Blog

On OSPI’s monitoring and accounting of federal relief money

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) has found that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has “not yet established processes to monitor districts’ efforts to address the academic effects of restricted in-person instruction or outcomes of emergency spending”—despite federal and state requirements to that effect. School districts in Washington received three […]

Governor would fund Washington student loan program and shift more of its funding from the general fund to the workforce education investment account

In 2022, the Legislature enacted E2SHB 1736, which creates the Washington student loan program. Many program details were left to be determined later, with recommendations due from the Washington Student Achievement Council by Dec. 1, 2022. (The report has not yet been published.) However, E2SHB 1736 did specify that loans will not be issued unless […]

What inflationary increase will be funded when school salaries are rebased this year?

Although almost half of the new policy spending in Gov. Inslee’s 2023–25 budget proposal would be used to increase employee compensation and provider rates, a relatively small portion of that would be for school employees. The state increased allocations for school salaries as part of its response to the McCleary decision on school funding (beginning […]

School districts in Washington have spent 52% of their federal relief money; of the amount spent, 44.5% is categorized as “indirect” or “other”

Last week the Seattle Times editorial board wrote about recent student test scores and asked why so much of the federal relief money for schools is still unspent. Further, it wrote, “It’s puzzling to examine school district spending choices so far.” There were three rounds of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER). Washington […]

Compensation increases drive the community and technical college system’s budget request

The community and technical college system (CTCS) has requested a 2023–25 budget that would increase its general fund–state (GFS) spending by $622.9 million (39.5%). Compensation items account for 50.8% of the maintenance and policy level changes in the request. First, the request estimates that funding the Initiative 732 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the biennium would […]

K–12 budget request includes major staff compensation increases, elimination of the special education funding cap

For 2023–25, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is asking for a $6.565 billion increase to its general fund–state (GFS) budget. This would be an increase of 25.3% over 2021–23. (Adjusted for inflation, the increase would be 18.7%. That’s on par with spending increases made in response to the McCleary decision on school […]

It’s not clear that decoupling timber revenues from the school construction assistance program would be transformative for K–12 construction funding

On July 19, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) proposed decoupling state timber revenues from the school construction assistance program (SCAP). According to OSPI, this would be a more equitable way to fund school construction. Details are scant at this point, but it would involve a shift of roughly $30 million a year […]

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 […]