After a few weeks to mull it over, we admit we’re a bit perplexed by the State Supreme Court’s Jan. 5 ruling in McCleary v. State of Washington. In its 7-2 opinion, the court said the state has failed in its constitutional duty to “make ample provision for basic education of all children in Washington.”
Please don’t get us wrong. We know how important basic education is. In fact, we endorsed the Peninsula School District’s Feb. 14 replacement levy.
Indeed, Article IX, Section 1 of the state constitution states: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”
What we don’t quite understand is the court’s proscribed remedy that could cost taxpayers $6 billion to $8 billion more than they are currently paying for K-12 education.
This mandated education spending is problematic on two fronts. First, there’s the ugly reality of the state budget. During its 17-day special session late last year, lawmakers could only make a down payment of $480 million on a $1.4 billion revenue gap. It’s pure fantasy to think they’ll be able to divert $6 billion to $8 billion from existing programs.
Massive tax hikes to pay for what the court wants are highly unlikely as well, given the fact it would take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, or voter approval, to make that a reality.
Second, the court ruling assumes the state is underfunding education. But is it really?
According to the 2011 “A Citizen’s Guide to Washington State K-12 Finance,” prepared by staff of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee: “In the 2009-10 school year, on a statewide basis, school districts spent $10,035 per student.” The bulk of that spending comes from the state but also includes local taxes, federal money and other revenues.
The report goes on to state that total spending per student has increased from $5,608 in 1994 to $9,819 in 2010. That’s an increase of about 75 percent, far outpacing inflation.
If the quality of our state’s public schools can me measured by the amount of money we spend per student, our students should be performing fabulously.
Last year, state officials said high school students continue to do well on statewide tests in reading and writing, and they noted both dropout and graduation rates are improving.
We sincerely hope those trends continue, but we can’t ignore that fact that a significant portion of graduates are not prepared for college or the workforce. Of those who attend college, more than half need to take a remedial course in math or science.
The court seems to be assuming that merely spending more money is the answer to the state’s education woes.
With all due respect to the court, we think that’s a mistake. It’s more important to know where the money we are spending is going — or not going, as the case may be. In other words, we need to know how much money is actually reaching the classroom, and what taxpayers are getting for that investment.
We think it would be a good idea if state officials asked the following questions, among others:
* What programs are funded with the money we spend? What are the outcomes of those programs?
* How does the state determine education funding (Washington state’s annual count versus some other states’ average daily attendance)?
* How many certified employees in school districts are actually teaching in the classroom?
* How much per-pupil spending actually gets to the building where students attend school?
Without question, funding education is critical. Yet instead of throwing of more public money at education — which is hardly feasible, given current fiscal reality — let’s do the hard work and figure out how to more effectively leverage taxpayer dollars we're already spending.
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