What our schools need

Enrollment in the La Conner School District is shrinking while costs continue to rise. Administrators need to be jugglers and magicians, both. They are.

A year after climbing out of a hole from having spent too much and thus having too little set aside for reserves – and the resulting state oversight that brought – the district is in good financial shape even with the related dilemmas of fewer students and the corresponding fewer state dollars. While it is little comfort to know most school systems in the state are in similar straits, it indicates that the struggles are not unique and the solution lies in the collective action of pressing the case with our state legislators and securing more funding.

Though it is true that high housing costs and the coronavirus pandemic are parental and community pressures contributing to reduced student populations, they are universal factors. Everyone shares these difficulties, nationally as well as statewide.

Similarly, rising costs, underfunding and many increased, imposed responsibilities are common statewide.

Studies and reports from Washington organizations, the League of Education Voters and the Washington Association of School Administrators among them, all come to similar conclusions. The news group, the Washington State Standard, has offered in depth reporting, making the same analysis.

First, inflation is real, whether it is a carton of milk, the rise in diesel fuel or staff salaries.

Second and third are the level of special education and mental health needs and insufficient state dollars to fully cover these needed programs.

The school administrators association says the core issue is “restore the state’s investment in K-12 education and align state resources with the actual needs and expenses of school districts.”

In 2012 the Washington state Supreme Court decided the McCleary case, ruling that the state was not meeting its constitutional mandate to fund public education.

Our state’s constitution reads: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex.”

Society looks to – and has pushed – schools taking on more and more responsibilities that are core, necessary educational functions. Funding has not followed the programs imposed.

Our legislators create the state budget and make funding decisions. Residents, as voters, elect legislators. Responsible voters will support candidates following the state’s constitutional duty to fully fund basic K-12 education. Operating costs, special education and mental health needs are not add-ons but core fundamentals for both students and staff.

These needed investments in schools is critical to every citizen in our society. Our students’ futures are inextricably linked to all of our health, economic, mental and physical wellbeing. If we continue to shortchange our kids, we diminish the lives of everyone in the community.

The Washington Association of School Administrators long term solution: “Reexamine the McCleary ‘Solution’ to fix some of the structural issues and develop a school funding mechanism that recognizes the unique needs and differences of Washington’s 295 school districts. One size does not fit all.

“The underfunding of education through an insufficient funding model is hurting our schools, our students, our communities, and ultimately our state’s future.”

Students need us now but in the long run the future is in their hands. Best that we prepare them for it, for our own good.