Were you or your student affected by last year’s budget cuts? Were you frustrated that advocacy efforts were ineffective? Let’s not let this happen again! Here are some actions you can take TODAY (and before Monday Feb 5th).
QUICK WINS:
- Mail in your Bond/Levy ballot TODAY with a YES Vote for Propositions 1 & 2.
This ballot is due via mail by February 13th and will support new construction and fund technology upgrades.
Impact on District Budget:
- If Bond passes: New schools will help strengthen future enrollment.
- If Levy passes: funding for necessary tech upgrades will no longer need to be paid from the general fund, providing INCREMENTAL money for the district.
Tell a neighbor or friend to vote YES on the bond and click here for other ways to help in the next two weeks: yesfoesdrkids.org
- STATE YOUR POSITION
SB5882 would ADD para-educators to districts. Use the link below to contact the Senate Ways and Means Committee and state your “Pro” position on this bill. THE COMMITTEE WILL VOTE ON SATURDAY 2/3. COMMENTS ARE DUE BY 2/2.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=Senate&mId=31873&aId=158529&caId=23806&tId=3
If you want to provide written testimony, please use the link below
https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=Senate&mId=31873&aId=158529&caId=23806&tId=4
- SEND EMAILS
Email this list of Legislators and Aides by Monday February 5th to tell your story of how funding impacts you and ask for Supplemental Operating Budget for Schools.
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In your email, please specify the two action items listed below along with your personal story of how funding cuts last year impacted your family.
You can write your own message or use the information below to simply copy and paste into your email:
“Dear Legislators and Legislative Assistants of the Edmonds School District:
I am concerned with the chronic underfunding of public K-12 schools. Despite 44% of the overall state budget going to school districts, the current funding model does not fully take into account the current costs to run the district.
My district, The Edmonds School District had a $15M cut last year and is facing an estimated $11M in cuts this year.
The impact on my family was________(please fill in your personal story)
Please take the following actions this session:
1) Add an allocation for K-12 funding to the supplemental operating budget that is 44% of the anticipated $1.2B surplus. These funds would be equitably distributed to each district based on district enrollment to help us bridge the funding gap.
2) Vote yes on HB 2458. This will bring an estimated $3M back to the Edmonds School District.
Sincerely, ”
-end of email-
If these efforts are successful and the requests above are met, the Edmonds school district should receive $12M of incremental funding for the ‘24-’25 school year.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR YOUR REFERENCE
Why get involved?
Last year, many of us – students, parents and the community at large – got involved when we learned that music and performing arts classes were going to be cut for the 2023-2024 school year. Unfortunately, we engaged after the budget cut decisions had been made and our efforts were not very successful. Many of us were left wondering, how can we get involved sooner? And how can we be impactful and make a difference? The requests above are the first in a series of quick actions we can take over the next few weeks to try to make an impact on the legislature during their short session. Key deadlines and votes are already happening. We must act now.
Why is the current state funding model leaving the district short?
Did you know the Edmonds School District is facing an estimated $11 million budget shortfall for the ‘24-’25 school year? This is due in part to an obsolete state funding model that does not take into account the current costs to run a district, leaving schools perpetually underfunded.
Did you also know that currently 44% of the state budget goes to public education? Additionally, the State of Washington is projecting an estimated budget surplus of over $1.2 billion dollars at the end of the fiscal year (July 2024)? If the legislature allocates the surplus using the same percentage of typical funding, it would mean $9.5M back to our district.
When will I know if my efforts helped? What else can I do?
The short legislative session ends on March 6th. Bills are currently moving through the chambers. We will send out action sheets when there is going to be a hearing or a vote on a bill that can help our district with incremental funding. We hope that you will continue to send emails, make phone calls and even sign up to give video testimony to support our funding requests.
Important Documents:
Below are a few links to documents that will help you understand more about the current statewide education funding situation:
Letter from Nancy Katims, School Board President on education underfunding
Chris Reykdal-Washington Superintendent of Public Schools presentation on School Funding
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w4S4gMbt9upFkmRJrNI5a42xWU3lAk_2/view?usp=sharing
