In WA, criminals roam our streets. Public schools are failing. The reason is obvious | Opinion

The rain has begun and the holidays are just around the corner, which means it is time start thinking about the 2024 legislative session

I have said it before, but I am going to keep saying it until state leaders take notice: Washington is facing a crisis in terms of funding basic services, particularly public safety and education.

Schools are literally the paramount duty under our state Constitution, and keeping citizens safe is government’s highest calling. Washington is failing in these bedrock areas.

Voters need to demand that Governor Jay Inslee and legislative leaders put fixing our schools and our justice system at the top of their to-do list for the 2024 session.

Beyond the statistics and the headlines, crime and disorder are now issues affecting average people’s everyday lives. I know of companies looking to move their offices and warehouses because police can’t protect them against theft and vandalism. Sports fans now regularly talk about where to safely park and walk to stadiums. The list goes on.

A huge part of the problem is a system that underfunds county government. Counties pay for sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors, public defenders, jails, courts, social workers and community corrections officers for non-violent offenders. It is not an exaggeration to say the county-funded public safety system is falling apart.

Consider these recent revelations:

The King County Jail has historically relied on mandatory overtime to make up for a lack of staff. But now 60% of the county’s corrections officers are medically unable to work overtime, making the staffing crisis even worse.

The lack of jail staff has forced King County to cap their jail population at 25% below pre-COVID levels. Police have complained there is no point in arresting misdemeanor offenders, including drug offenders and those accused of theft, because the jail will just turn them away.

Public defenders are swamped with massive caseloads, while judges face huge delays due to the backlog of pending cases.

At a time when we need more police on the streets, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammier has had to propose a budget with lower staffing numbers for deputies and corrections officers than what was allocated in the 2022-2023 budget. In King County, Executive Dow Constantine has sent a supplemental budget to the County Council that cuts $12.6 million from the county’s general fund — the fund that pays for all public safety programs.

Unlike the state, counties can’t just create new sources of revenue. They are stuck with the system designed by the state — and that system is severely broken.

The same is true for our state’s schools. School districts are funded under a system designed by the state — and it just isn’t working.

This fall, three school districts were forced to sign “binding conditions” agreements with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction because they submitted budgets that were not balanced. Those school districts will now be closely monitored by the state to prevent them from falling into a deeper financial hole.

I have heard from education officials that there are several other districts on the brink of financial trouble. The Seattle School District’s budget is balanced for now, but it faces a $104 million shortfall in the 2024-2025 school year.

No matter how often state officials claim they have fixed our school funding system, the reality of what is actually happening in districts across the state hasn’t changed. Our schools are underfunded and too dependent on levies and bonds, especially for construction and capital projects. The reliance on local funding results in instability and inequity. The quality of a child’s education should not be determined by where they live.

Criminals are on the streets because the courts and jails are overwhelmed.

School districts operating in the red.

If those don’t qualify as public policy emergencies, I’m not sure what would.

Governor Jay Inslee and state Legislators should not dare to call these local problems that need to be addressed by counties and school districts. Under our state Constitution, public education is the paramount duty of the state. And when county governments act to protect public safety, they act in the name of the State of Washington.

There are ways to address these crises, but first lawmakers need to care enough to put them at the top of the agenda.

Voters should demand they do that when they return to Olympia in January.