10-05-2025
Washington state's school funding crisis is far from over
With the expiration of COVID relief funds, Washington's school districts face a financial cliff that threatens to undermine children's education. The situation has become particularly dire in the Mid-Columbia.
The comedown from the sugar high of stimulus money has hit rural districts especially hard. During the pandemic, Kennewick, Pasco and Richland school districts received more than $137 million in one-time COVID relief. They used that money to fund programs like online learning academies and mental health services, knowing full well they'd have to make cuts without continued assistance.
The problem isn't unique to this region, but districts in wealthy areas around Seattle can more easily pass levies to supplement inadequate state funding. Their larger property tax bases mean they can keep rates lower, too.
Rural school districts must convince reluctant voters to approve higher rates. The Finley School District, for example, needed two tries to pass a recent operations levy and still will have to slash its budget.
This creates an inherently inequitable system in which educational opportunities depend on ZIP codes — a situation that violates both the spirit and letter of the state's constitutional obligation to educate kids.
Rankings by the State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction found that more than half of Mid-Columbia districts are below the state average for financial health. Pasco, Finley, Kiona-Benton City, Prosser and Richland all scored poorly. Kennewick, Columbia-Burbank and North Franklin fared better.
Things could get worse. The Trump administration has threatened to suspend funding for schools that do not conform to White House edicts on race, ethnicity and gender. Washington has staked out positions in support of marginalized groups that run counter to those demands.
The state constitution explicitly declares education to be the state's 'paramount duty,' a responsibility the state Supreme Court reinforced in its landmark McCleary decision. Despite state investment, many school districts face widespread cuts that will directly impact student learning because the state's approach to education funding is fundamentally flawed.
Washington's school funding as a percentage of the state's general fund peaked in 2019 at more than 50%. Since then, it has fallen to about 43%. Meanwhile, operational costs for districts have skyrocketed, with liability insurance up nearly 50% and utilities increasing more than 30% since 2019.
When costs increase and state funding does not keep pace, the effects land hardest on less-wealthy, often rural, districts. It will not be enough for lawmakers to come up with more money. They must find ways to equitably distribute the resources to help school districts that most need it.
The Legislature took a step forward this session by passing Senate Bill 5263 to eliminate the special education funding cap, but that measure falls short of addressing the comprehensive funding needs of schools. The House and Senate compromised on approximately $870 million in additional special education funding over the next two budgets — significantly less than the $2 billion initially proposed by the Senate.
With the 2025 legislative session over, additional state help will not be immediately forthcoming. Hopefully, lawmakers will listen to local school districts in the months to come and understand that they must do more to address the structural flaws in school funding.
Fully funding every Washington school is not merely a policy preference but a moral and legal imperative. The consequences of inaction extend far beyond classroom walls.
Inadequate school funding today means a less-prepared workforce tomorrow, reduced economic competitiveness, and greater social costs for our entire state. Washington's economic future depends on ensuring all students receive high-quality education. This isn't a partisan issue.
The Legislature must stop applying bandages to a system that requires major surgery. It won't be easy. Lawmakers and the governor are coming off a session in which they had to deal with a revenue shortfall.
There wasn't enough money to pay for everything the Legislature wanted. Spending cuts and tax increases ensued.
Moving from one crisis through a period of relative calm to the next crisis is not enough.
Washington needs a wholesale reconstruction of how it reliably funds schools to ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, receive the high-quality education that is their constitutional right.
