Washington School Funding 101

The public schools are designated under the United States government to fall primarily under the control of the state governments. Although some programs are funded through federal grants, the majority of the funding and decisions are left to the states.

Washington state schools are funded from four basic categories: state, local, federal, and other. According to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)*, the average contribution of each source of all districts in the state for the 2004-2005 school year is as shown:

State (69%)

Local (20%)

Federal/Other (11%)

Each source is described in below.

State Funding

The majority of school funding is expected to come from the state. This is written in the Washington state constitution:

"It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing in its borders."
-Article IX, Section 1, Washington State Constitution

Therefore, much of the funds collected by the state through sales tax, business taxes, property taxes, and other sources come back to the schools. The amount that each district receives from the state is based on apportionment formulas. While these formulas take a lot of factors into account, enrollment is the primary factor.

Taxpayers ultimately supply all the funds that the state uses to finance schools. One way is through a portion of our property taxes. You can see this on your Real Property Statement sent by the county. Look for a line labeled "State School." On my 2005 statement, the tax rate on this line is 2.72955, which will cost $545.91 for a $200,000 home. Notice that this amount is not voted on; its rate is set by the legislature.

Federal Funding

With the public schools falling under the jurisdiction of the states, the federal government is largely removed from the funding picture. However, from time-to-time the federal government adds its own mandates, and from time-to-time it offers grants to cover some of its mandates.

Unfortunately, funding does not always follow for each and every mandate. One contemporary example of this is the well-publicized No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program. This program places a number of requirements on schools, but does not provide enough dollars to the states to cover implementing these requirements at the district level.

Other Funding

Other funding includes grants from other sources and donations. This portion is very small, making up 0.6% of the average school district budget.

Local Funding

School districts are allowed to collect four types of local property taxes:

Maintenance and Operation (M&O) Levy
These levies can run up to four (4) years and cover additional operating costs of the district.
Capital Project Levy
These levies can run up to six (6) years and cover capital projects such as school facilities. These are typically not used to build new schools because paying off an entire school over such a short time would be prohibitively expensive for the tax payer.
Bond Levy
The district borrows money through issuing bonds, and collects property taxes to repay the loan over the life of the loan, which is typically 30 years. This type of levy can only be used to purchase land or build or renovate school buildings.
Transportation Levy
These can be used to purchase school buses.

Each of these must be approved by a 60% super-majority in a district-wide election.

How Does This Look in Our District?

As shown above, the average break-down of all districts in the state is as shown:

State (69%)

Local (20%)

Federal/Other (11%)

Our district runs with a maintenance and operations levy on the order of 13%. The impact of this is that Battle Ground School District spends significantly less per student than the average district.

The most common levy types used by our district are the Maintenance and Operation Levy and Bond Levy. For a complete description on the difference between the two, please see What is a Levy and What is a Bond?

Levy/Bond