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On Wednesday night, the House Education
Appropriations Committee held a work session to review
Local Effort Assistance. There was no “new news” in the
presentation; however, it did prompt an interesting
discussion among Committee members regarding the funding
of schools and current levy lids. Perhaps the most
interesting comment came from Rep. Skip Priest who noted
that if the state had been meeting its constitutional
obligation to fully fund Basic Education, levy lids and
LEA would not be a big deal. As we know, the Legislature
has not been fully funding education — which means that
levy lids and LEA are big deals. Which brings us to
today’s discussions.
On Thursday morning, the Senate Early Learning & K-12
Education Committee held a public hearing on three
levy-related bills: SB 6502, SB 6488 and SB 6518.
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SB 6502 would restore school district levy
bases. The bill would enhance school district levy
bases by assuming Initiative 728 (Student
Achievement) and Initiative 732 (educator COLAs)
were fully implemented by the Legislature. The
I-728/I-732 levy base enhancement currently in law
is set to expire at the end of calendar year 2011;
SB 6502 would extend this sunset to December 2017.
The bill would also allow K-4 class size enhancement
funding to continue to be counted in the calculation
of school district levy bases if the funding is
eliminated (which is proposed in the governors two
budget plans).
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SB 6488 is the levy proposal we’ve discussed
previously coming from Gov. Gregoire. The bill would
temporarily (calendar years 2011-2013) increase all
school district levy lids to 36 percent and allow
districts to request a “supplemental” levy from
voters if they already had a levy in place and were
in the middle of a levy collection period. The bill
would also increase the allocation for Local Effort
Assistance from the current 12 percent levy rate to
an 18 percent levy rate, but only for the top
quartile of those districts with the highest rates
necessary to raise a 12 percent levy (the remaining
LEA eligible districts would continue to receive the
current 12 percent match). Finally, the bill also
includes the I-728/732 levy base restoration, but
only for levy collections through calendar year
2013.
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SB 6518 would temporarily (calendar years
2011-2017) increase school districts’ levy lid to 28
percent (grandfathered district lids would also
increase by four percent) and allow districts to
request a “supplemental” levy from voters if they
already had a levy in place and were in the middle
of a levy collection period. The bill would also
temporarily increase LEA allocations to 14 percent
for all LEA eligible districts through calendar year
2017. Finally, the bill also includes the I-728/732
levy base restoration for levy collections through
calendar year 2017.
As we have in the past, we supported the levy base
restoration in SB 6502 (as well as the levy base
restoration in SB 6488 and SB 6518). We strongly opposed
SB 6488, arguing that the levy lid increase goes too far
and the increase in LEA only assists some of those
districts that need additional assistance. We argued
that solutions should be found for all 295 districts —
for all one million students, — and not just solutions
for those select districts that can raise money on their
own or those few districts on the other end of the
scale.
In testimony on SB 6518, we expressed our historical
position of opposing increases in the levy lid because:
boosting the local levy lid relieves the pressure on the
Legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligation to
fully fund Basic Education; and increasing the levy lid
serves to exacerbate the current inequities between the
so-called “property rich” and the so-called “property
poor” districts. It is clear, however, that given the
financial distress in which most districts find
themselves, some type of emergency assistance is needed.
And given the state’s financial woes, it is clear the
Legislature will not provide the needed support any time
soon. The only option currently on the table is an
increase in the levy lid. So, with much reluctance, we
(along with WASA) supported SB 6518. We made it clear
that our support of the bill was very much conditional:
(1) the levy lid increase in the bill must remain
temporary; and (2) the enhancement in Local Effort
Assistance (for ALL eligible districts) must remain.
Questions are sure to be raised about why WSSDA took
this position. WSSDA’s Standing Legislative Position
states our ongoing opposition to increasing the levy
lid; however, it also states that if an increase in the
levy lid is adopted, a commensurate increase in LEA must
be included. Legislators know they don’t have the
resources to assist districts and the governor and many
key legislators are desperately looking for a way to
help struggling school districts. Their “solution” is to
allow school districts to help themselves by forcing
districts to go back to their local voters for more
support. Given the circumstances, it seems to be
inevitable that the levy lid WILL be increased. The
questions are: How much? How long? And coupled with
what? With a presumed increase in the levy lid,
WSSDA’s leadership felt it was a more realistic and
strategic approach to support SB 6518 (with conditions)
and be a part of the discussion, rather than yelling,
“No” and being excluded from the conversation.
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