HOW THE GAP HURTS OUR KIDS
The shameful status quo
Parents and their children live and breathe the school funding gap: The overcrowded classrooms … the lack of basic textbooks and essential learning materials … the slow erosion of arts, music, theatre and sports programs … the unsafe buildings … the overwhelmed teachers … the endless cycle of bake sales and fundraisers to try to make up the difference.
And the worst consequence may be that too many have come to accept to the shameful status quo of the K-12 funding gap:
The Per-Student Funding Gap
Washington ranks a woeful 40th in the nation in per-student funding — 20% below the national average and below states like Alabama and Mississippi. Vermont spends nearly double what we do per student.1
The Local Levy Gap
Levies cost local school districts $3.5 billion school districts per year — but they were only intended to only fund “enrichment programs” beyond the scope of basic education. The funding gap has forced districts to use levies to fund many basic education needs, like counselors, nurses, arts and music programs, books and supplies, teacher and staff salaries, disabilities programs, and maintenance. Statewide, local levies now cost a total of $3.5 billion per year2 — an average of nearly $3,200 per student!
The Class-Size Gap
Washington’s schoolchildren are crammed into some of the most-overcrowded classrooms in America. As a consequence, they lack the classrooms and personal attention they need to fully engage in learning and receive meaningful feedback from their teachers. In 2015, Washington classrooms ranked as the 4th-most crowded classrooms nationally.3
The Opportunity Gap
The funding gap leaves too many of our kids unprepared to compete for jobs in today’s economy. Over 22% of Washington kids don’t graduate, while only 39% are adequately prepared for college or careers.4 Increasing per-student spending has been shown to improve our children’s long-run prospects for educational achievement and future earning power.5
The Equity Gap
The funding gap leaves behind too many children in too many communities. The funding failure has widened the achievement gap between children in high-poverty neighborhoods, which disproportionally include communities of color and 1st-generation families, and children from communities with greater resources. Students in high-poverty schools lag behind in graduation rates, college enrollment, personal safety and health.6
Not every problem can be solved by education funding alone. Other factors contribute and the social and economic dynamics are complex. But perhaps no action can make as big a difference now for the future of Washington’s children as closing the basic education funding gap.
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1 Education Week, January 2015. Data from Education Week Research Center, 2015. Figures adjusted using NCES.
2 http://rosshunter.com/2015/08/mccleary-phase-ii/
3 http://www.nea.org/home/rankings-and-estimates-2014-2015.html
4 http://greatergood.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/01/2016_GG_FisforFunding.pdf