Opinion: Newly elected school board members get the facts on school funding

Date: Monday, November 27, 2023

Liv Finne says the question before school board members is not how to get more money for the schools; the question is how to spend this funding in better ways

Liv Finne
Washington Policy Center

I recently gave a presentation at a conference in Bellevue to newly-elected school board members showing the ample funding that public schools receive.

I spoke on a panel about school budgets. The key slide from my Powerpoint is this one:

The rest of my Powerpoint is available here.

These school board members were well informed about school funding when on the next day, November 16th, they attended the Washington State School Directors Association (WSDDA) conference. At the WSSDA conference they were likely introduced to the false narrative that schools do not have enough money.

Public school funding in Washington is ample, and has never been higher. In 2022-23, the public schools spent $19,000 per student on average statewide, more than private school tuition.

The 2023 legislative session added another $3 billion for K-12 schools to the biennial state budget, so per student funding in 2023-24 is likely over $20,000.

The question before school board members is not how to get more money for the schools. The question is how to spend this funding in better ways, so that each child actually receives a quality education.

Liv Finne is the director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center.