The 2022 Legislature increased funding for specific types of school staff in the prototypical school funding model, which determines the state funding allocations for schools. The legislation also required that funding provided to schools for physical, social, and emotional support staff (PSES staff) be spent on those staff. This report includes…

States and districts allocate hundreds of billions of dollars annually to fund K-12 schools, and this allocation is largely driven by one calculation: how states count student enrollment. They do this in one of five ways: (1) A single count on a single day; (2) Two counts twice per year; (3) Multiple counts over a period of time; (4) An attendance…

The proportion of state funding for public schools in Washington is among the highest in the nation: about 75 percent of school-district General Fund revenue comes from the state. Almost 60 percent of all state General Fund expenditures are for education (about 46 percent for grades K-12 and 12 percent for higher education). The state…

The Johnson-O'Malley (JOM) Act of 1934, amended in 1936, authorizes the Secretary of Interior to enter into a contract with any state which has legal authority and responsibility for the education of American Indian children residing there. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Washington, is legally responsible for state schools and…

This document is a handbook on school organization and finance in Washington State. It encompasses legislation passed during the 1990 and 1991 legislative sessions and school district fiscal data through the 1990-91 school year. The guide attempts to simplify the complex subject of school finance for use by educators, policy makers, and the…

Money to operate Washington's public schools comes from state, local, and federal sources. For the 1995-96 school year, total combined revenue exceeded $5 billion. The largest share of Washington's operating budget is devoted to K-12 education. This paper portrays critical features of Washington's school finance system. It first examines current…

Many states are trying to balance interests in school between taxpayers' concerns and providing students with a good education. Washington is trying to overcome these problems and renew and enhance its public schools. Three court decisions in the late 1970s and early 1980s set strict constraints within which Washington's school funding system must…

THE SUMMER SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN OF MIGRATORY WORKERS ATTEMPTED TO DEVELOP INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES RELATED TO THE SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFICULTIES OF MIGRANT CHILDREN, TO HELP MIGRANT CHILDREN OVERCOME EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES, AND TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF PROVIDING SUMMER SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN. THE COST,…

In 1995, a federal report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that $112 billion was needed to bring the nation's school facilities into good repair. Subsequent studies estimated it would take more than $320 billion to build new schools to handle swelling enrollments, renovate aging buildings, and equip all buildings with the…

A report based on a conference on the impact of cost information on statewide budgeting and planning is presented. The conference was organized around case-study reports on the use of cost information in higher education budgeting in Florida, Indiana, Washington, and Wisconsin. Rather than publishing convention proceedings, the case studies were…

Intended to answer questions regarding public schools in Washington, this handbook provides an overview of the organization and financing of the state's public school system, grades K-12. Included are brief descriptions of the Basic Education Act, the basic education allocation formula, how state and local funds are included in this formula, and…

This handbook on school finance is prepared to give the taxpayers of the state of Washington an overview of the financing and organization of the public schools, grades K-12. An attempt has been made to show in general terms where the revenues to support this segment of public education come from, how they are distributed to individual school…

This paper describes current school-funding policy issues in Washington State. The first part examines how Initiative 601, an initiative aimed at curbing state taxes and spending, will create fiscal instability for school districts. Difficulties include an expected growth in school enrollment exceeding population growth, an expected growth of…

In fiscal 1978 the State of Washington contracted for $827,505 in Johnson O'Malley (JOM) funds to provide for the education of 5,179 Indian students. The statewide objectives of the JOM program were to increase Indian students' proficiency in reading and mathematics skills, improve Indian students' rate of high school graduation, and improve…