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Highlights from the new education funding proposal

[Update 3:49pm — Legislative language has now been released — see here.] As Mary noted yesterday, the Senate Majority Coalition has released its education funding plan. This comes after the Republicans on the Education Funding Task Force offered only “guiding principles,” and the EFTF could not agree on recommendations to the Legislature. (For background on all of […]

Senate Republicans' K-12 education funding plan is here

This morning, state Senate Republicans (aka the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus) released their plan for fully funding K-12 education and complying with the state Supreme Court McCleary ruling. They are calling it the "Education Equality Act." You can read the overview and a more detailed list of components below. No legislation is posted yet. We'll provide you […]

The return of I-1351

As I wrote earlier, I-1351 is scheduled to become effective in 2019–21—within the four-year budget window. Plus, Gov. Inslee has proposed beginning to implement the initiative early, in 2017–19. Over the weekend, The News Tribune ran a good story about the costly initiative’s prospects this session. Like the governor, some legislators want to implement I-1351; […]

A new budget outlook, and possible budget process changes

Yesterday the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council adopted a four-year budget outlook based on Gov. Inslee’s proposed 2017–19 operating budget. According to the outlook, his proposal would leave a near general fund–state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) unrestricted ending balance in 2019–21 of negative $2.041 billion (and total reserves would be negative $596 million). Meanwhile, the […]

2017 Legislative Session Starts Today

The state Legislature begins its 2017 session today. This being an odd-numbered year, session is scheduled to last 105 days, with an April 23 adjournment date. Almost nobody believes lawmakers will finish their business by then, however, in which case the governor can call a special session (or a series of special sessions as the […]

Lawmakers on K-12 funding panel issue competing recommendations

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, every year on Feb. 2 residents await the sign of a groundhog – Punxsutawney Phil – to forecast the onset of spring. In the Washington state Legislature, lawmakers and other observers were awaiting a sign yesterday of how much members of the Joint Education Task Force could agree on solutions for full state […]

Gov. Inslee’s education proposal would increase spending by $3.9 billion and add $4.4 billion in new taxes

Today Gov. Inslee released his proposal to increase education spending in the 2017–19 biennial budget. Some of this proposed spending is related to the McCleary decision. According to the governor’s policy brief, the proposal “includes the final steps of addressing teacher compensation and ending the decades-long overreliance on local levies for basic education.” It throws […]

The new budget outlook includes an estimate of final McCleary costs, despite a lack of agreement on what that number will be

Yesterday the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) adopted a new budget outlook that includes the end of the 2015–17 biennium, 2017–19, and 2019–21. It is controversial in that it includes an estimate for how much it will cost to complete compliance with the McCleary decision on school funding. There was some good news in […]

New-ish filing in McCleary case

In all the pre- and post-election news, we missed a recent filing with the state Supreme Court on the McCleary education funding case. The organization Washington's Paramount Duty, which has been quite vocal in calling for "new revenue" for K-12 education but not specific about where it should come from, on Nov. 7 asked the court to […]

Business schools get real

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday on a shift in teaching methods by M.B.A. programs: Business schools are moving away from the case-study method—the long-held standard of business education—and asking students to resolve actual corporate dilemmas in real time. This focus on "real life" education appears to mirror the growing awareness by lawmakers here in Washington […]