Washington Business Fall 2015 | Legislative Review | Page 16
2015 legislative review
Education & Workforce Development
Amy Anderson: Education, Workforce, Federal Issues, and AWB Institute
Once again, K-12 education funding
was a primary conversation throughout
the 2015 session, culminating with a
budget that included the largest new
K-12 investment in Washington state
legislative history. With a mandate
from the state Supreme Court to
adequately fund schools, the Legislature
had to address the difficult issues of
levy reform, class size, and student
assessments in order to develop a
budget and plan going forward that
would satisfy the McCleary decision
and the Supreme Court’s continued
oversight. The final $1.3 billion increase
— equating to 19 percent — provided
for all-day kindergarten, smaller
class sizes in grades K-3, a teacher
mentoring program, and a cost-of-living
adjustment for teachers.
Several measures were introduced
this year that attempted to address
the constitutional and equity issues
facing K-12 school funding that were
Amy Anderson, AWB government affairs director for education and workforce, testifies on Senate
raised by the state Supreme Court in
bills 6103 and 6109, regarding education funding.
the McCleary decision. At the core is
the over-reliance on local property tax
levies to fund the program of basic education, such as teacher and principal salaries, collective bargaining agreements and
health care benefits. The cost to remedy the situation is roughly $3 billion every two years. We expect lawmakers to continue
discussing a plan to address levy reform, and how to pay for it, in 2016 to ensure the state is in compliance with the McCleary
ruling by the statutory 2018 deadline.
Early learning and post-secondary education were also given boosts in the budget. Lawmakers passed the first-ever cut to college
tuition — a 15 percent tuition reduction for the University of Washington and Washington State University; a 20 percent tuition
reduction at regional universities; and a 5 percent tuition drop at community and technical colleges. The state made a $134
million investment in early learning to expand preschool, fund the Early Start Act,