Questions crop up regularly about the funding needs and sources of the North Kitsap School District (NKSD). Since the state is the major source for its dollars, I want to add my perspectives on recent efforts and changes that have been made by the state to give our schools the resources and flexibility they need to succeed.

During the current biennium (July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2009), the Legislature increased the state investment in school funding from the prior biennium by around $1.8 billion. However, local districts and citizens who support public education point out that, even so, Washington has not done enough for public schools and despite this increase, our state’s per student assistance is in the mid-range among states. As one who has wrestled with school funding policy for several decades, I recognize that many school districts are struggling with rising salaries, pension, fuel and other costs. To add to the challenge at NKSD and elsewhere, there are rising expectations and demands about student performance and overall school results, as seen both in federal and state laws as well as local board decisions.

All this led me to urge my Senate and House colleagues (late in 2006) to get on with the task of redesigning and updating our Basic Education Act (which determines how most state education dollars are distributed). We did so last year (2007) when we passed a bill (which I co-sponsored) directing a task force to recommend specific changes that will overhaul and update the out-of-date current law, which has been on the books about 30 years. The task force’s final report is due in December. I anticipate we will see major recommendations for changes to the current K-12 finance system in the 2009 Legislative Session. This will most likely include major changes to how teacher, support staff and administrator compensation are handled. Fortunately for Kitsap, a prominent local superintendent, Betty Hyde of the Bremerton School District, is an able voice on this task force.

When we wrote the current 07–09 K-12 operating budget, we adjusted the special education funding formula, to provide additional financial assistance to school districts and ensure all students with disabilities receive the services they need. The amount provided for each special education student increased by $73 per year. Additionally, a new safety net category was created by passage of HB 1128, to help districts that, due to high quality programs, are “magnets” to a larger number of students in need of special education services. Finally, the funding we provided increased the rate paid for 3 and 4 year olds receiving special education services, from 93 percent of the basic education allocation to 115 percent.

This year Democratic legislators provided for a partial cost of living adjustment (COLA) to cover the missed COLA in the 2003 – 05 biennium. There have been claims that we failed to cover all state-funded programs. That is untrue. The Legislature did provide funding for COLAs for the state funded positions in special education, bilingual, and all other state programs, in addition to the “basic education” program. With respect to I-728 funds, the $450 per student allocation was adjusted upward by an inflation factor, and this adjustment presumably would provide most of the needed increase to allow COLAs for staff funded from this source.

An additional point: This distribution, like most state funding, is for allocation purposes. That means there is some flexibility, for example, for the amounts provided for administrator salary increases, which potentially allows school districts to mitigate the demand on local levies and federal funds for comparable increases for positions not funded by state dollars. To do so, the districts could provide less than the amounts authorized by the Legislature, or spend them differently than how they were allocated. This is a limited flexibility, to be sure, but one that districts value and can make use of if they choose.

Another chronic issue for NKSD and other districts across the state is funding for school transportation, which is driven by a separate funding formula. Two years ago, the non-partisan Joint (i.e., House and Senate) Legislative Audit & Review Committee (which I have the honor to chair) documented the failure of the present state school transportation formula to address the full costs of districts for transportation services.

Using this data, I made it my priority to change the formula. My goal was to end the use of “as the crow flies” data for mileage used to determine state aid, and instead move to a formula based on “as the bus drives,” taking into account route safety and efficiency. I was a prime sponsor of 2SSB 5114 which passed in the 2007 session. It directs the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Office of Financial Management plus an advisory team of local experts to rewrite the transportation formula and recommend at least two revised formulas for Legislative consideration in 2009.

Without waiting on a new formula, however, I was able to persuade my colleagues on the Ways & Means Committee and in the House to beef up our transportation funding state-wide by $25 million. For NKSD, this resulted in approximately $190,000 (in addition to normal transportation allocations from the state) for the current biennium. While this has been welcomed, we all realize that the recent run-up in diesel costs is hammering local districts, so I intend to continue to advocate for significant increases in state support in the next budget cycle (09 – 11).

I believe the investment made in our children’s education is the most important thing we can do for their future self-sufficiency and for our overall well-being as a state and nation. It is no doubt why our state’s Constitution makes it the paramount duty of the state to “make ample provision” for the common schools. The standard is evolving and we have to continue to change to meet it, and it’s now urgent for us to step up our commitment to our students and schools.