This Week in Olympia

Week of June 19

Fittingly, on the longest day of the year, the second special session expired and the Governor immediately rang the bell to start the third one.

All over Olympia, lawmakers are filled with fear, anxiety and concern NOT that they’ll pass a plan that meets our students’ needs, but that they won’t be able to avert a government shut-down.

Last week we said it looks like the levy swap is in play. This week we are starting to see the broad strokes of what lawmakers are working on. Though subject to change, reports indicate that in exchange for increased state funding for schools, legislators from both parties are considering:

• Limiting local control in our public schools and allowing bureaucrats and politicians in Olympia to micromanage our schools, which does nothing to help students.
• Restricting our ability to bargain beyond state-funded base salaries.

We should not accept limits on local bargaining, and that is still something we can influence. Here’s how:

• Send a message (We have a new one, so even if you have sent one before, do it again!)
• Call and talk to your legislators, 1-800-562-6000 (Monday - Friday. 8:30 to noon or 1 - 4 p.m.) and tell them to retain local control and local funding. 
• Lastly, be prepared to come to Olympia on short notice next week to meet with lawmakers, rally and testify on the bill. We don’t yet know the timing, but if you can travel to the capitol, let your local or council president know. And stay tuned to OurVoice for updates.

Until we see the actual plan, it’s all subject to change. Here is what we are hearing:

• State property taxes will go up.
• Local levies will go down over time. We don’t know how much.
• We don’t know what limits may be placed on TRI.
• The state salary allocation model will go away in the 2018-19 school year, as will staff mix.
• There could be a new requirement that requires local levies to be pre-approved by the State Superintendent before they can even be placed on a ballot. After levies are spent, they would be reviewed by for compliance by the State Auditor.
• We don’t how much state funding will be put into salaries, and in which year. One rumor we hear is that salary increases are mostly in the out-years. (They are working on a three or four year plan.) Another rumor is that neither individuals nor districts will see their pay/funding go backwards.
• It appears that funding will go up for Special Education, Learning Assistance and English Language Learner and Highly Capable programs.
• I-1351 will likely be delayed, amended or repealed, but we don’t know the details.

We haven’t seen a bill. These items may change. They will certainly get more specific.

But at this point, we don’t believe the legislature will pass an education budget that provides ample funding for our schools this biennium, and we will need local levies to continue to play a significant role in funding our schools now and into the future.

Our push in these last days is to demand lawmakers to retain as much local flexibility as possible, by maintaining districts’ rights to run local levies, and to do so without interference by state bureaucrats, which does nothing to help kids. 

Many locals have been staging activities in legislators' home districts to put the pressure on. Thanks to Northshore EA and Federal Way EA for stepping up this week. 

We have a radio ad running right now that drives home these same points: Why on earth would we sacrifice local control and put bureaucrats in Olympia in charge of our schools? he ad was co-sponsored by Washington Paramount Duty.

In order to meet the June 30 deadline, lawmakers will have to have a deal by late Monday or early Tuesday at the latest.

It also looks like legislators have agreed to new testing requirements, but the bill won’t be released until next week.