Across Washington State public schools are facing a worsening budget crisis that threatens to spiral out of control, causing cuts to programs, teacher layoffs, and even school closures. The future of our public schools is at stake. Unfortunately, the state legislature continues to deliberately and knowingly underfund public education, with state spending per pupil actually […]
Robert Cruickshank
Designed to Fail: The Legislature’s McCleary solution has collapsed
Five years ago the state legislature adopted a new education funding plan intended to comply with an order from the Washington State Supreme Court. The Court had found the state was in violation of Article IX of the state constitution, which states “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for […]
Federal, state, and local leaders need to step up for students, educators, and families
Our schools are in crisis. The cause is both a pandemic as well as centuries of white supremacy and oppression. As school districts across Washington State rightly choose to keep classrooms closed this fall due to public health needs, we need our leaders to do more and better to meet the needs of students, parents, […]
Some truths about local levies and teacher pay
Schools across Washington State are gearing up for huge cuts and mass teacher layoffs – even as the state legislature claims they have fully funded public education. Washington’s Paramount Duty has mobilized parents across the state to fight these cuts by pressing legislators for more funds for public schools. We have two main approaches: more […]
Stop Betsy DeVos policies in Washington State – what happened to SB 5313
In the dead of night, at 1:30 in the morning, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed the bill proposing to address the school district levy lid issue, SB 5313. But the only way they could do so was to meet the demands of Democratic Senators Guy Palumbo (1st District) and Mark Mullet (5th District) […]
Update from Olympia – and Call to Action
HELP US ADVOCATE to lawmakers to amply fund Washington public schools with new, fair, and dependable tax sources—while preserving other very essential state services. As we explain in more detail below, now is the time to mobilize! Please join this fight with your voice and time. CALL OR SEND AN EMAIL Right now the most […]