Legislative

Legislative
Reporting on state legislative issues affecting Renton schools and students

We know that many PTA leaders and members may not be interested in legislative advocacy but the news coming from the Governor's office and the Legislature are grim. We must go beyond book fairs, carnivals, and fundraisers and look at the bleak numbers coming from the legislative session under way now. Please read this email all the way through. Our kids cannot afford that we ignore these issues!

When the Legislature met in special session December 11th, it made the following cuts to K-12 education:
. $39 million decrease in K-4 class size enhancement (effective February 1, 2011)
. $10 million in general cuts to OSPI
. $52 million in higher education
. $208 million shift of federal education jobs funding to backfill apportionment reductions to school districts in the 2010-11 school year

NOW.....
The Governor's current proposal for the fiscal year ending this June makes the following changes to the early action items to close a budget gap of $588 million:
. $253 million is shifted to the 2011-13 biennial budget. This budget trick moves school districts' June apportionment payment into July
. $42.1 million in K-4 class size enhancement (makes the cut retroactive to start of the school year)
. $18 million in local effort assistance (LEA), representing an equal 6.3% cut to property poor districts
. $7.1 million elimination of the highly capable students program
. Eliminating programs such as Readiness to Learn, Summer Vocational Skills Center, and reducing other programs

RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET REDUCTIONS
·   2007 cut 2.0 million
·   2008 cut 5.2 million
·   2009 cut 6.4 million
·   2010 cut 4.3 million + the estimated additional cuts for this year of $850,000

The cuts of the last several years have resulted in the following:

·       Eliminated 5th-grade band and orchestra
·   Eliminated one-year contract positions
·   Eliminated all athletic “C” teams
·   Eliminated 2 specialists positions in Dept. of Instruction
·   Eliminated 7 classroom support staff
·   Eliminated 2 custodians; grounds person; painter; carpenter
·   Eliminated Alternative Middle School
·   Eliminated teachers on special assignment position
·   Eliminated elementary school salmon program
·   Eliminated Cabinet-level administrator Superintendent’s Office
·   Eliminated manager position in transportation
·   Eliminated maintenance facility manager
·   Eliminated 2 secretaries in Business Office
·   Reduced Print Shop budget by $100,000
·   District administrator’s voluntary pay reduction (Save a Teacher plan)
·   Reduction in pre-school and athletic transportation
·   20% reduction to all department/school supply budgets
·   Reduced school library services
·   Reduced Special Ed and English Learner programs
·   Delayed adoption of all new curriculum
·   Increased athletic fees
·   Increased lunch prices by .75 cents
·     AND MORE………..

Legislative Hotline: 1.800.562.6000. Tell your stories. Education has already taken a lot of cuts. Let your legislator know how this has impacted your children, your schools, your community. You don't have to know anything about how the legislature works to do this. They will appreciate hearing from someone who is not a lobbyist.

Don't know who your legislator is? Go to http://www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx and click on 'Find your Legislator" on the left.

The League of Education Voters has a great guide to the legislature called Legislature for Dummies that can be found at http://www.educationvoters.org/session-2011/leg-for-dummies/