Superintendent's Message

February 2009

Dear Shoreline Schools Community,

The following Open Letter was sent to Washington State Legislators from the Superintendents of King County, Pierce County and Bainbridge Island regarding education funding in Washington state.

We are writing to you as the superintendents of the 35 school districts in King and Pierce counties and Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County. Together we have the privilege and responsibility of serving these communities including 390,000 children – nearly 40 percent of Washington’s K-12.public school students.

Given our state’s serious budget deficit, we understand the daunting task the legislature faces in the next few months. Our hope is to work as your partner in a united effort to solve our state’s educational funding crisis.

Washington’s constitution states, “It is the paramount duty of the State to make ample provisions for the education of all children residing within its borders without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex.” As superintendents, we advocate for the State to uphold its paramount duty and recognize the moral imperative to provide adequate levels of funding for Washington’s children.

Aligned with this paramount duty is our adherence to two guiding principles– equity and access. Access to quality instruction and programs that meet the diverse learning needs of students in Washington and prepares them to succeed in the 21st century must take priority in budget decisions.

We commend the work of the Basic Education Finance Task Force to create a sound education finance system. We believe that HB 1410 and SB 5444 begin to actualize the recommendations put forth by the task force and offer great promise for Washington’s students. We pledge to work with the legislature to create necessary refinements to the bills and assure their passage.

As we work for a long-term funding solution, it is important that decisions made in the short-term move us toward this improved vision of equitable education finance that provides appropriate access for all students to quality public schools. The difficult budget cuts that must be determined by the legislature must consider the inequities in the present K-12 funding model and ensure any cuts in public education do not further exacerbate the already egregious inequities in the public school funding structure. We believe that the principles of equity and access must frame and guide immediate decisions about education funding in the 2009-2011 biennium budget.

We recognize that there will be various funding proposals to consider during this session and are well aware that they will impact K-12 education. Governor Gregoire’s proposed K-12 budget includes significant reductions in 1-728.and local effort assistance funding for the 2009-2011 biennium. To inform your decision-making, we have attached data showing the impact of these cuts to each of our district’s budgets. (The impact on Shoreline is more than $1 million.).

We offer our voices, support and actions to your work both to minimize short-term financial impacts on our students and to craft a long-term solution for education funding in the state of Washington. We look forward to our work together.

Signed by Shoreline Superintendent Sue Walker and superintendents of 34 other Puget Sound area school districts.