Educators give budget mixed review

ALMA D. SHARPE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, March 15, 2002

Reaction to the state budget from the education community was mixed Thursday.

Some were relieved that cuts weren't worse; others said they are deep enough to affect the quality of education in Washington schools.

State officials stayed away from cutting voter initiatives 728 and 732, which funneled money into public school programs and increased school employees' salaries by 3.6 percent.

But the Better Schools Fund, a precedent of I-728 intended to keep classes small, was cut by $24.6 million, or two-thirds of its previous budget.

At the same time, teachers and other school employees will see increased health care costs and one less day for training.

Washington Education Association officials say the loss of the training day is equal to a 0.5 percent pay cut for teachers.

And for some teachers in the state, the salary increase brought on by I-732 is not enough to make up for the lost training and increased health care costs, said Rich Wood, spokesman for WEA.

"Most teachers are already paying more out of pocket, to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year, for health care, effectively taking less home every month," Wood said.

A newly created Flexible Education Fund groups 23 education programs together and offers funding for nine, leaving it up to districts to prioritize which programs they'd like to see in their schools.

Colleges and universities received the authority to raise tuition -- up to 12 percent for community colleges, 14 percent for four-year colleges and universities and 16 percent for the University of Washington and Washington State University.

It's up to each college and university to decide how much to raise tuition.

Each institution will also see cuts.

The Evergreen State College will deal with a loss of $1.8 million from its previous budget, for a total state funding allocation of $49.7 million.

Faculty, staff and students have met for the past two months to gather input and help determine budget priorities.

Considering the cuts throughout other state agencies, Evergreen could have had it worse, said Edie Harding, the director of governmental relations for the college.

"For a very difficult situation, I think the Legislature tried to compromise to minimize the damage," Harding said.

"The challenge for us (is) that we continue to serve more students with fewer dollars. It's a matter of quality, and how much you can keep cutting."

On the Web:

- Washington State Legislature

- Gov. Gary Locke

Click here!

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Legislature 2002 index