State senators delivered a resounding message Wednesday, March 12 that a looming budget shortfall cannot deter them from upping special education funding for Washington public schools.

On a 48-0 vote, the Senate approved a bill to provide another $2 billion in the next four years for special education services in the state’s 295 public school districts.

Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, and Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, are the sponsors of Senate Bill 5263 which identifies special education as a component of basic education that the state has a duty to fund.

Pedersen said the tight budget situation is going to involve “some wrenching choices” but the state Constitution “is very clear that funding basic education is our paramount duty.”

“It is going to be expensive for us, but the fact that it is expensive doesn’t change that on the ground we’ve got kids with special needs who are in our charge and are relying on us to make sure that they get the education to which they’re entitled,” he said.

Braun pointed out that when the state Supreme Court issued its landmark McCleary decision over a decade ago, the justices did not address special education. In that ruling, the court found the state was not meeting its constitutional obligation to amply fund basic education.

“It was always deeply disappointing to me that we didn’t really get after this issue,” he said. “This bill, I think, is really the gold standard.”

“This is a tough year budget-wise. I do have deep concerns about this kind of move,” he said, citing the cost and other fiscal challenges. “I know that there’s a lot of time to go in the session before we settle on a final budget number, but I hope that we do make real progress in this area.”

The bill will next go to the House for consideration.

Urgent calls for more funding

Superintendents of school districts on both sides of the Cascades are pressing this session for additional state aid, saying they are forced to use local levy dollars to pay for programs and services that are the state’s financial responsibility. Some districts are strapped for cash and facing monitoring by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Shortly before the Senate vote, state schools superintendent Chris Reykdal delivered a letter to legislative leaders saying it is “imperative” they provide sufficient funding for public schools.

“If we don’t make significant investments now in special education and materials and supplies, we will see a larger number of school districts in binding conditions (financial oversight), with additional cuts to programming and staff in nearly all districts statewide,” he wrote.

But the extent to which lawmakers can help out is limited by the need for austerity in the face of a budget shortfall estimated at $12 billion or more over the next four fiscal years.

Last week, the Senate agreed to send another $200 million to districts in the next budget to cover materials, supplies and operating costs — MSOC in state budget lingo. These costs, which cover non-employee-related expenses tied to a district’s daily operations, have surged.

Senate Bill 5192, which passed on a 47-2 vote, originally directed $300 million to districts but was trimmed in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That bill also awaits action in the House.

Cap would be removed

Special education is the area where the gap is largest between what districts receive from the state and what they pay for with local dollars. Funding is distributed in Washington using two key mechanisms.

First, there is a cap on the percentage of a school district’s student population that can receive extra dollars for special education services.

Under current law, the state only provides additional funding for up to 16% of a district’s student population. In other words, if 20% of a district’s population requires special education services, the district cannot get additional money for the remaining 4%.

Second, the state distributes an amount of money for each student enrolled in a school, plus additional dollars for each special education student under a formula known as the multiplier.

The Senate bill approved Wednesday would remove the enrollment cap and increase the multiplier in order to drive more dollars to districts.

It also simplifies the formula used by the state to determine how much will be provided per student. And it makes it easier for districts to qualify for additional special education dollars through a safety net program run by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

As now written, the legislation would add $915 million into special education in the next two-year budget and another $1.1 billion in the 2027-29 biennium, according to a fiscal analysis.

That’s much less than the original bill would have provided. That more generous version steered $3.5 billion more into special education through mid-2029 but budgetary concerns led to its slimming.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will consider a bill to reduce state funding for bonuses for teachers who earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Educators with such certification receive an extra $6,324 a year plus another $5,000 if they work in a high-poverty school. In Washington, there are about 8,650 teachers who are national board certified and, of those, about 4,800 work at high-poverty schools.

Senate Bill 5737 would trim each bonus to $3,000 starting next school year. Each would increase annually by the amount of inflation.

Former Gov. Jay Inslee proposed pausing the bonuses entirely to save $151 million in the next budget and Gov. Bob Ferguson has endorsed the idea too. Reykdal opposes the move and is not supportive of permanently reducing the sums either.

Braun issued a statement late Wednesday saying the bonuses should not be cut, calling them a “valuable” tool in recruiting and retaining teachers.

Jerry Cornfield is a reporter for Washington State Standard, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and Twitter.