Urgent: "Sign in Pro" to support school funding by Wed 3/19 at 3 PM!

E2SSB 5263, the Special Education funding bill has been scheduled for a public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, March 19 at 4 PM. Also scheduled for March 19 is ESSB 5192, funding Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs (MSOC). This bill is nowhere near the level needed to fully close the gap between what the state allocates compared to what the costs are to operate schools, but it is a starting point and keeps the door open on the discussion.

 

WSPTA encourages all members to register their support for these two bills:

  • Sign in "Pro" - Special Education: click HERE to record your support for E2SSB 5263, indicate "Pro" and type "Parent Advocate" in the line for organization.

  • Sign in "Pro" - MSOC: click HERE to record your support for ESSB 5192 (Materials, Supplies, Operating Costs), indicate "Pro" and type "Parent Advocate" in the line for organization.

Send emails to Legislators - targeting school funding bills:

If you have time, email members of the House Appropriations Committee, to support our schools at the highest levels and to fill these funding gaps. It is the right thing to do and it is their constitutional duty to do so. They should not leave Olympia without fully funding basic K-12 education! Email addresses can be found here. Short on time? Focus on Reps. Ormsby, Macri, Gregerson, Fitzgibbon, Stonier and Speaker Jinkins.

timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov
nicole.macri@leg.wa.gov
mia.gregerson@leg.wa.gov
joe.fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov
monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov
laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov

Include the following points in your email:

For Special Education bill - S2SSB 5263, please make sure the following are included:

  • Removing the cap

  • Increasing the multiplier

  • Adding inclusionary practice funding

  • Lowering the safety net threshold

For MSOC (Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs) bill - ESSB 5192, please make sure the following are included:

  • Increasing the current MSOC funding by 20% to fill the statewide gap

  • Including a rebase every 4 years to maintain alignment between costs and funding

  • Adding a small school factor

  • Adding an annual inflationary factor

 

Big 3 School Funding Bills: Urgent deadline to pass committees by Friday!

(This will take 2 minutes or less)

Washington State is not meeting its “paramount duty to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders” to fully fund basic education.

We need your voice to keep the pressure on legislators to keep key K-12 basic education funding bills alive! February 28 is an important deadline for these bills to be acted on in their fiscal committees. Please take a moment to contact the members of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means Committees to take action on the bills to close critical funding gaps in Special Education services, Materials, Supplies, and Operating Costs (MSOC), and student transportation.

Click the following links to send 2 pre-written letters to Legislators!
**Edit text for your local school district** This was created by Shoreline PTSA Council who is sharing to PTAs statewide.


House Appropriations Committee: Link to Letter
Send a letter to all members of the House Appropriations Committee asking for HB 1579 to be scheduled for a hearing and to move forward HB 1310 and HB 1338 during executive session on 2/27 at 9am.

Senate Ways & Means Committee: Link to Letter

Send a letter to all members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee asking for SB 5187 to be added to the executive session and to move forward SB 5192 and SB 5263 during executive session on 2/27 at 1:30pm.

 

 

 

 

For more information about the School Funding Crisis go to our website waK12.org

 

A declining state priority. Increased student needs. Rising costs. Unfunded requirements.

These core issues are causing countless school districts across Washington to experience a financial crisis. The state of Washington is constitutionally responsible for fully funding the costs of basic education but even after reforms (the McCleary “Solution”), the state’s efforts aren’t keeping up with actual expenses.

 

Bellevue PTSA Council Advocacy:
School Funding Crisis - Legislative bills & Resources

Since 2020, funding gaps from the state have cost BSD $167.14 million dollars. This is in part due to the McCleary decision and the current education funding model, which now caps our local levy funding that voters in Bellevue have already approved. This has caused BSD to fall into a serious financial crisis as Dr. Aramaki recently presented a $20 million spending reduction plan for the 2025-2026 school year, to help stabilize the district’s finances. Check out this video explaining the state's funding crisis. 

 

The following graphic shows the state funding vs. BSD's actual costs in the "Big 3" categories of Special Education, MSOC (Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs), and Transportation. Closing the education funding gap is the #1 Legislative Priority for WSPTA and Bellevue PTSA Council. 

 

 

 

Please check out waK12.org that our Bellevue PTSA Council Advocacy committee along with Issaquah, Mercer Island and Lake Washington PTAs are continuously updating throughout the legislative session. You'll find information and action items that take 1-2 minutes that will make a big difference as we all advocate for our students who are impacted by these budget cuts! We have links to send a pre-written letter to your legislators, and opportunities to sign in "pro" for the bills that support the "Big 3". Sign up for Action Alerts to keep you alerted to these important actions you can take for high priority bills. Email advocacy@bellevueptsacouncil.com with questions and if you'd like to join meetings with legislators or testifying on bills.