Educators, parents call on Washington lawmakers to up school funding

Hundreds of Washington students, parents, teachers and other educators demonstrated at the state Capitol on Monday, calling for increased funding for the state’s public school system.

“We are here together, not to complain, not to beg, but because history is clear: to fund our future, we must fund education,” Danica Noble of the Washington State Parent Teacher Association, told the cheering crowd on the steps of the Temple of Justice.

Monday’s rally comes as lawmakers near a critical juncture in the legislative debate on education funding.

Three bills that would collectively boost funding for special education, student transportation and school operations by $2 billion in the next budget are awaiting action in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Each will need to be voted out of the committee by Feb. 28 to remain active this session. All three received public hearings on Feb. 11 but none had been scheduled for a vote as of Monday.

Speakers at the rally cited the need for additional dollars to better serve students, to pay for supplies and operations, and to ensure students can be transported to and from campuses if needed.

Kari Madden, a paraeducator in Tacoma schools for 18 years, said the role of professionals like herself is to “make learning accessible for our most vulnerable students.”

Paraeducators generally assist teachers with student instruction. But when working with special education students, the job can involve helping children with tube feeding, catheters, ostomy bags, or managing their emotions, said Madden, president of the Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals, American Federation of Teachers Local 461.

“We give them a way to communicate when they cannot speak, a way to access their classroom and building when they cannot walk,” she said. “This is an important career. We are educated professionals and our students and our families deserve our best, and we deserve a living wage.”

Many school districts across the state are struggling with the budgetary effects of rising costs and flat or declining enrollment. Layoffs, program cutbacks and school closures are being discussed in urban and rural communities.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is already keeping close watch on the finances of several cash-strapped districts.

As educators, staff and administrators appeal for an infusion of dough, lawmakers and Gov. Bob Ferguson are staring at a shortfall in the next state budget of around $3 billion a year.

While there will be cuts, Democratic legislative leaders are talking openly about raising revenue through new or higher taxes to support public schools and other services.

Larry Delaney, president of the Washington Education Association, voiced his support for a new tax on the wealthiest residents.

“This is the time to be bold. This is the time where, as a state, a progressive state, we need to double down on the promise of public education,” he said. “We need to be the beacon for the rest of the country to follow.”

A limit to free lunches

Universal free school meals — a priority for Ferguson — did not get mentioned at Monday’s rally.

Bills introduced in the Senate and House at the governor’s request would require all school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools to provide breakfast and lunch at no charge. Right now, about 70% of students in public schools have access to free meals.

Expanding to 100% will cost money, about $120 million a fiscal year. With a looming shortfall, it’s going to be a hard sell in the Legislature.

The Washington Education Association is supportive “but it has to be considered in the totality of the education conversation,” Delaney said. “If money was not an issue this session, absolutely” it would be atop their priorities.

Senate Democrats signaled this is not on their to-do list by not voting the school meal bill out of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee

In the House, the companion legislation awaits action in the House Appropriations Committee. To stay alive, it must be voted out of that panel by a Feb. 28 deadline.

“I’m hoping we can continue to keep this conversation going by moving the bill forward,” said Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, a committee member who is also chair of the House Finance Committee. Having a legislative vehicle, she said, “will give folks hope that we can get this done this year.”

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