K-12 EDUCATION
Academics
High-quality educational opportunity is Washington’s constitutional obligation to every child, however, 71% of Washington 8th graders aren’t proficient in math and 69% are not proficient in reading. I worked last session on a bipartisan literacy bill that was signed into law earlier this year. There is still much work to do to improve student outcomes. I have also worked to ban mobile phones from use in the classroom - this effort continues to gain momentum.
All students should learn basic life skills by high school graduation. This includes instruction on personal financial management, household management, and civic engagement. I have sponsored legislation to make financial education a graduation requirement.
Fully Funding Basic Education
The state constitution is clear that is the state’s “paramount duty” to fully fund basic education. The current prototypical school funding model presents a variety of challenges. Some of my priorities include:
Materials Supplies and Operating Costs - This allocation is used for insurance, utilities, classroom supplies and more. It is indisputable that state funds fall short to cover these basic costs. As a matter of constitutional obligation, I support the state picking up the full tab for these expenses. In addition, it important for lawmakers to also deep dive into cost drivers for insurance. Some districts are seeing premiums nearly double in the last few years. This means educational dollars diverted from the classroom.
Policy Reforms - The legislature continues to impose costly mandates on school districts without providing the necessary implementation funding. This further erodes resources and strains districts. This year, I introduced two bills to address this. The first was HB 2661, which would have created a work group to develop Public Records Act reforms to reduce the burden of frivolous requests, which cost districts significant resources. The second, was HB 2636, which would create a permanent process for ongoing reviews of unfunded mandates with the goal of eliminating underperforming or outdates requirements. This would also free up resources.