The plan, crafted by Iseminger during the past year, sets forth a no-new-taxes approach to transitioning the state to full funding of basic education as required by the state constitution. Elements of the plan would be phased in over the next eight years.

Iseminger represents school directors on an advisory group formed under House Bill 2261, a new law that commits Washington to an eight-year process of reforming the state’s basic education finance system. The advisory group is one of several working to provide recommendations to the Quality Education Council, which in turn has overall responsibility for recommending strategies to implement a new definition of basic education and the financing necessary to support it.

Iseminger’s plan is based on five core elements:

"Collectively, these elements could fund education reform without creating a new tax," said Iseminger. "In fact, the plan decreases property taxes by an average of 60 cents per $1,000 statewide. Best of all, implementing the plan wouldn't cost our Legislature anything."

"While there is no silver bullet to fund basic education, the Iseminger plan addresses the most challenging dimensions of fully funding K-12 education in our state and demonstrates how the Legislature can rationally fund it over the long term," said WSSDA President Kevin Laverty (Mukilteo). "This well thought out proposal helps us move beyond the cycle of basic education funding studies followed by inadequate financial support."

Detailed information about the Iseminger Education Finance Plan is available on Iseminger's Web site. See the Links box at the upper right of this page for additional resources.