Blog

Next year Washington high school students may be able to earn elective credits for working

Today the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) announced plans to allow high school students to earn elective credits for working. Currently, students must earn 24 credits to graduate from high school. That includes four elective credits. Under OSPI’s proposal, students who are at least 16 would be able to satisfy those four elective […]

Enrollment declines in Washington’s colleges and universities this year are the fourth largest in the country

Postsecondary enrollment in Washington dropped by 7.2% in spring 2022, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Nationally, enrollment dropped by 4.1%. Washington’s decline since spring 2021 is the nation’s fourth largest. Washington’s biggest enrollment declines occurred in public two-year colleges, where enrollment dropped by 11.8% from 2021 to 2022. (See […]

239 Washington school districts have lost enrollment since SY 2019–20, but nearly all their shortfalls are covered by enrollment stabilization funds and federal relief

Unusually, the cost of continuing current state services dropped substantially for the 2021 supplemental to the 2019–21 operating budget and the 2022 supplemental to the 2021–23 operating budget. Those cost reductions were led by enrollment declines in Washington’s public schools. Further, the state’s most recent caseload forecast does not expect enrollment to bounce back to […]

Operating budget includes $150 million for a new, low-interest student loan program

This year the Legislature passed E2SHB 1736, which establishes the Washington student loan program. (The bill has not yet been signed by the governor.) The bill requires the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) to design a student loan program that has an interest rate that is lower than loan rates subsidized by the federal government. […]

New rules will be required on how transitional kindergarten enrollments affect all-day kindergarten funding allocations

In Washington, children under five years old who do not have access to early learning opportunities but who need extra preparation for kindergarten (as determined by school districts) may enroll in transitional kindergarten—if their school district offers the program. According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), by rule, school districts may “adopt […]

K–12’s share of the state spending would drop significantly under both the Senate and House budgets

As the state increased appropriations for schools in response to the McCleary decision on school funding, the share of the budget (in terms of funds subject to the outlook, or NGFO) going to public schools increased from 42.6% in 2009–11 to 51.6% in 2019–21. The share for public schools would drop significantly in the budgets […]

Updates on major K–12 funding bills: Physical, social, and emotional staff allocations and enrollment stabilization

The Senate and House are moving different bills that would increase state allocations to school districts for physical, social, and emotional staff (like school nurses and psychologists). Both bills would increase allocations to the same levels by SY 2024–25, but one would be less costly over the four-year budget window, due to differences in implementation […]

State and local funding for school construction could increase under proposed bills

Earlier this week the House Capital Budget Committee held a public hearing for HB 1775. The bill would create modernization and construction grants for school districts with enrollment of 1,000 or less. (Including charter and tribal schools, in SY 2021–22, 164 districts have enrollment under 1,000.) Grant applications would be prioritized based on the district’s […]

Education funding bill would reduce local levies, increase funding for nurses and other staff, and provide learning loss grants to districts

Senators Braun and Mullet have introduced SB 5922, which would make several changes to education funding. The bill would reduce the maximum local enrichment levy; increase local effort assistance (and extend it to charter schools); increase allocations for nurses, social workers, psychologists, and counselors; increase allocations for special education and highly capable programs; provide learning […]

Enrollment stabilization or accelerated learning opportunities?

A summary document of Gov. Inslee’s 2022 supplemental budget proposal notes, “The state’s K-12 allocations during the pandemic have been reduced due to declining enrollments. Inslee proposes reinvesting more than $900 million of those funds to help schools address students’ social and emotional and academic needs.” Indeed, enrollment is still down significantly compared to school […]