"What
Will it Take? Defining a Quality Education in Washington
and a New Vision of Adequacy for School Funding"
Date Completed:
March
2003
Calculated Base Costs:
Elementary prototype: Current Spending Level
(CSL) per pupil (2000-2001 school year): $6,113;
Washington Quality Education Model (WQEM) per pupil:
$8,393
Middle-school prototype: CSL per pupil:
$5,615; WQEM per pupil: $7,830
High-school prototype: CSL per pupil:
$5,915; WQEM per pupil: $7,753
Major Recommendations:
Raise total expenditures for schools from
$5.6 billion to $7.3 billion annually.
Create a commission to manage the WQEM (or
have an existing coalition do it). Responsibilities
would include: reaching out to educators and legislators;
maintaining and updating the QEM prototype schools;
establishing performance goals; developing a way
to measure whether these goals have been met; and
adapting the model to rural and high-poverty schools.
Create a blue-ribbon task force to examine
how the money for the QEM should be raised and how
it should be distributed.
Special Features of the Study:
The study sought to produce a quality education
financial model, not an entire state school-finance
system.
Assumption that state will pay costs for
all special education students for whom costs are
4X the cost of a regular student or higher.
The
WQEM presents three prototype schools with curriculum
programs intended to meet both state and federal
"No Child
Left Behind Act" standards. These prototype
schools were formulated using current expenditures,
research on best education practices, and the knowledge
of experts from Washington
districts and schools. Additionally, working groups
were asked to assign ratings of importance to methods
created to assess the performance of schools and
their progress towards the "vision" of
an adequate education for all students in Washington.
They were asked to formulate recommendations and
then later review the results.
WQEM Elementary Prototype: 498
students; increase teacher salaries; reduce
class size; create full-day kindergarten; increase
staff for arts, physical education, and foreign
language instruction; increase staff for English
Language Learners (ELL), special education,
and the 20% lowest performing students (to close
achievement gaps); increase administrative staff;
increase budget for materials, technology, and
extracurricular activities; increase professional
development opportunities; increase community
outreach.
WQEM Middle School Prototype:
848 students; increase staff for academic and
elective programs, attendance, family and community
outreach, and administrative duties; increase
funding for materials; increase professional
development opportunities; increase staff for
ELL, special education students, and students
needing help to reach standards; increase curriculum
and assessment development; increase community
outreach.
WQEM High School Prototype: 1,421
students; increase staff for core subjects,
alternative programs, additional programs for
potential dropouts, co-curricular activities,
counseling, attendance, and departmental support;
increase staff for ELL, special education students,
and students needing help to reach standards;
increase funding for materials, classroom equipment,
and computers; increase opportunities for professional
development; increase funding for extracurricular
and community outreach programs.
The
methodology utilized in the Washington study was
first developed in the state of Oregon,
the first study to create a QEM.
Additional Factors:
The
study considered federal NCLB
requirements, state standards and statutes, and
implementation strategies. The study did not consider
revenue generation and distribution, facilities,
preschool, high-quality teacher and administrator
preparation programs (university-level), the added
cost of "diversity or special situations"
across the state, or additional poverty factors.
Public Input:
None
Prepared for:
The
Rainier Institute (Dr. David Conley and William
Freund)
Prepared by:
Academic,
Achievement and Accountability Commission, Association
of Washington School Principals, Latino/a Educational
Achievement Project, Office of Financial Management,
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Parent Teacher Association, Public School Employees,
University of Washington College of Education, Washington
Association for Colleges of Teacher Education, Washington
Association of School Administrators, Washington
Education Association, Washington State School Directors
Association, Washington School Personnel Association
National Access
Network, Teachers College, Columbia University. Copyright 2001-2008.
Elementary prototype: Current Spending Level
(CSL) per pupil (2000-2001 school year): $6,113;
Washington Quality Education Model (WQEM) per pupil:
$8,393