Guest Op-Ed: It’s time to reform the formula for funding classrooms

By Sen. Karen Keiser

With more than a million children in our public schools, many of our school districts are struggling with overcrowded classrooms, growing student populations and aging school buildings. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction estimates that across our state we need more than 10,000 new classrooms, and nearly 75 percent of them would be for Kindergarten through 3rd grade. A growing body of evidence shows that K-3 students learn better in smaller classes. 

When we funded all-day kindergarten and voters passed Initiative 1351 to reduce overcrowding, most folks didn’t consider the pressure it would create for additional classrooms. But adding classrooms is more complicated than just parking a few more portables in the school yard. And we need to find a way to pay for the additional classrooms.

Our state’s formula for determining school space needs dates back to the Eisenhower era, and it hasn’t changed much over the years. Our current SCAP — School Construction Assistance Program — is based on several faulty elements, including unrealistic square-footage-per-student allocations, unrealistic construction costs, and a state funding match dependent on passage of a super-majority bond measure. 

Clearly, we need to “reform the formula.” My solution, Senate Bill 6080, calls for a temporary six-year program to address our schools’ most pressing needs — a Super SCAP, if you will. 

Today, for example, wealthier districts are able to support additional school facilities while poorer districts, especially those experiencing rapid growth, are left out. My new Super SCAP approach would include, for the first time, a poverty rate increment in the state matching formula. Districts with higher rates of students with free and reduced-cost lunches would receive a higher match than districts with lower poverty rates. The old formula is only pegged to property values, not poverty rates, and does not reflect the actual needs of the students. 

This first step would also allow school districts to decide if they needed to build an entire new school or to simply add just a couple of classrooms to an existing school. Under Super SCAP, the use of modern modular and durable portables would, for the first time, be eligible for state matching funds. 

The best way to tackle a challenge of this scope is with fully thought-out steps. Super SCAP’s temporary capital grant program would build 2,200 additional classrooms over a six-year period at a cost of $240 a biennium — a reasonable approach. It is well under our debt limit and preserves our state’s triple A bond rating. As an addition to our usual SCAP program, it adds real capacity for our schools and helps our kids escape crowded K-3 classrooms. 

As Ben Franklin famously observed, “An investment in knowledge always gives the best return.” This is an investment that will pay off for generations of students across our state. I can’t imagine a more important investment. 

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Sen. Keiser is the assistant ranking member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where she serves as ranking member on the Capital Construction Budget. Democrat Keiser represents the 33rd Legislative District, including Kent, Des Moines, Seatac and Normandy Park.