Guest Opinion | Threading the Needle for Public Funding of Public Education

— Tom Baldwin, for the School District Budget Advisory Committee —

Orcas Island School District (OISD) has some vitally important decisions to make in the very near future that will have long-term consequences—decisions necessitated by legislative actions taken over the past year in response to the McCleary Decision which required the State of Washington to (1) fully fund public K12 education in the state, and (2) reduce dependence on local property taxes for public school funding. We have written three times before to Orcas Issues to explain the funding situation, Feb. 15 & 24, and April 19. In our last report, we pointed out that the final bills, SB 6362 and SB 6032, largely avoided the negative aspects of the original McCleary bill, HB 2242. Since that time, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has been working with school districts across the state preparing to implement the new law.

At present, we suffer from an enormous deficit of accurate information. Even OSPI remains unclear about many aspects of the new law, making it almost impossible for districts to develop accurate budgets for the 2018-19 academic year and beyond, yet the law requires districts to prepare and submit a budget plan summary for each of the next four years. OISD has prepared a budget plan based on the prevailing interpretations of the new law, and the school board approved that plan and the budget for 2018-19 on July 26.

A major uncertainty is the current lack of clarity surrounding teacher salaries, and the lack of accurate information coupled with the natural desire to see teachers’ salaries increase presents a dangerous situation. At present, the budget picture is foggy at best, but salary increases given today cannot be reduced if we find next year that we do not have adequate funds to pay the higher salaries. Confusion is increased dramatically by the fact that every district’s situation is different, so while some districts may see significant increases in total revenue, others will see less dramatic increases. OISD is in the latter situation, largely due to loss of about $175,000 in the local levy for the 2018-19 academic year. Note that this loss will grow to $275,000 for the 2019-20 year.

Senator Kevin Ranker worked hard to pass SB 6362 and its companion 2017-19 Supplemental Operating Budget known as SB 6032. While several tweaks to these laws might provide clarity and remove remaining unintended negative consequences of the legislation, none is more obvious than the “regionalization” program, which lumps the San Juan Islands together with the Skagit Valley area for purposes of computing property values and cost of living. This computation has a huge negative impact on the funding provided by the state to pay teacher salaries. Senator Ranker has called out the absurdity of linking San Juan County with Skagit Valley—it is highly unlikely that any teacher would live in Skagit Valley and commute to Orcas Island to teach! Nonetheless, until the legislature fixes this obvious problem, the funding that will follow is not at the appropriate level to enhance teacher salaries to the degree it should be.

Teaching is an honorable profession, one that is essential to our Nation, our culture, our way of life, and teachers should be compensated commensurate with the value and importance of their activities. Nonetheless, at this moment, it is essential that OISD not commit funding that it does not have. Over the next weeks, OISD will be discussing salaries with teachers. I urge teachers and administrators alike to think carefully about the long-term consequences of their actions. If salaries move too high, it will be necessary to decrease teacher numbers to rebalance the budget next year. If salaries are too low, teachers will not receive the benefits that they clearly deserve. It is essential that teachers and administrators figure out how to thread this needle. Our kids’ education relies on their wisdom.