The Funding Formula Technical Working Group met yesterday at the Puget Sound ESD in Renton. (A brief overview of the working group and agenda for yesterday’s meeting here.)
The good news from yesterday’s meeting is that the group is attempting to hit the ground running. Staff to the working group (from the Office of Financial Management and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) made a brief presentation on Washington Learns, the Basic Education Finance Task Force and ESHB 2261, and then jumped right into the prototype model.
Of concern, however, is how easily transparency was getting lost in the discussion. Some group members didn’t seem to understand that the intent of ESHB 2261 is to have a transparent prototype model so all stakeholders can easily understand school and district finance. To be clear, group members were not advocating for the removal of transparency, but they weren’t always mindful of its import. The group also got a bit bogged down in trying to work within the current funding formulae (namely around non-employee related costs).
There was a lot of back-and-forth about whether the prototype should be at the school or district level. At the district level was suggested to help prevent gaming of the system (since additional funding would be provided for schools with larger low-income and ELL student populations). School level advocates worried about schools actually receiving the funds they generate under the prototype if allocations are given at the district level.
Also up for discussion:
- definition of a “school”
- small schools versus rural and remote districts
- percentage of low-income and ELL students considered “average”
- what Materials, Operating Costs and Supplies (MOCS, formerly known as NERCs) allocations should cover
- what percentage of the day is considered teacher prep time
A class size subgroup was created to look at teacher prep time and class size; Shawn Lewis (North Thurston) and Neil Sullivan (Spokane) volunteered.
The Working Group’s next meeting will be Thursday, September 3rd at Highline Community College.
