SEATTLE — The debate in Olympia over dollars for education is starting to heat up, with the state teachers union running radio ads decrying proposed cuts and education officials bracing for even more.
Math teacher Andi Nofziger-Meadows speaks for the Washington Education Association in its ad that began airing this week. She has taught at Mountlake Terrace High School for the past 11 years and has worked in education for a total of 16 years.
“I love my job, and I work hard every day to give my students a great education. That’s why I’m so worried about all the talk that the Legislature may cut school funding by $1 billion or more,” Nofziger-Meadows says in the ad. “As a teacher, I know that’s the wrong answer. In these tough economic times we must protect our investment in our kids, who are our future.”
The governor’s budget proposes suspending two citizens initiatives, which give schools money to cut class sizes and to give teachers cost-of-living raises. She also suggested lowering levy equalization, which gives more money to tax-poor school districts.
Lawmakers are debating what impact the expected deficit will have on the budget for the next biennium. Officials announced Thursday that tax revenue is expected to drop another $2.3 billion through mid-2011, pushing the state’s projected deficit to about $8.3 billion.
Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, said people are starting to understand what an economic crisis the state is facing. The chairwoman of the Senate education committee said she doesn’t expect any bills with new dollars attached to pass out of her committee for the rest of the legislative session.
“Our responsibility right now is to take care of this budget crisis,” McAuliffe said.
State schools Superintendent Randy Dorn said this week that he expects 2,000 to 3,000 teachers and as many education support workers could be laid off in the next two years because of the budget deficit.
“We are in a crisis, and I don’t use that word lightly,” he told a Seattle newspaper. “What you’re going to hear for the next two years is, ‘We don’t have the money.’ “
In addition to opposing the budget cuts proposed by the governor, the WEA is campaigning against two bills that would change the way the state pays for K-12 education because neither plan includes new dollars to pay for the proposed changes.
McAuliffe said the two bills that came out of a legislative task force assigned to redefine basic education and the way the state pays for schools are being replaced with a compromise proposal that includes a plan for figuring out how to pay for future changes.
Representatives from all the groups interested in the state’s education system — about 35 people, including state education officials, union leaders, citizen groups and lawmakers — sat down this week to discuss what that new proposal will include.
Lawmakers will work on the revised proposal for the next few weeks, and McAuliffe promised something will be passed on this subject before the Legislature adjourns April 26. She said next year’s lawmakers will come prepared to talk in more detail about where the money will come from.
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