The Washington Supreme Court’s decision in the McCleary vs. Washington case makes clear that now is the time to move forward with reforms to education funding. The decision validates what parents, students, teachers, and principals have known for a long time–the state is not meeting its duty to fund the basic education every student in Washington is entitled to.

While the League of Education Voters wasn’t a plaintiff in the case, it did file an amicus brief to the court, emphasizing the importance of a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs as lawmakers continue to make cuts to the constitutionally protected basic education.

In its decision, the court recognized that simply passing legislation is not sufficient: The state must follow through. The court noted that the legislature passed legislation to reform the way we fund schools, but in the very next session failed to implement the new law.

In order to ensure that the legislature meets its obligation under the constitution to implement laws that appropriately fund education, the court will retain jurisdiction in the case, keeping an eye on what the legislature does with its promised reforms by 2018, and providing guidance as needed along the way.

Now, with the people and the court watching, it’s time for the legislature to step up and make the tough decisions needed to make the education of our children our state’s highest priority.

For more resources on the decision, check out this blog post.

The Excellent Schools Now coalition (of which we are a member) has released a new vision for our state A+ Washington: A Way Forward for All Students. The vision focuses on bringing the input of a wide range of stakeholders to provide solutions for the challenges that face our education system today. This effort is more valuable than ever, as our state faces a deep recession with more difficult economic times looming. As we note, now is the time to focus on improving education and eliminating opportunity gaps. We know that these investments will yield a skilled, knowledgeable workforce and can help create the jobs that we need to boost our economy.

A+ Washington proposes five strategies to achieve the results we need to create a workforce ready for success:

1. Expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten through 3^rd grade education
2. Provide all students with access to excellent teachers and leaders
3. Position the state’s students for career and college readiness
4. Implement flexible and transformative approaches to K-12 education
5. Develop effective data and accountability systems

The coalition will measure the success of these strategies by tracking specific outcomes. The outcomes include eliminating the opportunity gap between all groups of students and making sure all students enter kindergarten prepared for success. Additionally, because we are focused on students’ futures, outcomes like graduating from high school career and college ready, making sure students are internationally competitive in math and science, and increasing the number of students who achieve post-secondary degrees, like living wage certificates, associate’s degrees, industry certificates, and bachelor’s degrees are important.

A+ Washington came together after a lot of hard work with stakeholders all across education. This is a living document, where the best thinking and balanced feedback from all stakeholders can be continually incorporated.

Read the full, PDF version of the plan here.

Today Governor Gregoire released her “draft” supplemental budget and proposed that the state make major cuts to schools, colleges and universities for the fifth year in a row. The Governor proposes cutting $378 million in state support for schools and $174 million from colleges and universities.

Cutting education jobs is the wrong solution for our ailing economy. This will only make the problem worse.

Already, thousands of good jobs go unfilled because we aren’t educating enough skilled workers. Larger class sizes, fewer courses, and ever-increasing tuition hikes will hurt our students’ chances to contribute to the economy for decades to come.

The Governor’s draft budget proposes increasing class sizes by two students in grades 4-12, and eliminating programs that help struggling students and programs that prepare students for college.

We as citizens must confront deep structural issues that are contributing to today’s economic problems and will slow Washington’s recovery. Our state relies too much on sales taxes. We voters pass conflicting ballot measures that require legislators to fund education, on the one hand, and then I-1053, which prevents lawmakers from fixing our broken tax code, on the other.

We’ll be paying attention and waiting for Gov. Gregoire’s Nov. 17^th proposal. In the meantime, you can learn more about what education cuts would mean to our kids and our state’s future by checking out our edCored series.

This blog post was written by Barb Billinghurst for our edCored series on education funding. Barb is one of LEV’s Key Activists and school finance researcher. If you want to be notified when new content is published in this month-long series, please subscribe to the LEV Blog’s RSS feed or once-a-day email digest.

The 1889 framers of Washington state’s constitution made a promise to future generations when they wrote:

“It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders…”

The constitution has been interpreted by State Court judges in 1978 and 1983 to mean that the state must define and fully fund basic education.  Further, the Court said the state cannot require districts to use local levies to fund basic education.

With such powerful words you would think that state dollars would figure prominently in the funding of K-12 education.   And judging by the length of the red bars below, the state in fact has always funded the lion’s share in the last 19 years.

Source:  Based on data from Table Two:  Ten-Year Comparison of General Fund Revenues and Other Financing Sources per FTE Student in Section One of the State’s School District & ESD Financial Reporting Summary for various fiscal years.

But over time the state share has declined.  Starting out at 78 percent in school year 1991-92, it fell to 65 percent in school year 2009-10.

Does the decline in state share signal a retreat from the state’s obligation to fund basic education?

Yes, since 1994, the state’s contribution to total (from local, state, and federal sources) spending per student steadily lost ground against inflation as measured by the Seattle Consumer Price Index.   To match the purchasing power of its contribution in 1994, the state would have to spend at least $200 more per student in school year 2009-10.

Meanwhile, the local share grew from 15 percent to 20 percent since school year 1991-92.   Local levy funds have become essential to our children’s education.

In fact, superintendents, school board members and even OSPI officials have all testified that, despite state law, local levy dollars fund basic education.

Evidently, this is a practice that has gone on for some time.

As the Washington Association of School Administrators revealed in its 2007 Legislative Report:

Superintendents from districts large and small testified repeatedly that districts are facing a financial crisis primarily because they have to increasingly rely on local levy funding to make up the difference between what the state provides for basic education programs and what it costs to carry them out; to meet the needs for additional programs to bring all students up to state mandated standards; to fulfill collective bargaining agreements for non-state employees; and, to pay for unfunded mandates.

There could be no doubt that if the state properly funded basic education, levies would serve their original and important purpose.   That is, they would provide flexibility for local communities to go beyond the basics to enrich their school programs, experiment and innovate, and tailor programs to local needs.

As cuts in state funding slice deeper, it’s no wonder we read stories of schools offering a stripped-down curriculum, devoid of the many amazing cultural, academic, and athletic experiences that we know have the power to light fires.

Just when we should be broadening our children’s horizons, we are instead narrowing them.   A broken promise leaves our children the lesser for it.

This blog post is part of our edCored series on education funding.

Levy talk is not, for most people, very interesting. That may be about to change. With the upcoming special session focused on filling a nearly $2 billion shortfall, you will start to hear a lot about “LEA.” Typically a fund with broad bipartisan support , it is the largest single item remaining in the state budget that is not protected and will be the center of the upcoming debates about how to close the budget gap.

What is LEA?
When the state’s current approach to paying for our schools was put in place in 1978, the idea was that the state would pay for everything included in the definition of basic education and local levies would be for “enhancements.” The state was to provide an ample and equitable education for all kids, and local levies would be allowed for extras.

The amount a local school district can raise via a local school levy is set as a fixed portion of a school’s operating budget. Currently law allows all districts to collect at least 28% (raised from 24%), with some grandfathered in at higher rates. Local levies are based on property taxes, and thus property values. With the great disparity between property values in different communities, the state established a way to alleviate the fact that well-to-do districts can raise more local money. This program helps school districts with lower property values offer the same level of education as higher-value districts. It is called Local Effort Assistance, or Levy Equalization, and the acronym LEA was born.

There is an equity problem that LEA tries to address. If there was no levy equalization in 2010, a $100,000 home in Republic would have paid over twice the taxes of a $1,000,000 home in Redmond for a 28 percent levy. Why should far poorer taxpayers in a $100,000 house have to pay twice the taxes of a $1,000,000 Bellevue home to get the same local levy for their schools?

Over the years the state has consistently reduced funding for basic education, and local districts have come to rely on local levy dollars to pay for what anyone would consider basic education. The state shirking its responsibility to fund basic education, the disparity between districts and the education they can provide, grows. As the financial crisis hit, the state allowed local districts to raise up to 28% of their operating budget through local levies and base that percentage the budgets they would have had the state fully funded basic education. This put additional pressure on, and raised the importance of, levies and LEA to local districts.

Currently, 240 of the 295 school districts receive some amount of LEA support. This distribution means that virtually every legislative district has a school district that receives LEA money. This reality has protected LEA from any reforms over the years. The result has been that some LEA funds have been inequitably distributed to districts that do not really need it, and in some cases, is more about property tax relief than paying for education.

Some thoughts to consider as the state prepares to reform, and probably cut, LEA.
• The formulas in LEA, for some districts, provides a disincentive to raise local dollars, so LEA is used as property tax relief not just to fund education.
• Washington has the most regressive tax system in the country, where the poorest pay the highest percent of their personal incomes in state and local taxes; levy equalization returns to the poorest areas a portion of the higher tax effort they make.
• Most of the truly property-poor districts have the highest percentages of poor and minority students. These schools have larger class sizes, fewer specialists, counselors, teacher assistants, secretaries and administrators to assist teachers in the classroom.
• Higher teacher turnover is endemic in the poorest school districts. Teachers leave for greater chance at professional success in districts with more funds. This turnover is crippling to school district efforts to provide consistency to their students.

When levies break, someone is going to end up underwater
LEA plays a vital role in leveling the playing field. It also is a political hot potato that has hindered debates and progress on fully funding our schools. The conventional wisdom is that Republican districts receive most of the LEA money. Republicans, in recent times at least, have opposed new money for schools, but fiercely opposed reductions to LEA and have been joined in support for LEA by Democrats. And by allowing the local levy lid to rise, the legislature has driven increases in funding via LEA while pursuing deep cuts everywhere else. The regions, primarily in the Puget Sound, that are willing and able to pay more for schools send a large portion of their property tax dollars to areas of the state that are not supportive of increased revenue for schools. You have legislators who oppose revenue gladly taking LEA dollars and the same time they fight against revenue for all students and the full funding of basic education that our Constitution requires. This creates animosity that will be evident to anyone following the debate on budget cuts that is about to begin. LEA is the largest single source of existing dollars to fill our budget gap; it will be central to the debate.

While the debate will rage over a fund that is supposed to be for the extras, the basics continue to be radically underfunded. Students should not pay the price for the political ineptness of adults. All students in Washington are constitutionally guaranteed an ample and equitable education. While we nibble around the edges of our levy problem, our students are going deeper underwater.

A helpful link-
Here is a quick primer from the state on LEA. The percentages mentioned are not up-to-date, but the basics are still accurate: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/levy/20100827/Levy_Equalization_Primer.pdf

Last night the Senate took amendments on their budget proposal and passed it out of committee.

The Ways and Means Committee adopted a whole passel of amendments including some dealing with the issues we expressed concern over in our summary and testimony earlier this week, specifically changes to ECEAP and the usage of Average Daily Attendance (ADA).

• One amendment fixes/removes the proposed change to ECEAP keeping it at the current per child funding and enrollment level (see here for a more detailed analysis of our concerns with the original proposal which is fixed with this amendment). Senator Murray explained that during their original budget development process ECEAP was the #1 buyback priority for both caucuses and their intention in this proposal was to not only buyback the recommended cuts from the Governor’s budget, but to also expand it a little to add some of children on the waiting list.

• Another amendment removed the move to Average Daily Attendance. In order to offset the loss of the $95 million that the ADA would have saved the amendment also cuts $92 million from the school bus depreciation formula.

Next step: the budget moves to the Senate floor for a vote likely to place on Monday.

Just today, Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-27) along with 47 of her colleagues in the House dropped a bill (HB 2078) to close two specific tax breaks and redirect the funds to reduce class size in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.

The League of Education Voters supports Representative Jinkins and her cosponsors in this effort. According to LEV CEO Chris Korsmo: “Ensuring that Washington’s children are reading by third grade should be one of the highest priorities of this state. I am glad to see that this bill asks the Legislature to decide what our priorities really are. We favor a more balanced approach. And it makes sense to me to ask out-of-state businesses and tourists to pay a fair share so that the children in this state get the best opportunity to start off on the right foot.”

If you will remember, almost all of the class size reduction funds for the early grades were retroactively cut for the current school year during the last two supplemental budgets. And the House’s proposed budget for the 2011-13 biennium, which passed on Saturday, eliminated almost all ($170 million) of the K-3 class size funds, leaving $25 million for targeted class size reductions in high-poverty schools.

The two tax breaks targeted for repeal are: (1) a sales tax break for out-of-state shoppers and (2) a B&O tax deduction for Wall Street banks on interest income over $100  million from first home mortgages. Together, the closure of these two breaks would raise over $160 million – enough to fund K-3 class size reductions in every elementary school across the state.

From what we understand, the Wall Street bank exemption was originally created to help Washington Mutual, but as that institution no longer exists there are no longer any local banks that benefit from the break.

This issue is close to LEV’s heart as one of our core values is the need to have all children reading by the third grade. And the research shows us class size in the early grades can have a significant impact on educational achievement. “A 2007 meta-data analysis of the rigorous research literature on the topic by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) for the Basic Education Finance Task Force found that class size reductions boost test scores in the primary grades but have little effect in middle and high school. Specifically, the class size reductions in kindergarten through second grade were estimated to produce a 6 to 11 percent annual real rate of return on investment.”

Today, the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on three controversial education bills.

LEV’s legislative director, George Scarola, testified in support of Senate Bill 5915 with some concerns. The bill would grant tuition setting authority for four-year institutions beginning in the 2013-14 school year.

LEV is concerned about the impact on students as tuition increases by double-digits. However, we recognize that in the short-term, there are few other options that would allow universities to continue to serve students despite declining state funding. The alternative would be to deny too many students the opportunity to pursue an advanced degree in our state.

The bill would also set some responsible parameters by:

• Establishing a limited time-frame of six years for tuition setting authority;
• Directing the universities to increase financial aid for students to compensate for rising tuition; and
• Setting performance and accountability goals relating to enrollment, transfers and degree production.

Representatives from the business community also testified in support of the bill. A Boeing representative said that “in order to compete, our state, like Boeing, must stay intellectually ahead of our competition.”

Next, George was set to testify on Senate Bill 5914, which would make considerable changes to policies relating to reductions in force, teacher hiring and removal, and teacher compensation and bonuses. However, the last minute introduction of a substitute bill caused some confusion during public testimony. George clarified LEV’s position that we would not support the bill if it tried to make these big changes without adequate stakeholder input and public engagement. See his testimony via TVW below.

The final education bill heard was Senate Bill 5919, which would delay funding of education reforms that the Legislature approved in 2009 in ESHB 2261. Due to time constraints, LEV was not called up to testify, but we oppose the bill because it would remove the Legislature’s commitment to fully funding basic education reforms by 2018.

State senators will hold a public hearing on three controversial bills today at 12:30 pm that could change key parts of our education system.

The first bill on the docket, Senate Bill 5915, would allow four-year universities such as the University of Washington and Western Washington University to set their own tuition beginning in the 2013-14 school year and ending in 2018-19. The bill requires any tuition increase above 11 percent at UW, WSU and WWU and nine percent at the other four-year institutions to be offset by financial assistance to low-income students. Tuition at community and technical colleges would continue to be set by the legislature. LEV is supporting this bill with concerns.

Next up is the Excellent Teachers for Every Student Act by Senators Rodney Tom and Joe Zarelli. The legislation would change policies relating to reductions in force, teacher hiring and removal, and teacher compensation and bonuses. For more information, view an op-ed by the bill’s prime sponsors. LEV supports many of the principles in this bill, however, we will testify in opposition of the bill. With less than three weeks left this legislative session, we are concerned about moving a bill forward that lacks deep stakeholder input and public engagement.

Lastly, Senate Bill 5919 would delay funding of education reforms that the legislature approved in ESHB 2261 in 2009. Additional funding for lower class sizes, pupil transportation and expanded all-day kindergarten was set to begin this fall. The bill would also remove the end date of 2018 for full implementation of the basic education reforms. LEV opposes delaying implementation and removal of the end dates for basic education reforms.

TVW will provide live coverage of the Senate Ways & Means hearing today at 12:30 pm.

Check back later today for an update and links to testimony by LEV’s legislative team in Olympia.

The state’s appeal of the education funding lawsuit is scheduled for a hearing on June 28th in front of the state Supreme Court.

It’s been more than a year since King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick ruled that “state funding [for basic education] is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable” in the McCleary school funding case.

The ruling represented a huge victory for Washington’s school kids and the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS), a group of parents, school districts, unions, and community-based organizations who filed suit against the state of Washington for its failure to meet its paramount duty.

In the meantime, education advocates can watch a live webcast of a “Forum on Educational Investment and Productivity” tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. via TVW. The lead attorney for NEWS, Tom Ahearne, will be one of the two speakers. The forum will also feature Raegen Miller, associate director for educational research for the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Friends, my apologies: The week 6 legislative wrap-up and week 7 preview was one of the casualties of my having fallen down on the job – literally. But I am back and all is well because I have a cast on and the snow is finally beginning to melt down here in ‘SnOly’.

Week 7 In Review
Week 7 featured the “fiscal cut-off” where all bills referred to the fiscal committees had to have a hearing and be passed by the end of the day on Friday. The Senate only has one fiscal committee (Ways and Means) while the House has four – three sub appropriations committees by subject area (education, health and human services, and general government) and one main Ways and Means committee.

Note on process: Generally, only bills with significant fiscal impacts (usually over $50K) have to go through the fiscal committees – usually to one of the sub appropriations committees and then on to Ways and Means. But not always. Sometimes, in the House of Representatives bills with fiscal impacts only have to go through one of the fiscal committees – sometimes they go straight to Ways and Means and sometimes they go through a sub-appropriations committee and then pass on without getting referred to Ways and Means.

Bills that were referred to a fiscal committee but were not passed by Friday are either dead for this year or can be considered later in the session if they are considered Necessary to Implement the Budget (NTIB) – meaning that something in the biennial budget could not go into effect without passage of the bill.

Another fun little note on the process: dead bills are really just sleeping. Because we work in bienniums (two year cycles) all bills that have ‘died’ this session get resurrected at the beginning of next session – and they start from where in the process they died. For example, if your bill died because it got a hearing in a policy committee but was never voted on at the beginning of next session it starts out still waiting for that vote.

So then what? All bills pass to a committee in each chamber called the Rules Committee. The Rules Committees consider ” all bills reported from policy and fiscal committees and determines whether, and in what order, to schedule their consideration on the floor”. Basically, this is the place where bills go to wait….or die. Members of the committee or Leadership ‘pull’ bills out of rules and on to the floor of each chamber for consideration. If the bills pass on the floor they get referred to the other chamber and start the whole process over again but this time under a more condensed timeline.

What is coming up in Week 8

Next Monday, March 7 is the deadline for all bills to pass out of their chamber of origin. That means this week is all about passing bills out of the Rules Committees and off the floors of both chambers. It means a lot of dealing, speeches, and late nights, and it also means working through the weekend. Floor sessions are already scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.

While there are still a number of NTIB bills we are following that have not yet passed out of policy or fiscal committees, here is the current status of some big bills we are following and expect to see action on this week:

• WaKIDS (HB 1510/SB 5427) – both bills waiting in Rules Committees
• High School Math Graduation Assessment (HB  1412) – Rules
• Innovation School Zones (HB 1546) – Rules
• Recognizing Innovative Schools (SB 5726) – Rules
• PASS Dropout Prevention (HB 1599) – Rules
• Alternative Principal Certification (HB 1593) – Rules
• Continuing Education Reforms – work of the QEC (HB 1443) – Rules
• The Launch Year  (Hb 1808/ SB 5616) – both bills in Rules Committees
• P-20 Education Council (HB 1849) – Rules
• School District Levy Base legislation (HB 1815) – Rules

As always, this is not a comprehensive list of bills under consideration (House and Senate) or the complete list of committee hearings this week.

Perhaps in anticipation of the craziness coming in the next couple of weeks, Week 5 turned out to be a relatively quiet one. However, the LEV team was still busy working on our priorities and here were some of the week’s highlights:

• On Tuesday and Friday, LEV’s legislative director, George Scarola, testified in both the House and the Senate against legislation (HB 1607/SB 5511) that would allow districts to apply for waiver to cut up to 3 school days in the 2010-11 school year;
• On Wednesday morning, LEV organized more than 15 people who testified passionately in support of the Senate WaKIDS legislation;

Here is what is coming up in Week 6 (Feb 14-19)

We are getting down to the wire on policy legislation and getting down to business on the fiscal implications of the legislation in play. A little background: This is the last week for policy bills to be introduced, have a hearing, and get passed out of a policy committee. Unless a policy change is required for something proposed in the biennial budget (bills known as ‘necessary to implement the budget’ or NTIB), no more new policy bills can be heard in either chamber after Friday the 18th . Then comes the marathon appropriations and ways and means committee hearings – all bills that have to go through one of the fiscal committees will have to have a hearing and be passed by the the end of the following week on Feb  25th. Bills that don’t meet these deadlines are ‘dead’ until next year when they can come back to life at their present stage in process.

So this is the last week for a number of LEV priorities and some other interesting pieces to see some action taken on them.  Here are some of the bills we are watching or think you might be interested in:

Please note that in the last week before policy cut off things change rapidly and a number committee hearings have not even announced their agendas yet. So, chances are that many of the the dates and times listed below will be different later in the week. See below for the link to the entire weekly schedule if you want to keep your finger on the pulse and if you are a junkie like me you can also subscribe to receive agenda updates from individual committees.

Monday 2/14/11:

• Happy Valentine’s Day

2/15/11: Tuesday

• At 8am, the House Education Appropriations and Oversight committee is hearing two bills about allowing the inclusion of funds for education that have been cut in calculations of a district’s levy base (HBs 1814/1815) and Rep. Haigh’s bill (HB 1849) to create a cradle to career state education council.
• At 1:30pm, the House Education Committee is holding a a big public hearing on one of LEV’s high-priority bills for this session: HB 1609 would add effectiveness, as determined by district evaluation, to district RIF decisions and requires mutual agreement between principal and teacher when making hiring decisions due to displacement.

2/16/11: Wednesday

• At 8am, we are looking forward to a vote during executive session on the Senate WaKIDS legislation (SB 5427) in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education committee.
• At 1:30, the Senate Higher Education committee will hold a public hearing on a bill that restructures the state’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program.

2/17/11: Thursday

• at 3:30pm, Senate Ways and Means is hearing a bundle of bills related to education funding: the Senate’s levy base companions, and the bills to delay 728, 732, and pieces of the updated definition of basic education.

2/18/11: Friday

• Waiting to see the agendas for many hours in two hearings of the House Education Appropriations and Oversight committee.

2/19/11: Saturday

• Beginning at 9am, the House Education Appropriations and Oversight Committee will be holding a marathon day-long hearing and executive session on many of the bills referred to the committee by end of day Friday – all TBD so far. The agenda should be available Friday evening at the latest.

This is by no means a complete list of all the hearings and work sessions on education. If you want more information, I encourage you to scroll through the entire list of committee meetings for the week.

It was a big week for education (cradle to career) at the Legislature this last week with hearings on a wide variety of issues of  critical importance. LEV and friends were out in force to share our support, concerns, and opposition on a lot of bills being discussed. Some of the issues we weighed in on included:

• Delaying pieces of the new definition of basic education (SB 5475) – check out the blog post for more detail and a video of our remarks in opposition;
• Changes to math and science assessment graduation requirements (HB 1412, 1410, 1330, and 1463) – read Kelly Munn’s powerful blog about her experience at this hearing;
• Governor Gregoire’s Department of Education proposal (SB 5639) and making SPI an appointed rather than elected position (SJR 8212 and SN 5522)  – both our Legislative Director George Scarola and our Co-founder Lisa Macfarlane weighed in on these proposals;
• The Senate’s supplemental budget proposal (HB 1086) – on Friday the Senate made some minor changes to the proposal which we summarized earlier in the week and then passed it off the floor in a largely bi-partisan vote with no amendments;
• Expanding the WaKIDS kindergarten transition process (HB 1510) – learn more and hear some of the testimony overwhelmingly in support of one of LEV’s early learning legislative priorities; and
• Making strides with education reforms  (HB 1443) – LEV strongly supports this legislation, especially the adoption of the Common Core standards and the continuation of the principal/teacher evaluation pilot programs.

In addition to the overwhelming number of hearings on education bills, the House committee on Education Appropriations and Oversight held two really interesting work sessions on some of the big, looming questions in education finance: levy equalization (AKA LEA) and K-12 health and pension benefits. I know, I know…but the wonk in me really recommends checking these sessions out.

Here is what is coming up in week 5 (Feb 7-11)

So what is next? Another week featuring a whole mess of education bills and work sessions. Here are the ones we think you might be interested in:

Monday 2/7/11:

• At 1:30pm, the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee is hearing yet another bill (SB 5479) about math and science assessment graduation requirements.
• Also at 1:30pm, the House Higher Education committee will be holding a work session of the Governor’s proposed budget for higher education and tuition setting.

2/8/11: Tuesday

• At 1:30pm, the House Education Committee will be hearing a bunch of interesting bills about increasing flexibility for school districts and encouraging/allowing/recognizing innovation in schools.

2/9/11: Wednesday

• At 8am, the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee will hear the Senate’s WaKIDS companion bill (SB 5427). We’ll be out in force again on this one.
• At 8am, the House Higher Education Committee will hear HB 1795, Representative Carlyle’s Higher Education Opportunity Act in addition to holding a work session on the State Need Grant and other financial aid programs.

2/10/11: Thursday

• At 8am, House Education is hearing a bunch of interesting and disparate bills: on bullying, district reorganization, and rewarding successful dropout prevention.
• At 10am, the House Higher Education Committee is holding a public hearing on HB  1808, Governor Gregoire’s launch year proposal.
• Senate Early Learning & K12 is holding another public hearing on the governor’s Department of Education proposal and on a bill to allow districts to apply to cut up to 3 school days from the year.

2/11/11: Friday

• At 1:30pm, the House Education Committee will hear at least 7 different bills including one addressing the IB diploma and another renaming the “achievement gap” the “educational opportunity gap”.

This is by no means a complete list of all the hearings and work sessions on education. If you want more information, I encourage you to scroll through the entire list of committee meetings for the week.

Week 2

This week was all about the budget, budget, budget. Even after the early action “savings” adopted in the December special session, Washington State still has a huge $500+ million hole in the current fiscal yer (FY11) that has to be dealt with before we can begin addressing the $4.6 billion deficit in the 2011-13 two-year budget.

On Tuesday, the House came out with their proposal for an “early action” savings bill (PSHB 1086) to deal with about $340 of the ($217 million in cuts and $124 in fund transfers). Among other things, the proposal included retroactive cuts of $42 million to K-4 class size and $7m to the highly capable program. (Note: funding for K-4 for the rest of the school year  – Feb through June – was already cut in the special session, this bill proposes to cut the K-4 funding for the part of the school year already completed and for the entire 2010-2011 school year for highly capable). Another bill heard (HB 1251) also included cuts to levy equalization.

LEV testified (in our 90 allotted seconds) against retroactive cuts of any kind to K-4, highly capable, and levy equalization. Late on Wednesday evening, the House Ways and Means committee passed the bill with a few changes: funding for highly capable was restored and $21m in education funding was reduced by permanently moving special education safety net determinations to August instead of June (effectively moving the funding for it into next biennium).

Rep. Bruce Dammeier (R-25) offered an amendment that would prohibit the retroactive cut to K-4 class size funds, but after some lively discussion on the topic the amendment was not adopted. Now the measure moves to the floor of the House where we hear there will be another attempt to protect the K-4 funding.

In other fiscal news, on Monday and Tuesday LEV was invited to present our education budget priorities at Senate Ways and Means hearings on K-12 and higher education, respectively.

At the Senate Early Learning and K12 work session of early learning programs on Wednesday, the Department of Early Learning, OSPI, and Thrive by Five Washington discussed a number of topics including some of LEV’s early learning priorities, including WaKIDS and full-day kindergarten (for more information about WaKids check out former-LEVite Bonnie Beukema’s guest blog on it from earlier this week). This week’s legislative update on early learning from our friends at the United Ways of Washington and the Child Care Resource and Referral Network includes a great summary of the discussion during the work session:

DEL Director Bette Hyde, Thrive by Five CEO Nina Auerbach, and Superintendent Randy Dorn delivered a WaKIDS briefing to members of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education hearing on January 19^th. The three partners advocated for continuation of WaKIDS. Two senators asked about funding full-day kindergarten or ECEAP, suggesting a trade-off was needed due to budget limitations. In response OSPI, DEL, and Thrive leaders all strongly urged legislators to not pit all-day kindergarten against services for children ages birth to five, emphasizing early learning is an education pipeline issue meaning what happens in the early years impacts what happens down the line in K-12 education. They encouraged legislators to hold the course with the current strategy and target those children most in need.

Coming up next week (Jan 24-28)

Mostly, it is another week of work sessions designed to get everyone up to speed on particular policies,  issues, and funding. But there are a couple of interesting sessions and hearings to highlight:

1/24/11: Monday

• At 1:30pm, The Senate Early Learning and K-12 committee is holding a public hearing on a number of bills dealing with math and science graduation assessment requirements (SB 5093, 5227,and 5226). LEV will be there to share our position on the topic.
• Also at 1:30 pm there is a work session in the House Higher Education committee looking at performance and funding in the higher education system (including a review of Complete to Compete and the Governor’s Higher Education Taskforce recommendations.)

1/25/11: Tuesday

• 8am: House Education Appropriations will be doing a work session on early learning funding
• 1:30pm: House education has a work session on high school graduation requirements, Common Core, and the SMARTER balanced assessment

1.26/11: Wednesday

• 8am: a work session on tuition and financial aid and a public hearing in House Higher Education.
• at 1:30 the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development committee will be hearing a couple of bills regarding efficiencies and consolidation.
• 3:30: House Ways and Means will be holding a work session on both the early learning and K-12 budgets. and at the same time the Senate Ways and Means will be doing a dual work session/public hearing on TANF including the state’s child care subsidy program (Working Connections)

1/27/11: Thursday

• 8am: House Education work session on federal programs, LAP and TBIP
• 10am: House Higher Education work session on governance
• 1:30: Senate Early Learning and K-12 work session on prekindergarten (ECEAP), early learning professional development and the prekindergarten workgroup
• 1:30: House Education Appropriations work session on K-12 budget

1/28/11: Friday

• 1:30pm work session in House Education on local financing of schools
• also at 1:30, a variety of groups from the higher education arena (including the Washington Student Assoc) will be commenting at a work session in Senate Higher Education on the Governor’s proposed biennial budget.

This is by no means a complete list of all the hearings and work sessions on education (though it is many of them). If you want more information, I encourage you to scroll through the entire list of committee meetings for the week.

Week 1

And we are off. The Legislative Session began with a gavel bang on Monday and will continue apace until April 24th.  On Tuesday, the Governor gave her State of the State which LEV briefly commented on earlier this week.

Also on Tuesday the 11th, the House Ways and Means committee took testimony on the Governor’s proposal for the dealing with the remainder of the deficit in the current fiscal year. in our testimony, LEV focused on the damaging impacts of retroactively cutting funding for the K-4 class-size enhancement. You can find our testimony near the end of the TVW coverage here.

On Thursday, LEV previewed its 2011 Legislative agenda and testified on both the supplemental and 11-13 operating budget proposals in the House Education Appropriations Committee. We once again highlighted the problem with clawing back K-4 enhancement funds, discussed our concerns about poor funding for early learning and higher ed, and then gave our priorities for funding in K-12:

• K-3 class size,
• phase-in of full-day kindergarten,
• more individualized instruction for struggling students,
• more middle and high school counselors, and
• more challenging math, science, and CTE courses.

Want to listen? check us out here (near the end again).

Today (right now), LEV is presenting at 1:30pm in a House Education committee panel on the “perspectives of educators, parents, and community representatives on the meaning and impact of education reform”. With us will be Dr. Garcia, assistant superintendent of the Federal Way School District. We’ll update the post with video when we have it or you can watch it live here.

Coming up next week (Jan 17-21)

On Monday at 3:30pm, The Senate Ways and Means Committee is holding work session/public hearing on K-12 education in the FY11 and 11-13 operating and capital budget proposals. LEV has been asked to present our point of view on a panel prior to the public hearing.

On Tuesday at 3:30pm, Senate Ways and Means will be holding a work session/public hearing on higher education and LEV will be testifying again at this hearing. The committee’s work session on early learning will come the following week. At the same as the Senate hearing, House Ways and Means will be holding a public hearing on the House version of the FY11 supplemental budget (HB 1086). We will be analyzing the House’s proposal as soon as it is released and then testifying with our comments and concerns during the hearing.

Outside of these hearings, most the of the rest of the week’s education committee meetings are work sessions that educate members and the public about various aspects of education policy. Some highlights that might interest folks include:

1/17/11: Senate Early Learning & K12 – role of state-funded educational agencies

1/18/11: Senate Higher Ed - review of tuition setting authority policy and practice

1/18/11: House Education – 2011 Quality Education Council Report

1/19/11: Senate Early Learning & K12 – early learning overview

1/20/11: House Education – education governance in Washington State

1/21/11: House Early Learning – Work session on TANF and child care

The dye is cast. Agreement under the dome. It’s Saturday morning. I’d rather be home.

The 2nd special session is in motion. HB 3225 lays out the next set of drastic cuts Washington State is making in order to begin to address out $1.1 billion deficit in the current fiscal year, and the $5.5 billion in the next budget cycle.

The $590 million “early action” deal contains significant cuts to education – with more to come since even with the additional $200 million in across- the-board savings that the Governor has already achieved don’t equal the full deficit.

The summary of the cuts to education is below and I have included the huge list of explanations of the cuts even further own below. Looming large: elimination of the K-4 class size enhancement, the clawback from districts of the $208m in federal EduJobs support, and the cuts to our 2-and 4-year colleges and universities.

In our testimony this morning before the House Ways and Means Committee, the League of Education Voters looked at the totality of the budget, cradle to career, and the current crisis – but mostly we looked to the future and what is to come in the next session

The education community is reeling from the breadth and depth of cuts that have come out of early learning, K-12, and higher education already this biennium – over $2.2 billion to date.

We have heard from our friends out there in the districts that these cuts though bad can be absorbed, but only just. But not next year, not next biennium and especially not if we want to make any progress on making real change for our children. Lower class size in the early grades is a cornerstone of the new definition of basic education – and an effective strategy for dealing with our pervasive opportunity gap. The elimination of the K-4 enhancement is a clear step backwards – but what is the next step forwards?

As members of the Early Learning Action Alliance we appreciate the care you [the Legislature] has taken to limit the impacts on our youngest and most vulnerable students.

Most troubling is the continued erosion of support for our institutions of higher education. These cuts will not only deeply hurt the institutions and the students, but most importantly they will compromise our ability to compete in the global market place and our economic recovery.

We are not naive enough to believe these cuts aren’t happening. But our big question is: What next? We want to work with you on answering that question.

Detail of reductions:

Public Schools
OSPI & Statewide Programs
122. REDUCE OSPI STATE OFFICE STAFFING – The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) operating budget is reduced by 6.287 percent for FY 2011.
123. FINANCE REFORM UNDERSPENDS – OSPI’s administrative budget contains funding to research, develop, and to implement a new K 12 funding system. The budget reduction reflects anticipated under expenditures in this area.
124. ELIMINATE OSPI SKILLS CTR DIRECTOR – Funding for the position of Skills Center Director is eliminated, effective March 1, 2011.
125. COLLEGE BOUND OUTREACH – OSPI contracts for outreach services to inform students of the College Bound Scholarship. The budget eliminates the remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
126. ELIMINATE PROJECT CITIZEN – OSPI provides funding for Project Citizen, a program presented by the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Center for Civic Education to promote participation in government by middle school students. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
127. REDUCE HB 3026 STAFFING – Agency staffing was increased in the 2010 Supplemental Budget for added activities of monitoring, training, and school-district compliance reviews with civil rights laws associated with Chapter 240, Laws of 2010 regarding Civil Rights Enforcement. This funding is eliminated, effective March 1, 2011.
128. ELIMINATE PLAN FOR EARLY LEARNING – OSPI’s administrative budget includes funding for Early Learning Plan legislation that directed OSPI and the Department of Early Learning to convene a technical working group and develop a comprehensive plan for a voluntary program of early learning. The Office of Financial Management did not approve the exemption request associated with this item and the budget reduction reflects anticipated under expenditures by OSPI.
129. PESB REDUCTION – The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) operations budget is reduced by 6.287 percent for Fiscal Year 2011.
130. PRO CERT REDUCTION – Funding for the administration of the state’s Professional Certification program is reduced by 6.287 percent for Fiscal Year 2011.
131. TEACHER RECRUITING REDUCTION – Funding for various programs that support attainment of teacher certification or specialized endorsement is reduced by 6.287 percent for Fiscal Year 2011. The programs included are: Recruiting of Diverse Teachers; Alternative Certification Routes, which are teacher training programs that serve as alternatives to traditional teacher preparation programs; the Para Educator Pipeline program, which provides support for para educators earning their teacher certifications; and the Re-Tooling to Teach Math program, which assists current teachers returning to school to earn a math endorsement.
132. ACHIEVEMENT GAP CMTE REDUCTION – Funding to support the work of the Achievement Gap Committee is reduced by 6.287 percent in Fiscal Year 2011.
133. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION REDUCTION – The State Board of Education’s operating budget is reduced by 6.287 percent for Fiscal Year 2011.
134. REDUCE TRAINING (NON-VIOLENCE) – OSPI funding for non violence leadership training is reduced by 6.287 percent for Fiscal Year 2011.
135. NURSING CORPS REDUCTION – OSPI provides funding for nurses stationed at Educational Service Districts to travel to schools to provide staff training and direct care to students. Fiscal Year 2011 program funding is reduced by 6.287 percent.
136. SAFETY CENTER REDUCTION – OSPI’s Safety Center reviews and approves district safety plans, serves as a resource for schools and district when incidents occur, and provides additional technical assistance to districts. Fiscal Year 2011 program funding is reduced by 6.287 percent.
137. SCHOOL SAFETY TRAINING REDUCTION – OSPI contracts with the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission to provide safety training for school district personnel. Fiscal Year 2011 program funding is reduced by 6.287 percent.
138. K-20 NETWORK REDUCTION – OSPI’s administrative budget includes funding for the K 12 portion of the K 20 network that provides internet, data processing, and video conferencing capacity to school districts and state offices. Fiscal Year 2011 program funding is reduced by 6.287 percent.
139. REDUCE NAVIGATION 101 – Navigation 101 provides implementation grants to districts for guidance and career counseling programs in secondary schools. The budget is reduced by 6.287 percent in Fiscal Year 2011.
140. ELIMINATE SUPP OF CTE ORGANIZATIONS – OSPI provides financial support to assist student Career and Technical Education (CTE) organizations. The budget assumes elimination of the remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
141. ELIMINATE SPECIAL SERVICES PILOTS – Seven districts participate in the Special Services Pilot Program. The program emphasizes early intervention activities towards the goal of reducing the number of children identified for special education services. The program, by statute, is to end during the 2010-11 school year. The budget assumes the program is ended effective March 1, 2011.
142. ELIMINATE BUILDING BRIDGES STAFFING – OSPI staffing for the implementation of a comprehensive dropout
prevention, intervention, and retrieval program is eliminated, effective March 1, 2011.
143. ELIMINATE DYSLEXIA PILOT PROGRAM – The Dyslexia Pilot Program provides regional training (through the Educational Service Districts) for classroom teachers and reading specialists to improve reading skills of students diagnosed with dyslexia. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
144. SUSPEND PRE-APPRENTICESHIP GRANTS – Running Start for the Trades, or Pre Apprenticeship Grants, offer incentive awards of up to $10,000 to districts to develop pre apprenticeship trade and craft programs and recruit students into the programs. The budget assumes suspension of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
145. TEACHING AS A PROFESSION PILOT – OSPI contracts with the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project (LEAP) to identify and mentor bilingual students to become interested in the teaching profession. The budget reduction reflects anticipated under expenditures by OSPI in this area.
146. ELIMINATE JOBS FOR AMERICA PROGRAM – Jobs for America’s Graduates is a dropout prevention program at OSPI, started in Fiscal Year 2011. Funding for program staff is eliminated, effective March 1, 2011.
General Apportionment
147. EDUCATION JOBS FEDERAL GRANT – The FY 2011 supplemental budget incorporates funding from the Education Jobs Federal Grant as part of the general apportionment payment to school districts for the 2010-11 school year.
148. ELIMINATE K-4 CLASS SIZE REDUCTION – Funding for class size reduction in grades K-4 is discontinued as of February, 2011 and for the remainder of the 2010-11 school year. The adjusted ratio of certificated instructional staff person to full-time equivalent students is now 49 per 1,000 for grades K-3 and 46 per 1,000 for grade 4. This is reduced from the 2010-11 ratios provided in the 2010 enacted supplemental budget, which were 53.2 per 1,000 for grades K-3 and 47.43 per 1,000 for grade 4. These enhancements have previously been provided outside the program of basic education.

Education Reform
149. SUSPEND DEVELOPMENT DIAG. ASSESSMEN – Funding for the development of diagnostic assessments is suspended for the remaining funding appropriated during the 2009 11 biennium. (Education Legacy Account State)
150. ASSESSMENT FISCAL YEAR 2011 SAVINGS – Funding for the OSPI assessment system is reduced through the use of one time federal funds to off-set state general fund costs, a reduction in assessment program staff, and a reduction to the rate paid to districts for collection of evidence submissions. (General Fund State, General Fund Federal)
151. ELIMINATE B.E.S.T. PROGRAM – The Beginning Educator Support Team (B.E.S.T) program provides early career educators with mentorship and support. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
152. ELIM. SUPT./PRINCIPAL INTERNSHIPS – Funding for internships for principals, superintendents, and program administrators completing certification programs is eliminated for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
153. ELIM. STAFF FOR MID/HI APPLIED MATH – OSPI currently staffs coordination and promotion of integrated science, technology, engineering, and math programs. Funding for staffing is eliminated effective March 1, 2011.
154. REDUCE LASER/PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER – The Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program is a statewide project to implement hands on science curriculum through regional school district alliances. Funding for this program is reduced by 50 percent.
155. ELIMINATE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY – The Leadership Academy supports professional development and training for school administrators. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
156. ELIMINATE FOCUSED ASSISTANCE – The Focused Assistance Program provides technical assistance to schools and school districts struggling to meet adequate yearly progress benchmarks established by the federal government. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
157. ELIMINATE CISL – The Center for the Improvement of Student Learning (CISL) provides outreach to districts and communities to improve student outcomes, by serving as a clearinghouse for best practices and identifying strategies for closing the achievement gap. The budget assumes elimination of funding for program staff, effective March 1, 2011.
158. ELIMINATE STEM LIGHTHOUSES – The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Lighthouses are three best practice, or “lighthouse” districts that provide technical assistance to help replicate best practices in other districts. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
159. ELIMINATE CTE START-UP GRANTS – Career and Technical Education (CTE) Start Up grants provide funding to middle schools, high schools, or skill centers to upgrade high demand career and technical education programs. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
160. ELIMINATE READING CORPS – The Reading Corps program provides grants to schools with low reading scores to provide student tutoring through the use of AmeriCorps and VISTA members. The budget assumes elimination of remaining funding for  Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
161. REDUCE ED. TECH. SUPPORT CENTERS – Education Technology Support Centers are funds directed to the Educational Service Districts to provide school districts with assistance in technology planning, network  development, cost benefit analysis, and professional development. The budget assumes a funding reduction of 6.287 percent in Fiscal Year 2011.
162. REDUCE OSPI ED REFORM STAFFING – OSPI staffing to support programs funded in the Education Reform budget is reduced by 6.287 percent.

Higher Education
University of Washington
163. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – The University of Washington’s General Fund-State appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.
Washington State University
164. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – Washington State University’s general fund-state appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.
Eastern Washington University
165. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – Eastern Washington University’s General Fund-State appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.
Central Washington University
166. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – Central Washington University’s General Fund-State appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.
The Evergreen State College
167. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – The Evergreen State College’s General Fund-State appropriation is
reduced by 4.2 percent.
Western Washington University
168. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – Western Washington University’s General Fund-State appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.

Community & Technical College System
169. HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE REDUCTION – The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ General Fund- State appropriation is reduced by 4.2 percent.

The SnOMG last week plus the Thanksgiving Holidays buried us in weather/travel news and likely some family drama, but I wanted to make sure this ‘tidbit’ didn’t stay buried.

In response to the news that the state is facing an additional $385 million deficit in the current fiscal year (as detailed in my last post), Governor Gregoire sent the Legislature a memo with suggested cuts and program eliminations to fill in the hole.

There is nothing to give thanks for in this list: (Via  our friends at Publicola and the TNT) Here are just some of her proposals for the next round of reductions:

Delay funding for college financial aid ($76 million)

Eliminate the Basic Health Plan on February 1 ($33.7 million)

Eliminate additional resources for K-4 ($81.5 million)

Reduce the school district levy equalization funds for poorer districts ($18 million)

Eliminate state food assistance on Feb. 1 ($9.6 million)

Eliminate the highly capable student funds for next year ($7 million)

And in another blow to our schools, according to The Olympian, Governor Gregoire also suggests using the “using $208 million in federal “edujobs” money to back fill the budget.”

This is just a preview of the carnage coming in the next legislative session where the state faces an additional $5.7 billion hole.

Unless you have been living under a rock – and a snow covered one at that- over the last few days, you should have heard by now that we are in a heap of budget trouble. The latest revenue forecast now puts us $385 million deeper in the hole for the current fiscal year (FY11) and at least $5.7 billion in the hole for the 2011-2013 two-year budget cycle.

So, in the upcoming legislative session the state will need to cut $5.7 billion from the general fund in order to balance the budget – but not out of the whole budget. Let us remember that 70% of the state general fund budget is protected from cuts: either because it is basic education or there is another legal obligation to fund it such as a debt obligation or federal match or maintenance requirement.

The 2009-11 final state general fund budget totaled about $30.5 billion* (not including $2 billion in expiring federal ARRA stimulus funds and also not counting the previous $510 million and the new $385 million shortfall in the current biennium) – almost $21.5 billion of which is protected.

What does this mean? It means cutting $5.7 billion out of the remaining “unprotected” portion of the general fund – $9 billion. It means cutting 63% of everything that is not basic ed, debt obligation, or federal requirement. It means a sad, bloody mess – a mess that will hit us hard and where it hurts.

The numbers are not yet out for the 2011-13 biennium – but here is a high level breakdown of the protected and unprotected parts of the 2009-11 budget, courtesy of the state Office of Financial Management:

It’s the year of the education documentary. Waiting for Superman, Teached, the Lottery and First Generation have all raised attention for education.

Although our documentary Paramount Duty debuted last year, unfortunately our state’s failure to adequately fund our public schools continues to make the questions addressed in the film pertinent: How does Washington’s education system stack up against other states? Does money really matter? Is early learning the key to improving outcomes for students?

So after receiving strong demand for the film, we’ve ordered another batch of DVDs. If you’d like to show the film at your home or organization, you can order a Paramount Duty DVD and we’ll send you a copy in the mail.

The last couple of years have been really tough, fiscally speaking. Washington faced an over $11.5 billion deficit during the last two year budget cycle. And after using every federal recovery dollar and fund transfer available, plus raising a small amount revenue – the Legislature still had to make deep cuts in education and social services to make up the budget shortfall.

And while the economy may be in a slow recovery, state revenues continue to be down. According to the June budget forecast, we are looking at a possible $3 billion deficit in the upcoming biennium.

So this means there are more tough days, tough discussions, and tough fights ahead. But, the good news is that we can make sure the Governor and the Legislature hear us loud and clear. BEGINNING TONIGHT!

As part of a new biennial budget process, Governor Gregoire is holding four public hearings to “present information on the governor’s priorities and to solicit input from citizens, who are invited to attend and testify.” You can share your thoughts by attending the meetings, submitting written comments, or sending a message through the Children’s Alliance Kids Are Essential Storybook.

Hearing Dates, Times, and Locations:

Monday, July 19 – Tacoma, 7-9 PM, (UWT-William W. Phillip Hall, Milgard Assembly Room, 1900 Commerce Street)
Wednesday, July 21 – Everett, 7-9 PM, (Everett Community College, Parks Building, Multi Purpose Room, 2000 Tower Street)
Tuesday, July 27—Vancouver, 7-9 PM, (WSU-Vancouver, Administration Building Room 110, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver)
Thursday, July 29—Spokane, Time TBA, (Spokane City Hall, City Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard)

A post about full-day kindergarten (FDK) and a nice to meet you (NTMY) from a new LEV staffer, Hannah Danielle Lidman (HDL: that’s me!).

The Foundation for Child Development just released a great new report about the importance about full-day kindergarten (or all-day kindergarten as we sometimes refer to it in WA) in the continuum of early education and education reform efforts. The premise of the paper is so logical to me that I find it sad they had to release another report on the subject.

You can (and should) read the whole interesting report, but I think the following sentence sums it all up if you want the short shrift:

In PreK-3rd FDK is the “pivot” year, serving as the pedagogical bridge between PreK and the early elementary grades

My take: If we are serious about building and sustaining educational momentum for kids early (which we should be), PreK funding cannot come at the expense of funding for FDK. And further, we cannot allow the gains made in quality prekindergarten to dissipate in half-day kindergarten if they can be maintained and grown in full-day programs.

I, LEV, and many others worked very hard during this last legislative session for high-quality PreK for all kids in Washington. During the months-long debates on the state budget and on the PreK bills we championed (HB 2731 and SB 6759), we were asked time and again what was more important, PreK or FDK?

Our answer was (and is) the same every time: Yes!

We need to start (and start smart) before kindergarten, but it is a mistake to put children in high-quality PreK and then not follow it up with strong full-day kindergarten programs. Our work with the legislative champions on these issues is one of the reasons that new funding for PreK beginning in 2013 will be phased-in in alignment with the state’s phased implementation of full-day kindergarten. But with just 20% of schools currently funded for FDK, we also have to keep the heat up on that particular iron in our collective fire.

With that: I am really excited to be a part of great work at LEV and if you want to know more about me check out my bio here.  I will be posting as regularly as possible about early learning, K-12 finance, the state budget, and revenue. If you have questions or particular subjects that you would like to hear about, let me know.

And finally, Nice to meet you.

Paramount Duty premiered at the NW Film Forum last month to a packed audience. Now the film is available on DVD to show in your home, at PTA meetings and to other groups and organizations.

Click here to order your copy of Paramount Duty.

Paramount Duty is an honest and compelling look at how the lack of support from our state impacts the lives and futures of our kids. The film interviews key leaders of a movement to rescue education from apathy and neglect.

To cover production and shipping costs, we are asking for a donation of $20. If you are from a non-profit organization, or have financial difficulty, please e-mail info@educationvoters.org to request a copy.