By unanimous vote, the board of directors of the Washington State School Directors' Association has adopted a resolution supporting EHJR 4204, a proposed amendment to the state constitution which would allow local school levies to be approved by a simple majority vote.

The proposed amendment will appear on the state general election ballot this November. The proposal, approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature earlier this year, would remove a requirement that local school levies be approved by a 60 percent "supermajority."

The resolution emphasizes that resources provided through voter-approved school levies "are essential to local school districts’ ability to provide a well-rounded, quality education to each student." It notes that levies are "routinely supported by a majority of voters only to fail" because of the 60 percent requirement, and endorses the proposed constitutional amendment to "restore fairness and equity by allowing school levies to be approved by a majority of those voting."

Under an advisory opinion issued by the state Executive Ethics Board in 1999, the WSSDA Board of Directors is allowed to take a position on a ballot proposition "when the subject of the ballot proposition clearly relates to education policy or the management of the state's school districts, and when there is no expenditure of public funds to promote or oppose the ballot proposition."

The opinion says the WSSDA board may also provide "general, factual information to its members on the possible impact of education-related ballot propositions."