The state’s teachers union is behind proposed legislation that could provide new salary money to schools in the Puget Sound area but exclude most other schools throughout the state.
House Bill 1484 would allow counties to pass a property tax for school employee salaries. The county would distribute the money to districts on a per-employee basis.
What happens to Snohomish County schools if they don’t pass the new tax for teachers’ pay and King County does? What happens to schools in Lewis and Grays Harbor counties if they don’t pass the new tax and their richer neighbor, Thurston County, does?
The bill is worse in poor rural counties. Yakima County, for example, has average personal incomes of $22,000 while average teachers’ incomes are $45,000. Yakima County won’t pass a tax to pay teachers even more when teachers are one of the best paid employee groups in the county.
Each county, under this bill, would have a top limit of what it can raise based on a housing cost formula. It begins at $0 for Ferry County and goes to $3,270 per school employee in Snohomish County.
Snohomish County would need a tax rate of 60 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation to collect its $3,270. King County is allowed $3,261 per school employee but only needs a tax rate of 33 cents. Snohomish County gets $9 per employee more than what King County educators would get, but Snohomish County taxpayers would pay almost twice the tax rate. The total county-wide tax would be $32 million.
The Marysville School District already pays three times the tax rate Bellevue pays for its local school levy. Bellevue collected $1,791 in 2005 for its levy with a $1.02 tax rate. Marysville collected $1,502 with a tax rate of $3.15, counting its levy equalization – a state match for local levy dollars to reduce tax rates in districts with relatively low property values. Marysville citizens might not vote to add on 60 cents more for teacher salaries.
Gov. Christine Gregoire’s budget proposal makes matters worse by failing to fully fund levy equalization. If equalization were fully funded, Marysville’s levy tax rate could be lowered while state matching dollars replace the reduced levy revenues.
The Washington Education Association – the teachers’ union – has repeatedly stated HB1484 is needed because high-cost districts suffer far more staff turnover due to housing. Research by the University of Washington’s Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession in March 2005, however, showed the largest urban districts had the lowest teacher turnover rates. Yet WEA continues its rationale.
Research also shows there is higher teacher turnover in poorer areas. Some teachers seek a better chance of professional success in richer districts. Poorer districts have lower local levies and, as a result, they have larger classes, less extra pay for training days, older curriculum, and fewer assistants, specialists, counselors, secretaries and administrators per student to help in the classroom. State tests also show poverty areas have far more students failing the WASL.
Richer districts give higher extra yearly pay from their higher levy money. Bellevue, Mukilteo and Everett offer some $8,000 more to teachers, on average, than the state salary funding formula. Lakewood offers $3,800 and Granger, in Yakima County, provides $1,900. Most of the added money is for extra training days.
Snohomish County’s voters are strong levy supporters. Each district in the county collects over 22 percent of what the district otherwise receives in state and federal dollars, including $8 million in equalization.
Lower levies in poorer areas are not for lack of effort. Over 90 percent of Granger’s students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. Its far poorer citizens pay 40 percent higher local levy tax rates than Bellevue, but Granger receives half what Bellevue gets in per-student levy dollars.
Granger parents in a $150,000 home would pay more levy tax dollars than Bellevue parents in a $1 million home if Granger wanted the same per student dollars as Bellevue, even counting equalization.
The grossly inequitable levy system would get only worse with HB 1484 (its companion bill in the Senate is SB 5786). The unfair taxes already paid in both Yakima and Snohomish counties might preclude them from passing new taxes for salaries, making them less competitive in attracting quality teachers. Teachers would gravitate to the higher salaries and better working conditions of richer schools.
The governor should work to correct the gross inequities of our school levy system. She should fully fund the current equalization law and expand its funding in the future. Teachers in poorer areas should not receive less pay or less training for the tougher work they do. And no citizens should have to pay considerably higher taxes to get their children comparable educational programs.
Neal Kirby, a former Democratic state representative from the 7th District, chaired the Committee for Levy Equalization, helping it become law. He currently is a principal at Edison Elementary in Centralia.
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