In a blog post yesterday, state Rep. Ross Hunter provides a good overview of the education funding problem in Washington. He notes the report of the Joint Task Force on Education Funding (JTFEF), which was released December 31, 2012.

Created by House Bill 2824 last year, the task force was charged with “developing a proposal for a reliable and dependable funding mechanism to support basic education programs.” The task force approved a preferred spending plan for seven programs, phased in over three biennia:

Additionally, the task force adopted a list of funding options. But, “the JTFEF does not recommend a preferred option for funding the adopted spending plan nor does the JTFEF recommend enacting all components.”

A minority of the task force favored a different spending approach, which “re-prioritized the phase-in of the program enhancements — targeting early investments to the younger grades through full-day kindergarten and smaller K-3 class sizes.”

Further, in the alternative proposal,

the enhancements and existing K-12 education programs would be appropriated first in a separate budget from current Near General Fund state revenues, which would fund all K-12 programs. The legislature would then take up and balance the rest of the budget (non K-12 programs and services) in separate legislation.

The alternative plan does not list any new revenue options, nor does it specify budget cuts to pay for the funding.