In January 2012, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that found the state has not complied with its constitutional duty to fully fund basic education for the students of Washington.
To fully comply with the court order, known as the McCleary decision, we must invest an additional $4.5 billion into basic education by the 2018-2019 school year. In order to meet that goal, House Democrats proposed allocating about $1.3 billion over the next two years.
The final budget agreement made a $1 billion down-payment on our education-funding obligation – still a significant investment for our students, parents and teachers.
These dollars are already making a difference in communities across Washington.
The Peninsula Daily News is reporting that three North Olympic Peninsula school districts will offer new all-day kindergarten classes, and four other school districts will continue to offer all-day kindergarten.
According to the PDN:
Chimacum Elementary School now has 66 kindergartners signed up for the new year and is hiring another teacher to offer three full classes of 22 students, but if more students register late in the summer or at the start of the school year, the district may need to add a fourth teacher at the last minute, said Art Clarke, district business manager.
The district had a plan to begin offering a full-day parent-pay kindergarten session this fall and had 25 students signed up, but state funding will eliminate the need for those parents to be charged, Clarke said.
“This is exciting to offer it to all kids — and funded by the state,” he said.
Parents in the Port Angeles school district are also being asked to enroll their children in kindergarten early, so the district can prepare by hiring additional teachers and purchasing the necessary classroom supplies.
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