Why WA school budgets are getting tighter, and what can be done about it

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Talk about a thankless job. In Washington state, school district budgeting has suddenly become much more difficult.

After more than a decade of strong revenue growth, districts are facing deficits. In 2013, the average expenditure per student in Washington was $9,600. Since then, the Legislature has steadily increased funding for schools . Then came federal pandemic relief funds. In this last school year, Washington schools averaged over $18,000 per student. That’s an 89% increase (far outpacing inflation at 32%).

Flush with cash, districts could bring on new staff. Our state’s schools now employ over 20,000 more people than they did a decade ago (a jump of 20% even as enrollment grew only by 3%). Leaders could make employees happy by giving out pay raises: Washington’s average teacher pay is currently $86,804 —the 4 th highest in the nation.

But the era of big year-over-year spending increases has ended . Federal relief funds disappear in September. Enrollments are projected to drop 7% by the end of the decade. Even when state funds rise with inflation, fewer students mean fewer dollars; in the coming years many Washington districts will have no choice but to shrink programs, reduce staffing, and close schools.

Understandably, most leaders would rather avoid this part of the job. And many do, kicking the can down the road for others to deal with. But delaying only makes it worse.

Case in point, Seattle Public Schools, where the financial troubles have been building since 2022 . Just as enrollment was falling, the district agreed to an expensive labor contract that drove up costs well beyond forecasted revenues. This fall, Seattle’s first-year teachers with a bachelor’s will start out at over $72,000, with the most senior teachers topping out above $141,000 . The contract pledged added staffing in special education programs, such that Seattle now has the most costly services in the state.

Last year, Seattle Public Schools largely drained its rainy day fund to buy some time before making unpopular cuts (like closing schools). Fast forward to this year: the cuts didn’t get any easier, so now the district is taking on a one-year loan so it can keep spending money it doesn’t have. Paying back that loan will force even deeper cuts next year.

The first step in getting out of any hole should be to stop digging. That takes proactively managing the budget. And resisting temptation to delay hard choices. It also means helping communities understand tradeoffs before cuts become so dire that families lose confidence completely.

It’s hard work.

It can be done. It’s what Northshore leaders did earlier this year when they worked quickly to close a $26 million gap by being honest about the options, and then partnering with labor groups on concessions to avoid more draconian cuts.

The alternative is to run the risk of surrendering local budget control to the state.

Districts in Marysville, Mount Baker, and three other cities are already in this status (called “binding conditions”). Nowhere is this work harder than in Moses Lake, where leaders are hustling to close a larger gap due in part to an accounting error and a levy failure.

We’re asking a lot of our district leaders, but here’s the broader problem: most haven’t been prepped for these fiscal responsibilities. Too few have any training on managing multi-million-dollar sums, gauging financial sustainability, or weighing options when conditions change. (Not surprisingly, these are the topics most sought after in our nationwide Certificate in Ed Finance training.)

Nor have leaders been taught to monitor the effectiveness of investments to ensure students are getting the most for every dollar. Compared to other states, we’re spending more and getting less . That has to change.

Strategic financial leadership is critical. Budgets are tightening and that won’t change any time soon. And we must find a way to reverse the downward trend in student outcomes by making the best choices for students with the dollars at hand.

All told it’s a hard job being a district leader today. But more than ever, this job matters.