Liv Finne of Washington Policy Center discusses record levels of taxpayer funding for WA public schools in her article, “Public education spending – Where does the money go?”. She identifies that the billions of dollars of increased funding to public schools over recent years has primarily benefited teacher salaries and benefits. However, the additional funding has not translated to improved academic learning, achievements of students or graduation rates.
Her “Key Findings” include,
1. Total school funding in the current budget (2020-21) is $17.5 billion, the highest ever.
2. Average per-student funding is $16,800, the highest ever and more than the tuition at most private schools.
3. Average teacher pay and benefits in Washington public schools are just under $119,000 a year.
4. For comparison, the average wage in Washington state in 2019 (the latest year available) was a little over $56,600.
5. Washington’s taxpayers provided teachers an overall increase in compensation of 29.5 percent between 2015 and 2021.
6. 38 of Washington’s 295 school districts pay an annual average of $125,000 or more in teacher salary and benefits. Among those 38 are Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, and Conway School District.
7. The often-cited political claim that public education is underfunded is not true.
8. Academic outcomes for students are flat or declining.
9. Adding more money to the current public education system will not improve learning outcomes for students.
Read the full Policy Note here.