Opinion ID: 2629550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Recent History of Basic Education Funding

Text: ¶ 3 Since before statehood, financial resources to fund local schools varied widely, as did local costs of living. Washington Constitution article IX, section 1 declares it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. . . . See Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. State, 90 Wash.2d 476, 511-12, 585 P.2d 71 (1978) (analyzing article IX, section 1). Article IX, section 2 states, [t]he legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools. Prior to 1977, state operational funding to school districts was determined through a formula in which a minimum funding guaranty per student was enhanced by weighting factors. The school districts are locally elected and districts paid varying salaries to teachers, administrators, and classified staff. This variation was due to collective bargaining contracts, staff experience levels, and local school levies passed by voters. ¶ 4 The legislature replaced the weighted student formula when it passed The Washington Basic Education Act of 1977. Laws of 1977, 1st Ex.Sess., ch. 359, §§ 4, 5 (codified at ch. 28A.150 RCW), amended by Laws of 2009, ch. 548. The act sets forth a three part program: (1) educational system goals, (2) educational program requirements, and (3) a new funding mechanism, called the staff unit allocation system. RCW 28A.150.200, amended by Laws of 2009, ch. 548, § 101 (effective until Sept. 1, 2011). ¶ 5 The staff unit allocation system consisted of staff to student ratios and funding allocation formulas, [2] including a formula to allocate funding for certificated school staff (administrators and teachers) and classified school staff salaries. [3] See Laws of 1977, 1st Ex.Sess., ch. 359, § 5. The system did not create a uniform statewide salary schedule; the legislature was aware that total salary equalization would upset political and economic expectations and disregard local variation in cost of living. [4] To account for the variance in existing school district salaries, the initial formula used amounts based on the existing average salaries paid by districts in the 1976-77 school year. See Laws of 1977, 1st Ex.Sess., ch. 339, § 97(1)(e)(i). Consequently, initial staff unit-based allocations varied widely. ¶ 6 The legislature continued to narrow the gap over time. Accordingly, from 1977 to 1989, it enacted a series of weighted salary increases while imposing salary controls on higher salary school districts. [5] Although not all of the legislature's efforts were equally effective, the end result was that education salary allocations were increased in each biennium from 1977 to 1989, and the allocation gap was reduced in each year except 1983. By 1989, only 34 out of 295 school districts statewide were allocated higher teacher base salaries than the others. ¶ 7 After the 1987-89 biennium, the legislature shifted its focus to increasing salaries for all educational staff. In 1989 and 1991, the legislature boosted teacher salaries, with the biggest increases going to the lowest paid teachers and those with master's degrees. Other staff received uniform increases. [6] From 1995 to 1999, the legislature increased all salary allocations to school districts uniformly for all three classes of staff. In 1999, the legislature again raised teacher salaries, with larger increases for beginning teachers. ¶ 8 In 2000, voters passed Initiative 732 (I-732) mandating uniform yearly cost of living increases without regard to salary differences (but providing no funding source). RCW 28A.400.205, amended by Laws of 2009, ch. 573 (effective July 1, 2009). In 2003 and 2004, the legislature enacted and funded measures to narrow the gap between the lowest paid teachers and those with more experience. In the 2005 biennium, the legislature again adopted uniform salary increases. In the 2007 biennial budget, the legislature appropriated funds for uniform cost of living increases for all three classes of employees as well as funds to narrow the differences in the salary schedules between school districts. Laws of 2007, ch. 522, § 503. ¶ 9 Thus, between 1977 and 2007, the legislature not only enacted numerous uniform salary increases but also narrowed the salary allocation gap repeatedly. This was especially true for teacher salaries. Under the 1977 budget, the highest teacher average base salary was more than 150 percent greater than the lowest. By the 2008-09 school year, that gap had been reduced to 4.9 percent. LEAP 2, Clerk's Papers (CP) at 266-73; see also supra note 5.