years, school districts had been using local levy dollars to supplement their state and federal funding. After the McCleary decision, the Legislature responded by significantly increasing state funding while implementing strict caps on levy requests to protect property owners. The Legislature later removed the cap on school levies, allowing school districts to request significantly more local funds despite the recent increases in state money.<\/p>\n<p>So, how does that end up with school districts facing money pressures?<\/p>\n<p>WASA Executive Director Joel Aune described a &ldquo;perfect storm&rdquo; of factors, including declining public school enrollment, the sunsetting of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds that have supported resources, and high inflation that lessens districts&rsquo; purchasing power.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Right now, statewide, school districts are hurting,&rdquo; he told The Center Square in a phone interview. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a school district here or there that is struggling financially, but we have a growing number of school districts that are in dire straits when it comes to financial health and stability of school districts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Five school districts are in the red, and 14 other districts&rsquo; budgets indicate they could face financial trouble in the future, according to a 2023 School Financial Health Indicators&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ospi.k12.wa.us\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-02\/financial_indicators_through_sy2023_for-posting.xlsx\"><strong>report<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.<\/p>\n<p>Aune blames the state, noting that the McCleary decision hasn&rsquo;t resulted in ample funding for schools.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The state has really not stepped up in terms of their obligation to fund schools the last three years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The state Legislature simply hasn&rsquo;t met the mark.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Although Washington&rsquo;s operating budget has increased, the percentage dedicated to funding K-12 education has lagged behind, according to a WASA news release put out about the new website. About 52.4% of the state&rsquo;s general fund budget was dedicated to K-12 education five years ago, the news release said, and now it&rsquo;s down to about 43.1%.<\/p>\n<p>Katy Payne, chief communications officer for OSPI, backed up that assessment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no question that the Legislature made significant progress in funding our public schools in alignment with the&nbsp;McCleary<em>&nbsp;<\/em>decision,&rdquo; she emailed The Center Square. &ldquo;Since that time, however, we have lost significant ground to inflation, and our state is now sending out $1,000 less per student when adjusted for inflation compared to 2019.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Liv Finne, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center think tank, said school funding has increased well beyond inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There appears to be&nbsp;no limit to the greed of Washington state school superintendents,&rdquo; she told The Center Square in an email. &ldquo;Over the last dozen years, school funding has dramatically increased in real, inflation-adjusted dollars.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Finne noted that while school funding has dropped from 51% to 43% of the state budget, the budget itself has doubled in the last 12 years.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, 43% of a much larger total budget is a lot more money than 51% of a smaller budget,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s basically a lie to use this statistic to justify getting more money.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Finne pointed to a 2024&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leg.wa.gov\/Senate\/Committees\/WM\/Documents\/Citizen%27s%20guides\/K12%20Booklet_2024%20Update%20Final.pdf\">report<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;by the state Senate Ways &amp; Means Committee, which, on page 25, shows that total per-student spending from all sources increased from $10,807 in the school year 2012-2013 to $18,354 in the school year 2022-23.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, &ldquo;This represents an increase of approximately 148 percent over this period. The growth rate of total per-student spending exceeds both the Seattle Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Implicit Price Deflator (IPD), which are two commonly used measures of inflation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That increased funding per student is in spite of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ofm.wa.gov\/washington-data-research\/statewide-data\/washington-trends\/budget-drivers\/kindergarten-through-grade-12-k-12-enrollment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>declining enrollment<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;in Washington. State funding is directly tied to the number of students enrolled in public schools.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Washington&rsquo;s K-12 enrollment numbers have dropped by nearly 48,000 students since the 2019-2020 school year, putting the state&rsquo;s total number of students at just under 1.2 million during the current school year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And then there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-testing-shows-just-how-much-shuttering-schools-failed-students\/\" title=\"Federal Testing Shows Just How Much Shuttering Schools Failed Students\">student test scores<\/a>, which have not increased with higher spending.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The nonpartisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy came out with a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsipp.wa.gov\/ReportFile\/1773\/Wsipp_Student-Achievement-and-the-Pandemic-Analysis-of-Test-Scores-Earnings-and-Recovery-Interventions_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>report<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;late last year that found average math and English Language Arts test scores for Washington students were lower in 2022 than average scores before the pandemic, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-insane-school-closure-policies-are-coming-back-to-bite-them\/\" title=\"Dems&#039; Insane School Closure Policies Are Coming Back to Bite Them\">math scores fell<\/a> more than ELA scores. The largest test score declines were among female students, students of color and low-income students.<\/p>\n<p>WASA&rsquo;s contention of chronic underfunding of K-12 education in Washington may be a heavy lift with the general public, but Aune hopes education professionals and other stakeholders, including parents and students, will find the website &ndash; which he described as doing&nbsp;&ldquo;a really nice job of boiling down a pretty complex beast &ndash; school funding &ndash; into bits and pieces that are understandable&rdquo;&nbsp;&ndash; to be a useful resource.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, the whole idea here is to try to educate and inform the broader community, and hopefully motivate and inspire individuals to engage with legislators more than we have in the past,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1721373\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1721373\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington school leaders advocate for increased funding despite recent court-mandated financial boosts (The Center Square) \u2013 Last month, the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) introduced a new website aimed at promoting higher state investment in K-12 education. This comes even as public schools in the state currently allocate an average of $19,000 per student, a significant increase from the pre-McCleary funding level of $10,000 per student. The Washington State Supreme Court&#8217;s McCleary ruling in January 2012 mandated that the state fully finance K-12 public education as outlined in Article IX of the state&#8217;s constitution. According to WASA&#8217;s new site, waschoolfunding.org, issues with Washington\u2019s school funding formula stemming from this decision are central to their argument. Generally, school districts receive state funds based on their total enrollment and expected staffing levels while also obtaining local and federal support. For years prior to McCleary, districts relied on local levy funds to supplement their budgets. In response to the ruling, lawmakers significantly boosted state funding but imposed strict limits on levy requests to protect property owners; these caps were later lifted allowing districts to seek more local funds despite increases in state allocations.<\/p>\n<p>However, many districts are still experiencing financial strain due to several factors identified by WASA Executive Director Joel Aune: declining enrollment numbers in public schools, expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds that had provided additional resources, and high inflation affecting purchasing power. &#8220;Currently across the state, many school districts are struggling financially,&#8221; Aune stated during a phone interview with The Center Square. He noted that five districts are operating at a deficit while 14 others may face future financial difficulties according to a 2023 report by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.<\/p>\n<p>Aune criticized the state&#8217;s commitment post-McCleary: &#8220;The last three years have shown that they haven&#8217;t fulfilled their obligation.&#8221; Although Washington&#8217;s overall budget has grown larger over time, its share allocated for K-12 education has decreased\u2014from about 52.4% five years ago down to approximately 43.1% now.<\/p>\n<p>Katy Payne from OSPI supported this view by stating there has been significant progress since McCleary but acknowledged losses due to inflation resulting in less funding per student compared with previous years.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, Liv Finne from the Washington Policy Center argued that school funding has risen beyond what inflation would suggest is necessary and criticized superintendents for seeking more money despite substantial increases over recent years\u2014pointing out that total spending per student rose dramatically even amid declining enrollment figures.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally highlighted were stagnant test scores among students despite increased spending; reports indicated lower average math and English Language Arts scores compared with pre-pandemic levels\u2014particularly among female students and those from low-income backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>While WASA faces challenges convincing the public about ongoing underfunding claims regarding K-12 education in Washington State , Aune hopes educators and stakeholders will find value in their new website designed as an informative resource aimed at engaging legislators more effectively than before<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2318101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/empty-classroom-photo-scaled-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[36999,33940,36998,36997,32076],"class_list":["post-2318100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-court-ordered-increases","tag-education-funding","tag-funding-debate","tag-wa-school-leaders","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/empty-classroom-photo-scaled-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2318100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2318101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2318100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}