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Republican lawmakers take a
stand for education funding;
motion to create a constitutional amendment to fund
education first fails on partisan vote
Funding education first
should be a requirement in Washington state, says
Rep. Glenn Anderson,
R-Fall City, whose resolution to create a constitutional amendment
requiring the Legislature to fund education first was introduced in a
rarely-used procedural motion on the House floor today. House Joint
Resolution 4220 failed in a vote that fell along party lines, 61-35.
“I'm glad we brought up this issue today. It’s time to take the politics
out of education and that begins with ending the funding debate and
rhetoric,” said Anderson.
Anderson said lawmakers are walking a tightrope by not addressing
structural problems in the K-12 education budget process. He added that
the recent lawsuits filed against the state because the Legislature
hasn’t addressed education funding in a meaningful way is a prime
example of the Legislature dodging tough decisions in budget years.
“If the majority party is truly willing to get serious about what
structural changes need to be made to K-12 education funding formulas,
it would have approved my resolution today,” said Anderson.
The measure, had it passed, would have triggered a vote of the people to
amend the state constitution to give education the top priority in main
budget years. The fund education first proposal would make clear that
education funding is the top priority of the budget and the first budget
passed and signed by the governor every budget cycle.
“Education would get the first crack at the first dollar which would
help us align other state spending on critical issues such as health
care,” said Anderson.
The governor’s budget this year is a prime example of why education
needs to be paramount in the budgeting process, said Anderson. “The
governor’s ‘education budget’ actually puts more money in the Department
of Social and Health Services budget, $516 million, than education. We
can all spin a good yarn, but where’s the action?”
“We have several challenges in our schools today and my goal is to
address them in ways that are concrete and solve problems. Addressing
how we fund our schools must be the first issue we tackle on the list,”
said Anderson.
Rep. David Buri, R-Colfax, motioned to pull the fund education first
resolution to the House Floor today.
The 105-day 2007 legislative session began Jan. 8.
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