Proposal adds no new money to solve serious budget crises at our K-12 public schools
SEATTLE – Washington’s Paramount Duty President Robert Cruickshank issued the following statement rejecting Governor-Elect Bob Ferguson’s budget priorities for 2025-2027:
“The governor-elect needs to go back to the drawing board, because these priorities will fail our students. School districts across the state face serious budget woes that will lead to cuts that will harm students, eliminate programs, lay off teachers, and even close schools. Yet Ferguson doesn’t propose even a single dime to solve those problems.
While we welcome money for universal free school meals, we also need funding to solve school district budget deficits. Ferguson also promised on the campaign trail to provide more money for special education services and to shrink class sizes. These priorities don’t keep those promises.
In election results and in polls from fall 2024, Washington State voters have made it clear they strongly support taxing the rich to fund public schools. Ferguson has a mandate to do it and the public will stand with him if he does. Legislators will have to step up for our schools if Ferguson will not.
Ferguson is right that K-12 public education should be more than 42% of the state budget. But that must be achieved by adding new money to our schools, not by cutting everything else. If I spend $4 out of a $10 budget on something, I’m not actually spending more on that thing if I still spend just $4 on it but reduce my overall budget to $8. Show us the new money, Governor-elect.
We urge Ferguson to come out to the Billion Dollar Bake Sale in Olympia on January 30 so he can hear for himself from parents, students, and educators from across the state just how bad things have gotten in our schools – and why we need him to step up and lead by providing billions in new revenue for public education.“