Washington State PTA School Finance Study Washington State School Finances: Does Every Child Count? A Report by the Washington State PTA

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Study Focus Analyzed the local, state and federal revenues used to maintain and operate public school districts in school year Used only General Fund revenues Included about 96 percent of 969,838 student FTEs 174 of 296 school districts, excluded small and remote districts

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Adjustments for Different Costs Adjusting for Student Needs Special education students given a weight of 1.9 English language learners given a weight of 1.2 Poor students given a weight of 1.2 Adjusting for District Differences in Education Costs Used a district-level Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) developed for the nation by researchers for the U.S. Department of Education. GCEI is based on costs of teachers, administrators, other school staff, and educational resources.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Funding-per-Pupil Averages for 174 Public School Districts in School Year AverageStandard deviation Median Combined state & local funding per pupil* $6,317$462$6,319 Total federal, state & local funding per pupil* $6,906$577$6,827 *All figures have been adjusted for differences in local costs and weighted for student needs.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q1. How fairly is school funding distributed? Based on national benchmarks for two equity measures, the distribution is generally fair and equitable. Coefficient of Variation McCloone Index

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q1. How fairly is school funding distributed? Even with favorable assessment, 17 districts are more than 1 standard deviation below average. See Table 5. Funding levels of these lowest-funded districts ranged from $615 to $1,055 below the study’s average funding per pupil, adjusted for student needs and local costs.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q2. Why are the 17 districts relatively under- funded? No single reason explains under-funding. 16 of 17 districts have below-average shares from more than one revenue source. All 17 districts are located in areas with high education costs; no state adjustment for costs 16 of 17 districts have below-average staff mix factors; state salary allocation is relatively low 12 of the 17 districts make an above-average tax effort; yet 9 of the 12 generate below-average local revenues

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q3. To what extent is school funding dependent on district wealth? District wealth does not appreciably drive school funding in Washington state. Fiscal Neutrality scores meet national benchmarks. elasticity of school funding-per-pupil to tax base-per-pupil correlation between school funding-per- pupil and tax base-per-pupil

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q4. What is additional cost of funding schools to a level adequate to meet state standards? Lower estimate of $179 million Based on “successful district approach” Brings bottom half of districts up to median Upper estimate of $2.1 billion Based on “professional judgment approach” used by The Rainier Institute No district currently at recommended funding level

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q5. Which districts are at risk for ensuring high-needs students attain state standards? Based on notion that the distribution of resources should be proportional to need. 17 districts with above-average need, yet below average resources See Table 8

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Q5. Which districts are at risk for ensuring high-needs students attain state standards? 17 at-risk districts shared other traits in common 15 have higher than average rates of minority students 15 have higher than average rates of poor students 13 have average staff mix factors below the state average

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Highline’s Story Average total funding $6,254 $652 below average Geo. Cost index , High-needs index , Poor students - 46 percent Slightly above-average local share Taxes itself at above-average rate; Below-average tax base High enough rate to receive full levy authority; in fact had a roll back. Below average State Share Below average staff-mix factor No compensation for high cost of education Relatively low compensation for poor students Not eligible to receive Local Effort Assistance Below average Federal Share

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Grandview’s Story Average total funding $6,291 $615 below average Geo. Cost index , High-needs index , Poor students - 76 percent Below-average local share Taxes itself at below-average rate; Far below-average tax base per pupil Tax would have to be about 2.5 times average rate to earn the full levy authority. Average State Share Below average staff-mix factor Relatively low compensation for poor students Eligible to receive Local Effort Assistance Above average Federal Share Large portion of federal funds meant to target poor students

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Conclusions Judged against national benchmarks, equity is good. Compared to equity, adequacy of school funding is much bigger problem. State needs to do a better job of matching funds to districts’ needs and costs.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Recommendations The state should conduct a study of the state school finance system to Develop a base spending per pupil level aligned with achieving state standards. Determine additional funds needed for students with extraordinary needs. Determine feasibility of a price adjustment to ensure comparable purchasing power across districts.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study General Fund Revenues for School Year Total General Fund Revenues = $6,749,561,138

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Excluded Districts Have High Per-Pupil-Funding Funding (State & Local) Per Pupil Not Adjusted for Cost & Needs AverageMinimum Maximum Included Districts $6,598$5,044$8,181 Excluded Districts $8,283$5,506$35,994

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Each District has a Need Index and a Cost Index Need indexes ranged from 0.91 to 1.18 average need index = 1.0 Cost indexes ranged from 0.89 to 1.14 average cost index = 1.0

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Funding Variables Adjusted for Cost and Need For Each District Calculated (State and local) funding-per-pupil adjusted for differences in student needs and geographic costs (Federal, state and local) funding-per-pupil adjusted for differences in student needs and geographic costs

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Adjustments Changed Relative Ranking District, County Rank Before Rank After Seattle, King Co.126 Tacoma, Pierce Co.1091 Southside, Mason Co.7913

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts Range Combined state & local funding per pupil*$3,055 Total federal, state & local funding per pupil* $3,836 * All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and weighted for student needs. Range is difference between top and bottom value. Addition of federal funds increases range by about $800. National benchmarks for range don’t exist.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts Compare Favorably With National Benchmarks Coefficient of Variation Combined state & local funding-per-pupil*0.073 Total federal, state & local funding-per-pupil*0.084 * All figures have been adjusted for differences in local costs and weighted for student needs. COV is the standard deviation for funding-per-pupil expressed as a percent of the average funding-per-pupil. Two-thirds of the students are within 7.3 percent of $6,317 state and local funding-per-pupil. Both COVs are in the good or desirable range.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts Compare Favorably With National Benchmarks McCloone Index Combined state & local funding-per-pupil*0.94 Total federal, state & local funding-per-pupil*0.94 * All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and weighted for student needs. McCloone Index compares funds to districts below median to the funds needed to ensure all students received median. In both cases, districts receive 94 percent of the funds needed to ensure all students received the median funding-per-pupil. Odden & Picus: desirable to be 0.9 or more

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Washington State Meets Standard for Fiscal Neutrality Fiscal Neutrality Score Elasticity of tax base per pupil to funding (state and local) per pupil Elasticity of tax base per pupil to funding (federal, state and local) per pupil * All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and weighted for student needs. Fiscal neutrality is when district funding is not dependent on district wealth. A 1-percent increase in tax base per pupil is associated with a percent increase in funding (state and local) per pupil. Addition of federal funds lessens the elasticity to Odden & Picus: anything less than 0.1 means state met wealth neutrality standard.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Equity Results Wealth Neutrality Overtime, wealth neutrality scores from various studies have indicated a stable relationship between district wealth and district funding GAO Report (1993 data) Ed Week (2000 data) PTA Report (2002 data).035

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Cost Estimates for Achieving State Education Goals are Expensive and Range Widely Additional funds needed to bring all students to an adequate level beyond the state and local funding of $6,174,101,704 Assuming median level is adequate level of funding, the cost estimate is $178,670,188 Assuming Rainier Institute level is adequate level of funding, the cost estimate is $2,067,477,832

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Cost Estimates Depend on Approach Approach 1: Link a funding per pupil to a level of student outcomes Studies in Ohio and Illinois identified districts that achieved a desired level of performance using state tests. From this group of districts, identify those with characteristics comparable to state average. Then calculate the average spending-per-pupil of these districts. Results show that the calculated spending level is close to state’s median spending-per-pupil.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Cost Estimates Depend on Approach Approach 1: Link a funding per pupil to a level of student outcomes No such study done in Washington state. But, similar to other studies, we assume median funding-per-pupil ($6,319) is adequate funding level. The total amount of funding (state and local) for students below the median is $2,930,531,899; the revenue needed to fund the median for this group is $3,109,202,088. Difference is $178,670,188.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Cost Estimates Depend on Approach Approach 2: Identifying a set of inputs and pricing them. (Rainier Institute) RI identified and priced a set of staffing levels and resources for effective regular, special education, ESL and remedial programs. A panel of experts reviewed inputs for fit with state.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Cost Estimates Depend on Approach

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Relatively Low Funded Districts Districts at the lower end of the funding spectrum are substantially below the average funding per pupil, adjusted for cost and need.

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Key to Map Districts with an average (state & local) funding per pupil, adjusted for student needs and regional costs, that is $924 or more below the state average (twice the standard deviation) Between $462 and $924 below the state average (one to two times the standard deviation). Between $462 and $924 above the state average (one to two times the standard deviation). $924 or more above the state average (twice the standard deviation)

Washington State PTA School Finance Study Key to Map Districts with an average (federal, state & local) funding per pupil, adjusted for student needs and regional costs, that is Between $577 and $1,154 below the state average (one to two times the standard deviation). Between $577 and $1,154 above the state average (one to two times the standard deviation). $1,154 or more above the state average (twice the standard deviation)