
Temporarily Tied Senate ~ Democrats confer on the Senate floor as the Republican side sits empty during a recess, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in Olympia, Wash. Senators were debating whether to vote on the “levy cliff” bill, which would delay a reduction in the amount of money school districts can collect though property taxes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) ~ Senate Republicans on Friday released an education funding plan that seeks to replace local school levies with a statewide uniform rate earmarked for schools.
Lawmakers are working to comply with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that they must fully fund the state’s basic education system. Lawmakers have already put more than $2 billion toward the issue since the ruling, but the biggest piece remaining of the court order is figuring out how much the state must provide for teacher salaries. School districts currently pay a big chunk of those salaries with local property-tax levies.
The GOP-proposed levy changes are expected to bring in $2 billion a year for education, and the state would also spend an additional $700 million per year to back-fill to ensure that each school district has $12,500 per student. Republicans say they can pay for the back-fill with existing resources. The plan would raise the local school levy in some places, like Seattle, and decrease it in others. Continue reading →