Seattle Schools Community Forum

David Goldstein is a writer (sometimes a funny writer) who has a local liberal blog, Horsesass , plus he writes for The Stranger Slog. He is fond of stats and charts. He put out an interesting thread about funding for schools by county. The charts shows that "red" counties get more money than "blue" counties Meaning, they get to vote conservatively (tending to not vote for school levies and bonds) but they still receive dollars for education that the rest of the more populated counties raise. It's fairly eye-opening. Keep in mind what he says about the chart: And this represents Basic Education only ... no special education or bilingual programs to skew the numbers. In general and on average, it just simply costs the state more to educate children in red counties than it does in the bluer parts of the state. Why? Well, a quick glance at the OSPI data reveals the gross inefficiency of sustaining the many tiny school districts that dot Washington...

Boy, I apologize; I let this fall off my radar. Monday is PTA Focus Day at the State Capitol in Olympia. Here's a link to the WA State webpage with info. There will be a noon rally (with a police escort) to the Capitol steps. Also, here's an e-mail to sent to the Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp, and the Senate Majority Leader, Lisa Brown. (This from Ramona Hattendorf, Government Relations Director, Washington State PTA.) MESSAGE: Dear xxx, Will you help us save our ABCs? Monday is Children's Day at the Capitol. The Parent Teacher Association will be there with our kids rallying on the steps, and we hope you'll take a moment to consider the incredible importance of education to their lives. Our K-12 schools need your support, or we'll lose a generation of learners. (Yes! the cuts are that bad.) We need Basic Education funded. It's paramount. Sincerely, ---- frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov lisa.brown@leg.wa.gov Find your legislators: http://apps....

Dorothy and I attended the Board Work Session on the budget yesterday afternoon/evening. It was not a pretty meeting and not just because of the subject matter (which is grim). Here's a summary first and then some general items of interest in a separate thread (it's way too much to write every question and answer but ask me questions and I'll see if that got covered). Dorothy, you chime in if I heard it wrong or leave something out. The meeting was videotaped so it should be available at some point for viewing. I also can't find the Powerpoint yet so that is to come. UPDATE: here's the link . Summary The budget gap is $36.6 million . Here is the explanation Don Kennedy gave in a staff memo: Our current budget gap, based on the governor’s proposed budget, for next year is $36.6 million. While the impact of her budget to Seattle Public Schools was not as negative as we projected, we nevertheless have a significant budget problem. In addition to the $36.6...

( Update: one important part of the issue that I failed to note in my first post is that the Legislature rarely cuts funding in mid-year . This will happen in Feb. for districts and it leaves them struggling mightily. They will have to dip into reserves - and in SPS's case, possibly the just-passed supplemental levy - to get through the year. Next school year, that's going to be where we see the axe fall.) I am sorry, truly, for the parents who have students in SPS. Not because we don't have some good things happening, we do, but because between the continuing district mismanagement AND the poor economy AND more budget cuts from the Legislature, it is going to likely be a terrible couple of years. I have some links here to recapping what did and didn't happen in the Legislature. One thing that didn't happen is that the state did not take levy equalization away from poorer districts. From the Horsesass blog (a very profane and funny take from a liberal who a...

Here's what may be happening in K-12 funding: Class size reduction for current year eliminated; schools would lose payments mid-year. Federal "Edu jobs" money absorbed into current state budget. HB 3225 summary HB 3225 bill - Both House and Senate Ways and Means committees will meet Saturday morning; members are expected to move to floor around noon. View via TVW Contact your legislator. In addition to millions in administrative reductions, cuts include: $51 million in across-the-board cuts to state universities $39 million to eliminate K-4 class-size enhancement $9.1 million in planned K-12 education reform activities $27.7 million in Basic Health Plan (freezes coverage and lowers enrollment as people drop off the plan) That federal "edu-jobs" money was to keep teachers in classrooms; it will likely get absorbed into the state's General Fund to off-set cuts throughout the system.

Good editoria l on funding education from the Seattle Times. They pointed out what I said right after the election. The good: But the message statewide remains a clarion call for robust, consistent education funding by the state Legislature. It says so in the state constitution and voters do not want to be given that task. Legislators will need a strategic plan around prioritizing and paying for education. RTTT (not so good): Tight state budgets should make federal funding more appealing. The money comes attached to a workable reform agenda that includes many things this state wants to do anyway — for example, raising the level of academic rigor and emphasizing college readiness. Yes but that money is not going to help the day-to-day operations of the district nor is it sustainable. (Also, by the time the next round comes along, I have a hard time believing charters will be voted in and that seems to be the lodestone of RTTT.) Seattle passed their levy. Great but... R-52 ...

From the Governor's proposed budget, the education cuts (chart from Publicola ): Education •Eliminate state funding for the Career and Wage Ladder, a pilot program that provides wage incentives for child care providers to advance their professional development. ($1.5 million) •Eliminate state funding for the Child Care Resource and Referral Network, which will continue toreceive federal funding to operate local referral hot lines and provide training. ($425,000) •Eliminate the kindergarten through 4th grade staffing enhancement, a statewide program that reduces class size in the early grades. ($110.6 million) •Suspend levy equalization assistance, a program that provides extra support to districts with a lower than average property tax base. ($142.9 million) •Suspend the student achievement program, which provides smaller class sizes for students and professional development for teachers. ($78.5 million) •Suspend the state program for gifted education, which affects nea...

From the Times, an article on how all the education parties in the state are going to sit down and hash out this issue of funding. Yawn. Legislature, do something and we'll all believe it. (Get a state income tax going and we'll really believe it.) I don't believe the legislators are all do-nothings on this issue but really, how long is this going to go on? We allegedly have lottery money. In Seattle, we go to the polls every 3 years and ask our voters to fund about 22% of our district's budget. The last time basic education was defined was the late '70s. What more does the Legislature need to know? There seems to be hope: "Rep. Skip Priest, R-Federal Way, has sat around many education reform tables, including Washington Learns and the Basic Education Finance Task Force. "I think it's time we have a sense of urgency about this issue," Priest said after the Quality Education Council held its first meeting at the end of August. Priest b...

Please join the Seattle Council PTSA and Speaker of the House Frank Chopp as we discuss the challenges and possibilities ahead: How do we fund the schools we need and still afford our health and social programs? Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:45 - 8:30 p.m. Catherine Blaine K-8, Cafeteria (In the Magnolia neighborhood) 2550 34th Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98199

I heard this on KOMO-tv and it apparently came off the AP wire; Seattle is joining 29 other districts including Kent, Spokane, and Federal Way to sue the state to demand they pay the full cost of education. The trial starts tomorrow and is supposed to run for 6 weeks. From the AP story: "Attorneys for both sides say the economy will have little or no influence on the outcome of the non-jury trail, scheduled to begin on the first day of the school year for many district and to continue for six weeks of testimony in King County Superior Court before Judge John Erlick. Senior Assistant Attorney General David Stolier said both sides will be arguing its interpretation of a state Supreme Court ruling from more than 30 years ago in Seattle School District v. State that said Washington state must fully pay for its definition of basic education. "In some ways this case is a continuation," Stolier said. " Apparently, 45 out of the 50 states have sued their state governments...