An Overview of Public School Funding in Washington
2006-09
Operating expenditures for K-12 public schools in Washington have increased almost 92 percent in real terms since 1982, even though student population has increased by only 36 percent. In 2005, Washington taxpayers spent about $9,500 per public school student.
In contrast, private schools typically spend around $6,000 per student. Even taking the differences in their missions into account, public schools still spend over 50 percent more per student than private schools, and generally achieve poorer academic results.
A little over one million students attend Washington public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12). Across the state, 2,251 K-12 public schools are organized into 296 school districts. In addition, about 73,000 students attend private schools and a further 19,000 students are home-schooled.
In 2005, there were 53,117 certificated public school teachers, 3,925 administrators, 36,502 classified staff (food services, transportation, building and plant care, and administration employees), and 6,906 support services personnel, for a total public school workforce of a little over 100,000.
The state’s total population, however, has grown at a much faster pace than the number of students, creating a larger tax base to pay for educating a proportionately smaller number of students. Between 1971 and 2006, the state population increased by almost three million people (82 percent), while K-12 public school enrollment increased by only little over 200,000 students (25 percent).
Yet, while K-12 student enrollment in public schools has increased by only a quarter, the number of teachers on the public payroll has risen more than twice as fast, growing 68 percent over the last 30 years.
In the early 1990s, the legislature adopted the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test to insure that graduating students have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the modern economy. The legislature made passing the WASL a requirement for receiving a high school diploma.
The first major deadline for implementation of this reform occurs in June 2008. High school students will not receive diplomas if they fail to pass the reading, writing and math on the 10th grade WASL by the time they graduate. In other words, students must pass a sophomore-level exam in order to graduate from high school, and are given two years to do so.
Over the years the state has implemented a number of targeted programs to improve student learning, with only limited success. Since 1992, the state has spent, in nominal dollars, almost $1.7 billion on targeted education reform efforts. Much of this is in addition to the basic funding the state provides for public education. A partial list of these programs follows.
21st Century Schools – 1993
Readiness to Learn – 1993
Math Initiative – 1993
Para-Professional Training – 1993
School to Work – 1994
Reading Program – 1997
Reading Grants – 1998
Reading Corps – 1999
Second Grade Reading – 2000
Math Helping Corps – 2000
Summer Accountability Inst.– 2000
I-732 Teacher Pay Raises – 2000
Web Instructional Network – 2002
I-728 Student Achievement – 2002
Mentor Teacher Fund – 2002
Focused Assistance – 2002
On the whole, public schools in Washington are failing to educate children to the standard set by the state. While Washington compares favorably on some national measures, the results for the 2004-05 Washington Assessment for Student Learning (WASL) show that in general public schools are failing to educate children to the academic standard required by law.
In fourth grade, only 79 percent of Washington students met the WASL reading standard, 57 percent met the writing standard, and 60 percent met the math standard.
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In seventh grade, 69 percent met the WASL reading standard, 61 percent met the writing standard and 37 percent met the math standard.
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In tenth grade, 60 percent of students met the reading standard, 65 percent met the writing standard and 39 percent met the math standard.
In all three grades less than 37 percent of students met the WASL standard in science. Test results show that often the longer a student remains in public school the greater the chance of failing a portion of the WASL.
The failure of public schools to teach students adequately is not the result of inadequate funding. Education spending in Washington has increased sharply in recent decades – by any reasonable measure public schools are well funded – yet there has been only a slight increase in student performance.
The quality of public education is not necessarily related to the level of spending. This can be seen in both national and international test scores, which show that high academic achievement is often not parallel to high levels of education spending.
Similarly, measures such as spending per student, number of students per teacher, average teacher salary, and level of spending by local school districts are not reliable predictors of high academic performance.
Washington’s adoption of a standard test, the WASL, has been successful at moving the culture of the education system from measuring inputs (number of dollars spent) to measuring output (how well students are learning).
The research argues not for lowering test standards, which would only result in more poorly educated students being graduated into society, but for maintaining standards and improving student learning.
Policymakers should decentralize the management of education by giving local principals more control over spending decisions. Those principals should then be held accountable for how well their school is accomplishing its educational mission.
Similarly, policymakers should allow principals to adopt merit or performance-based pay for teachers. Policymakers who support performance pay systems show respect for students, parents and taxpayers, who have a right to expect that public schools will consistently and effectively educate children.
Simply increasing education budgets, as argued, will not improve the quality of student learning in Washington. Blindly boosting spending not only misuses the public’s money, it contributes to public distrust when people are told schools are improving when in fact that is not happening.
Only dramatic, proven reforms, not increased spending, will significantly improve the academic achievement of Washington students.