New data from the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that Washington state leads the nation in increasing spending for students in public education. Researchers at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank have produced a series of interactive maps showing increases in public education spending in the 50 states between 2008 and 2015-16.   The per-student data appears in the second map on this page. The title is “General K-12 Funding Per Student Still Lower than 2008 in 25 States, Change in formula funding* per student, inflation-adjusted.”

The state-by-state data shows lawmakers in Washington state have increased per-student education spending by $460 (8%) over the previous year, more than any other state.   The Center reports that all state spending figures are adjusted for inflation.

My research on Washington state spending, using data from Office of Financial Management in Olympia and school district budgets confirms the liberal Center’s national findings.  Official data for Washington public schools show:

· State spending per student has increased to a record $9,024 in 2016-17;

· Total spending from all sources, state, local and federal taxpayers, has increased to nearly $13,000 per student;

· The legislature has increased school spending by 34% in four years; working families and other taxpayers are providing more money to public school districts than ever before.

· Since 2012, the state has provided $4.6 billion more to schools, to a total of $18.2 billion to schools in 2015-17· State education spending is at the highest point in history, and, at 47%, represents the highest-ever portion of the state budget;

· The state’s largest district, in Seattle, now spends $15,000 per student, about twice the amount of private school tuition.

As the state supreme court’s McCleary appears to be bogging down (the growing frustration of the justices was evident in last week’s hearing as I wrote here and here), it is good news that Washington now leads the nation in increasing per-student school spending.  That is a positive trend that should be encouraging to lawmakers and parents as our elected leaders work to improve the education of all children in our state.