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Tillicum PTA Resources >> Bellevue School District Statewide Issues
Presented by Dr. Mike Riley: October 8th, 2007 Bellevue School District Statewide Issues
Presented by Dr. Mike Riley: October 8th, 2007 ADEQUACY LAWSUIT
BSD is joining other parties (including the Washington state PTA, Washington Education Association, Seattle Urban League, League of Women VOters, several others) in filing a lawsuit against the state of Washington.
The message to the state: You gave us requirements we have to meet (WASL, No Child Left Behind standards, etc.) but have not delivered the resources (funding) necessary to achive these standards.
Background:
In Washington, the state provides 73% of the funding, a local community provides around 20%, Federal Government provides about 7% (which is usually targeted to specific spending). Communities are capped at how much funding they can provide -- this is a decision that came from courts about thirty years ago. The maximum a community can be asked to provide is 30% of the funding from all other sources (so if state @ 73% + Feds @ 7%, means we can only be approached at 30% x 80%, or about 24% of a district budget). Other states do not have this requirement, freeing districts to go to a local community and provide more funding (levies, special taxes, etc.).
Our state is 4th largest in class size, and 42nd in amount of revenue provided to a district on a per-student basis. It is estimated the funding gap is approximately $2000 per student, meaning the state needs to find an additional $32M -- in a climate where any new tax introductions face serious opposition.
Current Guidance Counsellor to student ratio is about 300 to 1.
Traditionally, the Legislature is fond of addressing education funding through "special projects", which implies a burst of funding and support, and then it is gone .. far different than ongoing support for the districts.
Additionally, there is the issue of any change facing negotiation in state and district contract renewals. Educators are not given adjustments in cost-of-living based on where they live in the state (cost of living raise in Omak is the same as Bellevue). To some degree, this can adversely affect ease of recruiting. When a resource pool is made available to personnel, it becomes the subject of negotiation -- so one district may allocate based on credentials, another based on seniority, another based on special assignments, and so forth.
Status:
Summary judgement did not happen (this summer), in which a judge would have ruled for one of the parties based on an obvious outcome that would not require parties to make their arguments in court. An earlier lawsuit (different parties involved) which was based on challenging Special Education requirements was ruled in favor of the state. Now the lawsuit moves forward, but on a timescale familiar to the legal community (and exceptionally slow to the lay community!).
The State Legislature has formed a task force (and has the Governor's Support) to evaluate the issue and try to move toward a solution. Meanwhile the Court Date (assuming no other delays or setbacks) is currently targeted at March 2009.
More information on this issue is available on the cooperative website:
waschoolexcellence.com.
WEB RESOURCES
• waschoolexcellence.org: Network of Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) - website that details information about the current lawsuit. It provides an area to sign up to get more involved.
• simplybetterschools.org: Campaign to approve 4204, Simple Majority. Lots of information plus you can sign up to get involved with the campaign or contribute financially to it.
• edweek.org: Education Week website which contains information on topics in education from across the nation.
• edweek.org/ew/toc/2007/01/04/index.html: Quality counts report mentioned during the meeting.
• edweek.org/rc/2007/06/07/edcounts.html: Research area of Education Week site. Allows you to chart and compare a wide variety of information about schools across the nation.
• bsd405.org: Bellevue School District website with information about every school in Bellevue.
• wastatepta.org: Washington State PTA website with information on many topics including legislative issues.
If you would like more information about the topics discussed, Dr. Riley graciously invited people to email him. His email address: RileyM@bsd405.org.
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