What is McCleary?
It’s a term used in just about every budget conversation at the state Legislature. But what do people mean when they refer to McCleary and the McCleary decision?
“McCleary” refers to a Supreme Court decision that found the state is not adequately funding basic education. In their ruling, the Court ordered the Legislature to fully fund K-12 education by 2018. But in that same ruling, the Court also agreed that the plan we put in place in 2009 – House Bill 2261 – was the right plan to get us back on track.
So when you hear people say we need to meet our “McCleary goals” or “McCleary obligations,” what they’re really saying is that we need to fully fund basic education.
To do this, we need to invest an additional $4.5 billion into our K-12 funding system. We made progress on that goal last year by adding just under $1 billion to basic education funding. The initial 2013 House Democrats budget proposal would have allocated $1.4 billion – enough to be considered “on pace” with meeting our goal.
That plan required closing a handful of outdated, expensive, and unnecessary corporate tax exemptions to increase funding for basic education and get closer to our goals. However, the Senate refused to close any of those exemptions, which resulted in fewer dollars going into our basic education system.
Fully funding basic education is our top priority – and our Constitutional duty – so we will continue conversations about our options. One thing is certain: we cannot reach our McCleary goals through general spending cuts. If we’re going to fulfill our obligations as a state to ensure all children receive an opportunity for a quality basic education, we need to also ensure everyone is paying their fair share.
Here is a presentation by non-partisan legislative staff with much more McCleary information.
Improving Education - Specifics
McCleary isn’t our only educational focus, though. Success in school relies on more than success in the classroom, and we are making sure Washington kids have healthy environments to live, learn, and grow in. This week we passed several measures with that goal in mind.
- Washington has nearly 7,500 child care facilities that serve about 174,000 children. Research shows that high quality childcare does wonders but poor quality actually damages a child. House Bill 2377 will help assure high-quality childcare that provides us with the desired outcomes: greater academic achievement, increased graduation rates, lower incarceration rates, less poverty, and less reliance on government assistance.
- Hungry kids can’t learn – it’s that simple. Evidence has shown that poor nutrition can seriously impede academic development. HB 2536 will create a “Breakfast After the Bell” program to help our students begin their days with a full stomach. Nearly half of our state’s one-million public school students are already eligible for free and reduced meals at school, but this program currently excludes the most important meal of the day. Our efforts to build a world-class education systems mean nothing if our children are too hungry to learn.
- Our state is lucky to be home to students and families from diverse backgrounds. Our communities are strongest when we provide opportunities to succeed that honor and respect the unique lives of Washington children. HB 2166, one of my bills, will direct the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to collect data associated with students from military families. Military families move around a lot, providing challenges to school-age children who frequently move from one school to another—often across states. We want to better serve the students, however long they are in our state.
- My colleagues and I strive to build strong partnerships in our communities by providing resources to help build academic success. Such resources are only as valuable as their accessibility to students. In order to increase accessibility, the House passed HB 2694,which will help high-achieving, low-income students receive information about resources that could help get them into the college. The bill is modeled after a highly regarded program that produced a dramatic increase in successful applications to top universities.
Both the House and the Senate released their budgets this week, so keep an eye out for my comments on that in next week's newsletter.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can help with. I hope to hear from you soon.
Warm Regards,
Kristine