School & District Management State of the States

Wash. Governor Pledges School Aid Boost

By Katie Ash — January 22, 2014 1 min read
Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, a Democrat, told state lawmakers in his State of the State speech that he intends to funnel more money into K-12 education to meet basic education funding mandates in state law.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In his annual speech to lawmakers, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called on the legislature to pour several billion dollars in additional dollars during the next five years into K-12 education in an effort to meet basic education funding mandates as ordered by the state’s Supreme Court.

The push, unveiled in the Democratic governor’s State of the State address in Olympia, was spurred by a ruling Jan. 9 from the court that although the state had taken meaningful steps to fully fund basic education by 2018 as required by law—lawmakers, for example, voted to provide nearly $1 billion of additional funds to public education in the 2013 session—it still was not moving fast enough.

K-12 public education makes up about 45 percent—or around $15 billion—of the total state budget of $37 billion for the 2013-15 biennium.

Gov. Inslee said he was rethinking his strategy of making 2014 a “hold steady” year to prepare for coming fiscal challenges. Instead, he said he would be proposing an investment of $200 million to fund cost-of-living adjustments for educators, including administrators and community and technical college workers, in the 2014-15 school year and for basic education costs.

Last June, the legislature voted to suspend cost-of-living raises for educators last June through mid-2015 in order to pass a budget deal agreed upon by the House and Senate.

Gov. Inslee encouraged lawmakers to close tax breaks and direct those funds toward the state’s public education system. He called for an additional $4 million to fund pre-K programs for about 500 more Washington state youngsters.

In addition, Gov. Inslee called on state senators to pass a Washington state version of the DREAM Act, which would allow all Washington high school graduates who are eligible for state-sponsored college scholarships to receive them, regardless of whether they are legal U.S. residents. The state House of Representatives passed the bill on Jan. 13.

“Students who work hard and succeed in school should know there is a slot in our higher education system for them and their financial aid will be available to them if they need it,” he said.

Watch the Full Address

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the January 22, 2014 edition of Education Week as Wash. Governor Pledges School Aid Boost

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+
School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty