[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a Reader. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The B-Town Blog nor its staff:]
Of note from an article in the Seattle Times there is news out of Olympia regarding our schools and the Highline School District with its burgeoning enrollment of kindergartners. Up until now our state’s approach for determining school-space requirements dates back to the Eisenhower era, and it hasn’t changed much over the years. Currently, the state funds less than a quarter of your local school-construction costs. School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) formula which is currently used, is in dire need of reform. As a first step to “reform the formula,” a bipartisan Senate Bill, SB 6080 proposes a temporary, six-year program as a way to bring the state’s outdated model into 21st century realities.
SB 6080, would launch a six-year building program that would provide funding for up to 2,200 classrooms for kindergarten through third-grade students. Under this plan, a renewed emphasis is on school construction in each of our next three biennial capital budgets. It would add $240 million a biennium to our current school-construction budget — about three-quarters of $1 billion in total — without exceeding our state’s debt limit or endangering our state’s triple-A bond rating.
Just as important, this plan makes essential changes in how the state prioritizes and allocates its dollars. Under today’s system, wealthier districts find it easier to raise money for new schools than poorer districts, particularly those that are experiencing the fastest growth and have the greatest needs. The current construction model is based on property values, not poverty rates, and it does not reflect the actual needs of our communities.
The new model would include, for the first time, a special poverty-rate enhancement in the state match. Districts that have a higher rate of students receiving free or reduced-cost lunches would receive more money. The Highline district has a 70% free and reduced lunch program that verifies its qualification as a district that warrants poverty-rate enhancement. School districts would be able to decide if they want to build a new school or expand an existing school by adding a modular wing or durable portables.
SB 6080 is sponsored by Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, overseeing K-12 education finance and Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, the assistant ranking member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where she serves as ranking member on the state capital construction budget.
– Kathleen Waters
Of note from an article in the Seattle Times there is news out of Olympia regarding our schools and the Highline School District with its burgeoning enrollment of kindergartners. Up until now our state’s approach for determining school-space requirements dates back to the Eisenhower era, and it hasn’t changed much over the years. Currently, the state funds less than a quarter of your local school-construction costs. School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) formula which is currently used, is in dire need of reform. As a first step to “reform the formula,” a bipartisan Senate Bill, SB 6080 proposes a temporary, six-year program as a way to bring the state’s outdated model into 21st century realities.[Have an opinion or concern you’d like to share with our ~80,000+ monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please remain civil and, pending our review, we’ll consider publishing it.]