| Full Funding
Coalition presents proposal for basic education funding system
Posted June 12, 2008
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WASA Executive Director Paul Rosier (second from right)
presents the report on behalf of the coalition. Also
pictured (L-to-R) are Dr. David Conley, Randy Parr and Bill
Freund.
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State funding of basic education would be tied to the actual costs of meeting the state’s expectations for student performance under a package of far-reaching recommendations presented by a coalition of the state’s largest education organizations past week.
The proposals were unveiled in a three-hour presentation to the state’s Basic Education Finance Joint Task Force by the Full Funding Coalition, which is comprised of the Washington State School Directors’ Association, the Washington Association of School Administrators, the Washington Education Association, the Association of Washington School Principals and Public School Employees of Washington.
The Joint Task Force was established by the Legislature last year to develop recommendations for updating the state’s basic education finance system, which was originally implemented in 1977 in response to court rulings which found that the state was not meeting its K-12 funding obligations under the state constitution.
The Coalition’s proposals are built around the core principle that Washington must transition to a funding system that pays for basic education based on what it actually costs to meet the state’s expectations for student learning.
"The current process for determining what goals schools are expected to accomplish and the funding they are provided to accomplish these goals are not connected," the Coalition’s report says. "This disconnect results in schools being expected to do things they are not capable of doing with the resources they have available to them."
The package also emphasizes the need for "two-way accountability," meaning schools should be held accountable in proportion to the state funding they receive. If state funding falls short of what it takes to reach state goals in a particular year, the Coalition says, then the state’s performance goals and accountability targets should be adjusted accordingly.
Other key concepts put forward by the Coalition include:
Redefining basic education to include all expectations, goals, requirements, practices and policies included in state and federal legislation, rules and regulations.
Establishing a new funding system that is based on actual costs and targeted to the needs of individual schools and students. The Coalition suggests the model of "prototype schools" used in the Washington Adequacy Funding Study, published by Dr. David Conley of the Educational Policy Improvement Center. Conley is serving as a consultant on the Coalition’s full funding project.
Creating a new Commission on Quality Education in Washington that would be responsible for determining the amount of money needed to make ample provision for the education of all Washington students based on the "prototype schools" model. The commission would also determine expected performance of schools in relation to state funding provided.
Shifting the focus of state school funding accountability from program compliance and fiscal inputs to student performance and outcomes. The Coalition proposes a new "Foundation Formula" that replaces 10 current basic education formulas with six, and gives districts more flexibility in using funds to meet state performance goals.
Distinguishing more clearly between local levies and state basic education funding. The Coalition recommends a Local Levy Program to identify levy expenditures and account for local levy funds separately from state basic education monies.
Saying it will take six years to transition to a new funding plan, the Coalition offered examples of how the system could be phased in with prioritized infusions of state funds. It also offered ideas on possible revenue sources to assist with the phase-in, including assigning a portion of state revenue increases to basic education funding and recapturing a portion of the uncollected state property tax.
In presenting the report, the Coalition emphasized that it is strongly interested in working with the Task Force to help develop a new basic education finance structure for Washington state.
"Our goal," the report says, "is to create a framework for a new state basic education funding system that meets Washington’s constitutional requirements, providing the necessary resources for students to have the opportunity to achieve the state’s learning goals within a framework of accountability, transparency, flexibility, and simplicity."
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