What bills will we see in the 2024 Legislative Session…and how to get involved: Part 3—Equity funding, school construction, and abolition

by the WAESN Legislative Committee

Equity Funding and School Construction

After the McCleary ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court of 2011, where the state was found guilty of not adequately funding education, there has been intense debate as to how to solve this problem. In 2018, only after state legislators made changes to our funding formulas, did the Supreme Court rule that we had met “adequate” funding according to the constitution. Many experts disagree with this assessment, including University of Washington professor David Knight, who was even published in the Seattle Times. 

This fall, the Court, which many were seeing as a reincarnation of McCleary, ruled against the Wakhaikum school district. According to the unanimous decision, “capital construction costs” must be shared between the state and local districts. This recent ruling puts the burden on local districts to fund what many would consider basic construction costs that come with maintaining our schools so they simply don’t become dilapidated and unable to provide a healthy and safe space for our young people to learn. In wake of the ruling, districts like Wakhaikum, who have failed to pass levies for school construction are still facing budget shortages and outdated buildings. 

Legislators have some awareness of this issue, having prefiled HB2017, SB5789, HB1044, and a joint resolution to amend the constitution, SJR8207. Each one of these bills attempts to address some of the challenges that are facing smaller and poorer districts, like Wakhaikum. We won’t go into a deep analysis of each of these bills here but expect more analysis and advocacy in the coming session. HB1044, which has a companion bill SB5126, will establish three years of “modernization” grants to go to small school districts. HB2017 and SJR8027 (which will go to a people’s vote in the next general election if passed) address changing the majority needed to pass levies on property taxes for school funding from 2/3rd majority to a simple majority. Finally, SB5789 will exempt districts from having to pay sales taxes for districts who receive funding from SCAP, or the School Construction Assistance Program. This change, sponsored by Mark Mullet, would be a small band aid for the program that doesn’t address its structural inequities. SCAP will continue to fund wealthier districts under these changes, contributing to the inequity of our already disproportionately funded districts. We have two funding mechanisms that progressively distribute education funds, but both of these programs remain underfunded given our legislators’ current priorities this session. We, at WAESN, remain disappointed with the reforms we are seeing this year in the state legislature. Legislators seem aware of the issues facing our schools and community, but their approaches to solving these issues beat around the bush. 

Abolition

Finally, a key pillar to ethnic studies is abolition. We must find ways to break down the school to prison pipeline and we are thankful to be in partnership organizations doing this important work. We are tracking two bills we loosely call abolitionist, the first, HB1513, invests in finding non-punitive alternatives for non-moving vehicle violations. The bill leaves much to be desired but does incentivize the creation of voucher programs and “fix it tickets,” among other non-punitive alternatives. For example, this would provide low-income drivers with vouchers to fix broken lights, rather than fee-based tickets; one small step in the process of rethinking using punishment such as financial burden for low level infractions. While right-wingers decry that Washington is the “wild west” in our decriminalization of drugs and our defunding of the police (both not true), we are actually barely making headway to pass research-backed criminal reform like HB1513 or an income-based fee scale. 

The final bill we will highlight is HB 1479, which is a carryover from last session, that deals with controversial isolation and restraint practices in our schools. We are in strong support of this reform bill, as many of our partners have been fighting for these important policy changes. ACLU of Washington goes more into depth on this policy, its implications, and the need for changes. 

NEXT STEPS, ACTIONS ITEMS, and EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS!

That was a lot! Thank you for reading this far. We know this was only a partial overview of what will be a busy short session, so keep a close look at our Instagram for updates, or sign up here for updates. As always, if you are looking to get started and feeling intimidated, check out our landing page for those who are policy-curious!  We love working with educators, so please be in touch if you have questions on how to use our resources in your classroom!

Join us March 2nd 11:00am—3:00pm for our spring In Lak’Ech organizing meeting where we’ll recap the legislative session and plan for 2025! This is a free event open to anyone who’s down to be part of a growing coalition and can make a mean charcuterie board!

The legislative committee has two more important announcements! This fall and winter we have accepted our two first interns, both undergraduate students interested in law and Ethnic Studies. We are lucky to have Elizabeth Rojas, a senior at University of Washington majoring in Education, Communities, and Organizations. We are excited about a continued partnership with the University of Washington, working with their students and teacher candidates. We are also graced, once again, by Priyanka Mukhara, a sophomore at Harvard University, and previously a WAESN Youth Advisory Board member. We have all grown since Priyanka’s previous tenure with us, so her return is a refreshing reminder of how much we have done, how much we can change, and how much we have learned in the past few years.