The Sedro-Woolley school board is requesting continued taxpayer funding of the Education Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy on the February 2022 ballot. The levy collects up to $2.50 per $1000 of assessed property value, during a time of historic inflation and elevated assessed property values. If approved, taxpayers with a $425,000 home would pay $1062.50 per year on top of an already exorbitant property tax burden. Over four years, the levy will collect more than $51 million.[1] Should the February Levy succeed, funds are destined to pay for “extras,” according to SWSD’s website[Fig 1.]. The website has now been updated to remove the term, “extras,” and has replaced “extras” with “services not funded by the state”[Fig 2.].
The “extras” funded by the EP&O levy include pay for nurses, safety officers, counselors, librarians, arts and music. The levy does not pay for what most would consider basic education, like reading, writing, math and science.
The district’s budget this year is a whopping $78.5 million,[2] which is shocking for a rural area like SWSD. With only 4,164 students enrolled,[3] $18,862 is spent per year per student, and funding comes mainly from taxpayer dollars. The funding sources include the Local EP&O and Operations Levies ($10.5m), State Funds ($56.6m), and Federal Funds ($6.5m).[4] Taxpayers are spending more than double for public school education (nearly $19k per year) compared to private school education ($7100 per year) at Mt. Vernon Christian Academy.[5]
For $78.5 million a year and nearly $19k per student, our public school district is failing our students with only 56.3% of students meeting ELA (English & language arts) Standards, 45.4% meeting math standards, and 45.2% meeting science standards according to assessments from 2018-2019.[6] Current standard test scores are likely even lower due to learning losses from public school Covid policies, including school closures and online “learning”.
District residents have the most influence over decision-making as voters for the local levy. When the public school system is not meeting basic standards for reading, writing, arithmetic and science,[7] the “extras” may just be the problem rather than the solution. Do voters wish to spend their hard earned tax dollars to maintain administrative staff in schools that are NOT helping their children meet basic standards? Do voters wish to toe the line and continue to maintain our existing model of education that is obviously failing our students by all measures? I know my answer – NO.