Op-Ed: Here we go again: Washington's education establishment wants more cash
This is not a reprint of a story 10 or even 20 years ago – although it sure could be. Washington state's education establishment is getting ready to file yet another lawsuit demanding taxpayers spend more money on K-12 education. And the news just so happens to come in the wake of the failure of I-645, which would have repealed Washington's new income tax. Now that the income tax has survived (for now), it's time to belly up to the taxpayer buffet. According to reports, the Lake Washington, Tacoma and Yakima school districts are preparing to sue the state claiming it fails "to fund basic education." But here's the problem: Washington state doesn't underfund K-12 education. According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, school district general fund spending reached $19,371 per pupil in 2024–25. A decade earlier, in 2015–16, it was $11,450. That is an increase of roughly 69%. For a classroom of 25 students, that is a whopping $484,275. This data does not include local spending on K-12, which adds hundreds of millions more. On top of this, Washington’s public schools are serving fewer students. The state’s Office of Financial Management reports K–12 enrollment of approximately 1.071
