From the News Tribune It's a 2 cup of coffee read (maybe 3) Washington’s teacher salaries are the fourth-highest in the United States, according to the National Education Association. A News Tribune analysis also found that teacher salaries in Pierce County have increased by an average of about 82% over the last 10 years. The average salary for a teacher in Pierce County in the 2024-2025 school year is about $97,000. Some Pierce County districts that have seen the biggest increases in average teacher salaries also find themselves in financial distress, according to a News Tribune analysis. Of the five school districts that saw the highest percent change in average teacher … [Read more...]
How are public schools in the US funded?
This information comes from USAFacts which is funded by Steve Balmer. However, when you look at their data do so with a critical eye. They lump information together that needs to be parsed to be useful. Today we explore the US in general and then finish up on Washington State. It's also important to note that their data is for 2021/2022 which means it's 3 years old and the numbers have only gotten bigger. Now for your reading pleasure... In the 2021–2022 school year, the most recent year of available data, about 44.1% of public school funding came from state sources like income and retail taxes, and another 42.2% came from local sources like property taxes. The federal government … [Read more...]
Washington State K-12 compensation and other data
Our friend Jeff has a website we've mentioned before. Given the strikes at Evergreen and Camas and talk of striking at Battle Ground and other districts around the state we reached out to Jeff asking for an overview of the information he tracks. Following is that discussion with links to his website and data for your perusal. Note: Jeff does an annual update in December to capture the most current data published by OSPI. This data is entirely from OSPI. Jeff amalgamates and organizes it. So if someone claims the data is false refer them to Chris Reykdal the State Superintent of Schools. I have these charts already online for all 295 traditional school districts in WA plus most of … [Read more...]
Public vs. Private K-12 education cost review July 2023
As parents finish a school year and vaguely think about the Fall we thought it might be helpful to pull some information together about cost of public vs private schools. What follows is the most current data varying from 2021 up through 2023. For the 2023 school year, there are 39 private schools serving 5,466 students in Clark County, WA (there are 145 public schools, serving 75,243 public students). 7% of all K-12 students in Clark County, WA are educated in private schools (compared to the WA state average of 9%). As we closed out the 2022/23 school year the private school tuition costs were about $9,585. Public school cost numbers may vary depending on the source. The State of … [Read more...]
2023 Levy’s in Washington State
Are you interested in learning more about levy's across Washington State in 2023? Give this link a click: https://www.levyno.com/ Here are just a few of the snapshots you will be able to study: … [Read more...]
Washington State Average Class Size report
What’s the true size of classes across the state? Teachers say the class sizes are huge...often 25+. Data from reports filed with the state say they are often under 20 with 17-19 tending to be more normal. Claims that the class sizes are too large leads to hiring more teachers leading to more taxes. How about we get some facts? In today's article we explore data gathered by our data guru Jeff Heckathorn which can be seen at this website: Welcome to the School Data Project! | The School Data Project Here are some observations that can be seen in the report: http://www.schooldataproject.com/average_class_size Most small districts (e.g., South Whidbey, Republic, Onion Creek) have … [Read more...]
WA State School Superintendents and Asst. Superintendents total compensation report
Are Superintendents and Asst. Superintendents paid too much? Does the size of the school district make any difference? What’s the cost per student for the Superintendent piece of the pie? In today's article we share information from Jeff Heckathorn’s website. He’s assembled some data that you may find interesting. Specifically he looked into the costs from the leadership side of school districts. Let’s look at Superintendents: Total Compensation For Superintendents Vs Enrollments | The School Data Project : In 2019/2020 the highest paid District Superintendent was...Vancouver SD in Vancouver, WA. Slightly over 20,000 students. Certainly one of the larger districts in the state but far … [Read more...]
Washington State levy and bond data
If you love data and facts please add this site to your "must have" sites: http://www.schooldataproject.com This website was created by Jeff Heckathorn. Jeff has a passion for data and has been spending huge amounts of time gathering and dissecting data regarding Washington State school levys and bonds. We've been corresponding for months on this and today we bring to you some of the materials he has shared. Feel free to go straight to his site. We will provide updates and articles as we get them. You'll find information about those that passed and those that failed in February 2021 "special elections". This article will be updated as new information becomes available. Here is … [Read more...]
K-12 Education Washington State: Does more $$$ = higher test scores?
This article is going to be one of those that is complicated and full of data. There's simply no way around it. However, we'll summarize the data AND provide the spreadsheets and links so you can go look for yourself. The graphic chart to the left comes from an article from the Seattle Times titled "Washington’s 2018 state test scores still show large gaps between student groups". The title of the article is a hot link incase you want to read it. Please note that the Times makes it clear that Washington States "passing" score levels are lower than other areas of the United States...which means that the "passing" scores are even worse when compared to other states. What is the … [Read more...]
Southwest Washington State: School property taxes vs. results – What happened?
Property owners have seen taxes skyrocket over the past 5+ years as funding for schools has risen. Two years ago the State legislature increased State school property taxes from $1.98/$1000 of assessed value to $2.89/1000 in Clark County. Add levies (as we go to press the levy cap has been raised from $1.50 to $2.50); capital bonds and other fees and service costs and many people are nearing their wit's (and financial) end. Today K-12 education consumes more than 50% of the state budget...and for what? Have test scores risen? (No they’ve declined). Have graduation rates improved? (They are flat or down). What measures of success do we see? In this report we share the following with … [Read more...]
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