The article in this link provides details about funding per student broken out by state. Please note that it shows WA State at almost $22,000/student/year. Read the article for full details. Below we share examples of what you will see. Some of the charts are interactive so reading the original article may be helpful. Article USA Facts … [Read more...]
Opinion: Tax rates go down. tax dollars go way up in the Ridgefield School District
This article was published in Clark County Today on April 12th 2024 and explains the "rate" vs. dollars relationship of taxes when you consider bonds and levy's. Its worth the read. Heidi Pozzo shares what’s actually happening to your property tax dollars in the Ridgefield School District Heidi Pozzo for Clark County Today It is April. Tax month. By now you’ve received your property tax bill and are getting ready to pay for the first half of the year taxes. Heidi Pozzo If you flip over your bill, you’ll see on the back rates for each taxing jurisdiction. At the top are the rates for voted levies. You’ll see one there for Ridgefield School District. Rate per thousand is … [Read more...]
Commentary: Ridgefield School District capital bonds — dollars and cents
This article was posted in TheRelector on April 8, 2024 The last three to four years have been difficult for many of us, not the least of which are the financial burdens. As I write this, gasoline is up more than 40 cents per gallon to over $4 in the last two weeks. Assessed home values continue to skyrocket; the median home price in Clark County is now about $627,000. In the last 12 years, the Washington state budget has ballooned from $30 billion to $74 billion. Taxes are up massively. Inflation has hit 40-year highs. School districts have given large compensation increases to personnel putting a squeeze on operational budgets. Between 52% and 54% of property taxes go to public … [Read more...]
New Teachers contracts in Southwest Washington State: Update Sept 22, 2023
It's Friday morning September 22, 2023. We just got off the phone with the Evergreen School District HR; Evergreen Teachers Association Union office; Camas School District HR and Battle Ground HR. We contacted Evergreen and Camas to get copies of the newly approved teachers contracts. Neither contract is published and there is no target date for publication. Both districts said that once the teachers have approved the contract the district must then go through a review process to correct any wording and formatting. The proposed final document then goes back to the Union with any revisions and then back to the district, rinse and repeat until it's approved by both parties. In the case of … [Read more...]
Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) – the true cost of K-12 education in Washington State
There is a national organization called NCES – National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov) that tracks education data across the United States. They have a recommended method for identifying the true cost of K-12 education...and the State of Washington (OSPI) does NOT conform to that recommended standard. Specifically, NCES says there are four (4) cost factors in determining what the true cost of educating a student in public schools is: State contributions to a school district Local levy funds Local capital bonds Debt service costs Washington State (OSPI) only includes state contributions and local levies. They ignore capital bond and … [Read more...]
School Vouchers – 2021 – Washington State
Representative Vicki Kraft, 17th LD, is going to reintroduce her school voucher legislation in the 2021 session. Following are some news reports of what she will propose: From February 2020 here is an article at CCT: https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/rep-vicki-kraft-introduces-bill-to-offer-parental-choice-of-where-their-children-attend-school/ December 7, 2020: https://vickikraft.houserepublicans.wa.gov/2020/12/07/kraft-school-choice-opinion-editorial/ December 8, 2020 this article in The Reflector: http://www.thereflector.com/opinion/article_db09bc56-39b9-11eb-9d24-03c99016ddc4.html Here is a link to two articles we've shared on vouchers: … [Read more...]
Have taxpayers hit a wall on school taxes?
School taxes. Most people want to support K-12 education. Most want the best for students. Most agree that spreading the cost across all property owners (whether or not every household has children in school) is a good idea. But...when is enough tax money enough? In Southwest Washington State school districts have, over the past 3-4 years, gotten taxpayers to pony up a LOT of money for schools. Money for M&O (Maintenance and Operations) and school bonds to repair and replace schools. Indeed the Vancouver district has gotten over $1 billion in bond money and every M&O levy passes (with each increasing every time it goes to a vote). Evergreen got nearly $1 billion in capital bond … [Read more...]
Battle Ground Levy – Truth or Lie?
Battle Ground school district has the lowest school taxes in Clark County. Is that the “truth”? The Battle Ground school district emailed out their most recent newsletter on Thursday February 13th (here: https://www.battlegroundps.org/taxes/) The title header of the email? Battle Ground has lowest school taxes in Clark County, receives less funding than voters approved Is that the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me….? The file in this attachment was emailed to each of the BG Directors on Feb 21st: Ltr_BGSB_Directors_Feb_21_2020_Levy_Claims They (School Board and District) claim BGSD has the lowest school taxes in Clark County and that the … [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...]
Washington State School Funding data for Woodland School District: “More money does what?”
There is a LOT of buzz about funding K-12 education in Washington State the last couple of years. We’ve seen the State raise property taxes to better fund schools…with over 50% of the entire state budget going to education. We’ve seen limits placed on local levy’s with a requirement to ONLY use the funds for “enrichment” programs. We’ve seen the legislature debate increasing the $1.50 levy limit to $2.50 because most of the extra funds from tax increases went to teachers and districts are now running deficits and need to lay teachers off. We now see special “capital levies” to fund technology. We see capital bonds to fund new schools and renovations/repairs. So what has all that money done … [Read more...]