House Democrats unveiled a new supplemental budget this morning.
The proposed striking amendment makes no cuts to K-12 or higher education, and adds funding for several bills that have been enacted and signed into law by the Governor.
A copy of the proposal is available on the LEAP web site. Some of the main components are:
- $5.7 million for teacher/principal evaluation implementation;
- $2.0 million for a one-time urban school turnaround, for two schools in the Seattle district. The budget proviso includes other stipulations, including that schools must be the lowest-performing schools located in the same community with a significant education gap;
- $1.5 million for collaborative schools (HB 2799);
- $1.0 million for WAKIDS (HB 2586);
- $650,000 to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner for oversight of HB 2829, the House proposal for K-12 health benefits;
- $250,000 for implementation of HB 2337, the open source curriculum bill;
- $25,000 for the Professional Educator Standards Board to develop educator interpreter standards and assessments.
The budget proposal leaves about $300 million in reserves, with the balance in the rainy day fund. It relies on an accounting mechanism to leave about $238 million in the general fund before distribution to local governments and some transfers from dedicated accounts to the general fund to help close the projected $500 million budget shortfall.
Updates on the Legislature and state government from the Washington State School Directors' Association.
