Take Action
IN THE Washington LEGISLATURE
At the state Level
Urge State Legislators to Fully Fund K-12 Public Schools Now
The Washington State Legislature will announce funding for public schools by March 7, 2024
What you need to know
The Problem:
Schools across Washington State, including Seattle Public Schools, face growing structural budget deficits that threaten to cause huge cuts and even school closures. The underlying cause of these deficits is the state legislature’s failure to fully fund our public schools as required by the state constitution.
The Solution:
The Washington State legislature must meet its constitutional obligation to fully fund K-12 education during the 2024 legislative session, averting budget cuts and school closures that would harm our kids. Specifically, we urge the legislature to take the following steps:
Use funds from the state’s $1.2 billion surplus to help school districts close their budget deficits.
Eliminate the cap on special education funding and fully fund special education.
Convene a joint task force of legislators, policy experts, educators, families, and students to study and propose a long-term funding solution to ensure Washington State’s schools are amply funded.
Find your legislative district, then contact your legislators to urge them to fully fund K-12 public education and close public school district budget deficits in Seattle and across the state.
We Can Make a Difference All Together Right Now.
Here's an online Form Letter you can use to send a message to your legislator today.
How does this affect the school district?
Washington State's paramount duty is to fully fund K-12 public education. In recent years, the state legislature has increased funding in many areas of education. But the cost of providing services to our students surpasses what the state provides in some cases. For example, in Seattle, state and federal funding provide only half of the $250 million SPS spends on special education services.
Right now, there is $1.2 billion in excess revenue that the state has collected. We want the State Legislature to use this extra revenue, or some combination of other progressive revenue options, to fully fund K-12 schools.
SPS Budget Timeline
SPS has already been working on developing its 2024-25 budget.
The 2024 Legislative session is 60 days, and runs January 8 - March 7, 2024.
In March 2024, we will know whether the State will increase funding to SPS. Then we will know the size of the budget gap for SPS.
If the state provides more funding, SPS may not have to make major program cuts and school closures which would harm our kids.
SPS is expected to present a preview of its proposed budget to the SPS Board on March 20, 2024.
SPS presents is budget on June 10, 2024 and holds a public hearing.
The SPS Board votes on the 2024-25 budget on July 2, 2024.
CALLS TO ACTION (JANUARY 2024)
Contact your legislator
Find your district and then send an email to your legislator urging them to fully fund K-12 public education now.
Contact the school board & Superintendent
Ask the school board and superintdendent to use their power to advocate for more funding from the state.
Spread the word
Commit to sharing this with people who support public education in Washington State. All Together, we can make a difference.