House budget heeds school funding court case

The state budget proposal released by House Democrats this morning protects K-12 basic education from further cuts, although it does include additional cuts to other K-12 and higher education programs.

“It’s good that House budget writers are taking to heart the state Supreme Court’s recent McCleary decision, which found the Legislature has failed to make funding basic education the state’s paramount duty,” said Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association. “As early supporters of the school funding court case, we’re encouraged that budget writers are heeding the spirit of the Supreme Court decision. As we’ve said many times, our public schools and students can’t take more cuts.

“We remain concerned that public education in many areas continues to feel the pain of additional cuts in state funding.”

The House budget reduces funding for rural high schools by $11.5 million, which will increase class sizes, and it reduces stipends for National Board Certified Teachers by about 20 percent ($8 million). The budget proposal cuts at least another 3 percent from higher education, which will further limit enrollment and access.

Significantly, the House budget proposal also raises new revenue by eliminating a tax break for large banks – a move WEA has supported for years.

“We hope the House budget represents an end to the large-scale funding cuts our state’s schools and colleges have endured in recent years,” Lindquist said. “As the economy improves, it will be crucial for the Legislature to restore the education funding that has been cut and to begin funding the high-quality education all of our state’s students need and deserve.”

In the past four years, legislators have cut K-12 funding by more than $2.6 billion, including funding for smaller class sizes and teacher salaries. New statistics show Washington has the fourth-most crowded class sizes in the nation, and teacher salaries continue to lose ground compared to other states.