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    An Educational Funding Position Paper From Superintendents of NW Educational Service District 189, Washington

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    westello7136
    A letter from superintendents in NW Educational Service District 189, the school districts of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties about public education funding and the fulfillment of the court case about that topic known as McCleary.

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    An Educational Funding Position Paper From Superintendents of NW Educational Service District 189, Washington

    Uploaded by

    westello7136
    189 views6 pages
    A letter from superintendents in NW Educational Service District 189, the school districts of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties about public education funding and the fulfillment of the court case about that topic known as McCleary.

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    An Educational Funding Position Paper from Superintendents of NW Educational Service District 189, Washington

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    A letter from superintendents in NW Educational Service District 189, the school districts of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties about public education funding and the fulfillment of the court case about that topic known as McCleary.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    189 views6 pages

    An Educational Funding Position Paper From Superintendents of NW Educational Service District 189, Washington

    Uploaded by

    westello7136
    A letter from superintendents in NW Educational Service District 189, the school districts of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties about public education funding and the fulfillment of the court case about that topic known as McCleary.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Northwest Educational == Service District 189 ee Together We Can oie eee Se ‘An Educational Funding Position Paper Submitted by the Superintendents of the ‘Northyrest Educational Service District 189 Region March 23,2017 Recipients: Office ofthe Governor Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Legislators of the I" District, Legislators ofthe 10 District Legislators ofthe 21% District Legislators ofthe 32° District Legislators of the 38° District Legislators of the 39 District Legislators ofthe 40* District Legislators ofthe 42% District Legislators of the 44% District ‘Members of the House Appropriations Committee Members ofthe Senate Ways and Means Committee ‘Members ofthe Education Funding Task Force Leadership of the Washington State Board of Education Leadership of the Washington Association of School Administrators Leadership of the Association of Washington School Princ [Leadership of the Washington State School Directors Association Leadership ofthe Washington Association of School Business Officials Educational Service District Superintendents ‘As superintendents of the Northwest Educational Service District 189 region, we represent the ‘school districts of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties thet collectively employ over 9,500 professional educators serving 165,000 of our State's 1.1 nlion K-12 students. Like many, we remain deeply invested in the 2017 legislative session and progress towards meeting the constitutional mandate to fully and amply fund basic ‘education, Our positions provide us the unigue and daily perspective to appreciate what this will ‘mean forthe promotion of equity and opportunity forthe students, families, staff end communities we seve. ‘We appreciate the thoughtfl and substantive legislative funding proposals presented thus fain the session and belive that each contains potentially viable elements ofa final compromise plan. Rather than advocate for or against a particular bill or proposal, we recently engaged in a regional consensus building activity focused on the broad policy choices and options represented by the various funding proposels. Emerging from that proces are the following regional positions we urge you to incorporate into the final compromise plan we eager await: [Educational Funding Postion Paper by the Superintendent ofthe NWESD 189 Region ‘March 23,2017; Page 2 ofS Collective Bargaining - We are unanimous in our stance thet collective bargaining must be reformed. Ata minimum, "guardrails" or "bumpers" must be in place that prohibit bargaining ‘of local levy resources for basic education duties and responsibilities. Without reform of collective bargaining - particularly around use of local levy resources - we are strongly ‘concerned that a significant new investment of State resources will not produce th cutcomes and program improvements the Legislature intends. We are further concemed tht absent reform of collective bargaining a it curently exists, a regression tothe current unconstitutional funding system at some point in the future isa certainty ‘Salary Schedule and Salary Allocation Model - We support continuation of a state salary schedule and allocation model to assure consistency, uniformity and equity across our region and state. We are open to proposals that would simplify the curent model with fewer educational, certification and/or experience steps; however, the sate salary schedule is basis {or local salary schedules across our region, and eliminating it altogether would presenta significant challenge foreach district o create and negotiate individually ‘TRI and Supplemental Pay - We strongly suppor clear and specific limitations on the use ‘of local ley resources for compensated time outside of the 180-day student year or for duties and responsibilities tat are clearly distinguishable from those routinely expected of any teacher, Allocation and Funding Model - We support a structure that allocates resources primarily utilizing the prototypical schoo! model as an objective, research-based approach fo generating {funding for staff positions. Such a model can be periodically reviewed and modified overtime tomeet changing needs. We are open toa per pupil funding model that is grounded inthe prototypical funding model and doesnot supplant state funding with federal or local resources. Health Benefits- We suppor a transition toa statewide health benefits program for K-12 employees. Such a transition mast thoughtfilly account for any increased district costs, including the potential fora sizeable increase in benefit-ligible employers, Salary Increments for Teachers - We support continued salary increments for advanced degrees and years of experience. We alo support coatinued salary recognition for teachers ‘who obtain National Board Certification. We do not support bonus or merit systems and view ‘them as both nhereatly unreliable to administer and destructive to building and sustaining 2 collaborative district and school culture that best serves all children. Brofessional Development - Recognizing the need and value of ongoing leaning and growth, ‘we support 10 days annually of professional development ouside the 180-day school year ‘ith local flexibility to schedule some or all of te equivalent professional development time ‘itin the 180-day school year (eg. extended work days, Saturdays, evenings, et.) a a component of basic education. - We support regular cost of living adjustments as «component ‘of basic education to assure that salaries remain competitive to atirect and retain a high-quality workforce. Educational Funding Position Pape by the Superintendents ofthe NWESD 189 Region March 23,2017; Page 3 of ‘Regionalization or Poverty Factors - We recognize the unique challenges of attracting end retaining staff members to high cost, remote and/or high povery districts and support a salary allocation model that provides additional incentives to attract and retain high-quality staff in communities so impacte. ‘Beginning Teacher Pay - We support a significant increase inthe minimum salary for beginning teachers toa least $45,000 annually to appropriately recognize a comparable market value for beginning teacher pay and fo atract a larger poo of high-quality candidates to the teaching profession. diture {or Salary and Benefits - We have limited support for an imposed or fixed percentage of district expenditures fr salaries and benefits. We se this «8 potentially unworkable on a statewide level and non-responsive to the unique end varied circumstances and expenditure drivers aross school dstits, Ifa percentage is imposed, should be at least 85% of district expenditures, Grandfathered Levies and Salaries - Given a sufficient infusion of state resources to fll nd ‘amply fund basic education and competitive, market-rate salaries, we support the elimination of ‘grandfathered levy lids and salary allocations ~ subject to the “hold harmless” provision below — ifmot immediatly, then over no longer than 82-3 yee period ‘Hold Harmless During Transition - As the Legislature implements «program of full nd ample basic education funding through a negotiated compromise of the proposals thus far introduced in the legislative session - or new ideas not yet under public consideration - we strongly support & "hold harmless" provision for any districts detrimentally impacted under the new fanding structure ultimately adopted until such time asthe funding model “catches up" to thote districts’ ‘current funding levels. [Local Levy Lid - In an environment of fill and ample funding of base education, we believe the ‘curren levy lid would no longer be necessary to support local enhancements, Provided a consistent and ongoing State commitment to maintain full and ample funding of basic education and sufficient "guardrails" to assre that local levy funds only suppor locally determined ‘enhancements to basic education, we believe a lower local levy lid of 10-20% of combined state and federal funding is supportable. und Accounting/Audit Standards - While we fully support the assurance that local levy resources do not fund basic education, specially compensation, we do not support overly burdensome requirements that will significantly increase operational and audit expenses. We strongly oppose separate accountng fr stats, federal and local revenues and expenditures and/or ‘compliance determination through annual State audits. We support tasking the best school

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