Mercer Island High School PTSA Resolution on Advocacy for Funding Education in Mercer Island School District 

Whereas, Washington state’s constitution, specific court decisions and legislative acts have provided a foundation for funding the state’s K-12 public education system, yet our Washington school districts are still lacking adequate funds to cover all costs of a basic education. In Mercer Island School District, during this 2023-24 year, the state only funds 68% of our budget, resulting in a significant gap between revenue and the necessary expenditures to meet our obligations to our students.

Whereas, as a small district with a high cost of living, we pay more per student than what we are reimbursed by the state under the prototypical school model because we do not have the same economies of scale as districts with higher enrollments. In addition, our district offers a seven-period day and other programs valued by our community, which is not covered under the prototypical school model. 

Whereas, the 2017 McCleary state budget fix, under RCW 84.52.053, arbitrarily caps our school district’s local enrichment levy at the lesser of $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value in the district, or $2,500 per pupil increased for inflation ($2,988.32 in 2023), as Mercer Island School District has fewer than 40,000 students. This lies in contrast to the $3,000 per pupil that districts over 40,000 students are permitted to assess.

Whereas, Mercer Island voters overwhelmingly approved local levies in February 2022; the Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) Levy (73% in favor) and Capital Projects and Technology Levy (72% in favor) demonstrate continued strong public support for providing students an excellent education in Mercer Island public schools.

Whereas, the legislature has created a regionalization factor to reflect regional differences in the cost of hiring staff. “The regionalization factor for each school district is based, in part, on differences in the median residential value of each school district as well as all neighboring districts within a 15-mile radius. Districts whose median residential values exceed the statewide average receive upward adjustments of 6, 12 and 18 percent. Some school districts receive additional regionalization based on proximity to higher regionalized school districts or higher ratios of instructional staff with experience and advanced degrees.”

Whereas, advocacy is core to the mission of Mercer Island High School PTSA, we work to influence the political systems that impact our district’s ability to fund and implement a quality education for our students.

Therefore, be it resolved that Mercer Island High School PTSA urges our state legislators to support legislation that will enable us to cover the full cost of education for our students. Specifically, we request the following changes:

1) Fully fund Special Education by increasing the cost multiplier for special education students and removing special education enrollment caps, among other measures.  

2) Revise the Prototypical School model. Specifically, we request that the state fully fund critical positions supporting our students’ physical and mental health, including nurses, psychologists, social workers, and counselors.  

3) Modify the restrictions on levy authority for our EP&O levies so that we can ask our local voters to approve the funds needed to close gaps. Specifically, we urge support for proposed legislation that would use the district’s regionalization factor to increase the maximum amount we can raise through our EP&O levy. 

4) Local Effort Assistance (LEA) is the tool the state has to provide equitable funding to districts that don’t have the same ability to raise local levy funds. In 2018, total LEA funding provided equitable support to 222 districts across the state of Washington. Since 2018, LEA funding has dropped by 60% and now only supports 119 districts. We support increasing LEA funding to avoid exacerbating inequalities across districts. 

We also request that proposed solutions are implemented in a timely manner that allows us to meet our students’ needs in the upcoming academic years, rather than on a stretched-out timeline that will hobble our district’s ability to meet student needs, thereby further harming our student enrollment levels. 

Questions? Contact advocacy@mihsptsa.org.