Report: State's schools need more cash

By JENNIFER BYRD

The Washington Legislature is grossly undersupporting public schools, an independent report commissioned by the Washington Education Association has found.

The report, conducted by David Conley at the Eugene, Ore.-based Educational Policy Improvement Center, shows that spending in the 2004-05 school year fell $3.45 billion - or $3,613 per student - short of adequately paying for education for the state's approximately 1 million public school students.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said $11.9 billion of state money was spent in the 2003-05 biennium. Including local and federal money, the total amount spent on education in the 2004-05 school year was about $7.7 billion, WEA spokesman Rich Wood said.

The study said that to adequately fund schools in the state for just that year, $11.16 billion should have been spent in state, local and federal dollars.

The 2004-05 data was used because Conley started the study a year ago, before 2005-06 data was available, Wood said.

According to the report, Washington ranked 42nd in the nation in per-student spending in 2004-05. The report lays out a plan that would raise the state to seventh in the nation.

"This study, along with others that have been done ... all indicate that this state is not meeting its paramount duty" to fund public education, WEA President Charles Hasse said.

The report calls for improvements such as full-day kindergarten for all students, class-size reduction in kindergarten through third grade, additional special-education teachers, more professional development for principals and teachers, improved campus security and more counselors and social workers.

When asked about the price tag, Hasse said, "It is a big number, but we shouldn't be afraid of big numbers if we're attempting to provide quality schools in Washington."

Lynn Harsh, chief executive officer of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, said adding more money to the system wouldn't solve the problem.

"It costs money to educate children, there's no question about it," Harsh said. "But there is no concrete evidence that extra spending significantly increases academic performance.

"We need to get serious about finding out where all the leakage in the system is."

Gov. Chris Gregoire and state schools Superintendent Terry Bergeson did not immediately comment on the report.

Gregoire has made education the focus of this year's legislative session. She is seeking improvements suggested by the Washington Learns task force, including full-day kindergarten for more students, more rigorous math and science courses and a stronger commitment to the state's colleges.

Including teacher salary increases of $382 million, $200 million to improve math and science education and class-size reduction grants of $139 million, Gregoire's budget for K-12 hits $12.3 billion for the 2007-09 biennium.

The Network for Excellence in Washington Schools, a coalition of teachers, parents, community groups and school districts, sued the state in January. The group said the state has failed to live up to the constitution, which defines education as the state's paramount duty. WEA is part of that lawsuit.

James Kelly, NEWS vice president and president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, said the report supports the group's claim.

"I told lawmakers this morning that they have an opportunity to affirm the framers of the Constitution by fully funding all schools," Kelly said. "The report gives them a vehicle of how to do that."

Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, chairwoman of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, has sponsored a bill this session that she hopes could improve the education finance model in the state. The current model has not been substantially changed since 1977.

The bill calls for the panel to come up with at least two, but not more than four, options for revising the rest of the K-12 funding structure by Jan. 1, 2008.

"We all know education needs a large investment," McAuliffe said, but added that the funding increases would have to be phased in over several years.

"If we're going to change the way we fund basic education, there are steps we're going to have to take," she said, pointing to the WEA study and others developed for the Washington Learns panel. "We need to study the research we have."