The so-called education reform bills -- House Bill 1410 and Senate Bill 5444 -- will kill levy equalization funding for all property poor school districts. While taking $400 million away per biennium from property poor schools, these bills would also implement a regional salary plan to pay teachers in the richest schools even more. This is despite there is no research to support that King County districts have higher teacher turnover due to the cost of living in those areas. Research, instead, shows the highest teacher turnover in rural areas due to work load issues.
This isn't reform. This is simply reversing the equity efforts of the last 30 years and will abandon the poorest schools.
When the poorest schools in the state will have the lowest per student funding, this isn't reform. When the poorest schools will have the lowest paid teachers, this isn't reform. When the poorest schools have the highest turnover of teachers, this isn't reform. When the poorest schools become the teacher training grounds for the richest schools, this isn't reform. And when the districts with the highest percentages of poor students, the highest percentages of Hispanic students, and the highest percentages of Native American students go to schools with far less per student funding, this isn't reform, it's discrimination.
Education Week's 2005 analysis of school funding shows Washington is 42nd in school funding, but the same report showed that 24 percent of the state's students go to schools with per student funds higher than the national average and 76 percent are below the average. Education Week says Washington needs to funnel more money to the poorest schools. The quickest way to improve the "42nd" is to catch up the poorest schools. This "reform" does the opposite.
When the poorest areas with the lowest personal incomes have to pay 5, 10, and 15 times the tax rates of the richest school districts to get a 24 percent levy, this isn't reform. When the taxes on $150,000 homes in the poorest districts will be twice the taxes of $1 million homes in the richest districts to get a 24 percent levy, this isn't reform.
What we are seeing hidden in the name of "reform" is the biggest shift of education funding since the Basic Education Act passed in 1977, except the shift is to take money from rural schools and increase it to rich schools.
There are over 200 property poor school districts which now collect levy equaliztion and, despite the far greater tax effort of their taxpayers, most of those districts do not now collect their full 24 percent levy due to the economic distress in their communities. Our taxpayers make the effort. Our students deserve quality schools.
Rural taxpayers not only make the effort in their local levy taxes, research shows the poorest taxpayers pay the highest percent of their incomes in state and local taxes. We have the most regressive tax system in the country. Our poorer taxpayers deserve comparable school systems for the higher taxes they pay.
The Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance chose to ignore the tough equity questions and the needs of the poorest students in the state. They not only chose to ignore it, they chose salary and levy plans which will increase the institutional discrimination in our school finance system that denies poor students, Hispanic students, and Native American students a comparable chance at getting a quality education in Washington.
Hundreds of people from urban settings have been testifying in Olympia in favor of these "reform" bills and hundreds have protested levy equalization cuts. Promises of increasing education funding by 54 percent has many giddy with hope that reform has finally arrived and others seeing huge cuts in rural school funding are fired up.
Many testified against the cuts in levy equalization but only one questioned the regional salary plan. We need to raise both issues. Rural teachers work in schools with the lowest levies, lowest pay, and lowest numbers per student of counselors, specialists, educational assistants, and administrators to help in the classroom. Rural teachers deserve at least equal pay for the tougher work they do. A simple salary schedule that pays the same for teachers around the state is the best way to fund salaries.
How many students will the state throw under the bus to get these reforms? Educators and board members in rural Washington need to contact their legislators and continue doing so throughout this session before we lose the gains we have made in equity over the past 20 years. We need letters to the editor of local papers to let the public know what we think our legislators need to do and so legislators know the public knows. We owe it to our kids and the taxpayers who trust us to fight for fair taxation in support of our schools.
Tell your legislators you oppose Gregoire's cuts in levy equalization, the axing of levy equalization in the basic education reform bills, and the regional salary funding plans. All of these are simply unfair.
Here are the state representatives and senators for the 7th and 9th legislative districts. For other districts, go here.
 | Rep. Joe Schmick Assistant Minority Whip | |
| (R) 9th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
| Olympia Office: 419 John L. O'Brien Building PO Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 (360) 786-7844 | ||
 | Rep. Don Cox | |
| (R) 9th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
Olympia Office: | ||
 | Rep. Shelly Short | |
| (R) 7th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
| Olympia Office: 422 John L. O'Brien Building PO Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 (360) 786-7908 | ||
 | Rep. Joel Kretz Deputy Minority Leader | |
| (R) 7th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
| Olympia Office: 335A Legislative Building PO Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 (360) 786-7988 | ||
| Senator Mark Schoesler Republican Floor Leader | |
| (R) 9th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
| Olympia Office: 110 Irv Newhouse Building PO Box 40409 Olympia, WA 98504-0409 (360) 786-7620 Fax: (360) 786-1999 | ||
 | Senator Bob Morton | |
| (R) 7th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT | ||
| Olympia Office: 115D Irv Newhouse Building PO Box 40407 Olympia, WA 98504-0407 (360) 786-7612 Fax: (360) 786-1999 | ||
Neal Kirby is a former state representative, founder and former chairman of the Committee for Levy Equalization, and principal of Edison Elementary School in Centralia.
Michael Breckenridge contributed the legislative listings from the Washington state website to this article.
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