Teachers oppose capping revenue

The revenue-capping initiative voters will decide Nov. 4 would lock school districts into sharply reduced budgets that have already forced harmful program cuts, crowded classrooms and burdensome student fees, teachers from Clark County’s three largest school districts warned at a news conference Tuesday.

Their fear: If Initiative 1033 passes, those conditions will become the new normal — or, worse, K-12 education funding will fall even further behind.

"The current recession has necessitated hard choices for the state of Washington," said Fern Tresvan, a teacher at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. I-1033 "will immediately and directly hurt children for years to come if it passes," she said.

The warning from teachers active in their local unions was part of a statewide frontal assault on the measure by the Washington Education Association, a major backer of the opposition campaign.

It comes as a new statewide poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports shows 61 percent of voters "definitely favor" or "probably favor" I-1033. The polling firm accurately predicted the outcome of another tax limitation measure approved by voters in September 2007.

I-1033, sponsored by anti-tax activist Tim Eyman, would cap the annual growth of state, county and city revenue at the combined rate of inflation and population growth — and require refunds to taxpayers when revenue collected exceeds that cap.

Although the measure does not specifically cap school district revenue, I-1033 would force the Legislature to cut the state general fund to stay within its revenue cap. More than half the general fund goes to support basic K-12 education.

I-1033 would reduce state general fund revenue by $5.09 billion between 2010 and 2015, according to the state Office of Financial Management. Revenue to cities would drop by $2.1 billion and revenue to counties would shrink by $694 million over the period, the OFM predicts.

Under I-1033, local governments could turn to voters for permission to override the new cap.

Meanwhile, local operations and maintenance levies for all but two Clark County school districts will expire in 2010. Districts must seek voter approval of replacement levies that are subject to state maximums and taxpayers’ tolerance, which many officials fear has eroded with the poor economy.

At a news conference at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver, teachers offered a grim picture of how schools are coping with increased demand and reduced state funding. The 2009 Legislature slashed education funding to help deal with the state’s $8 billion revenue shortfall.

Rob Miller, a teacher at Columbia Valley Elementary School in the Evergreen district, said his district "did everything we could to save jobs." But Evergreen teachers are still coping with classes of 30 or more students this year, he said, and there’s no money for aides to help struggling students with reading.

Jordi Yokes, a teacher-librarian at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in the Vancouver district, said her allotment for buying library books has dropped from $5 to $2.14 per child.

"Kids deserve a 21st-century education," Yokes said. "Reducing funding is counterproductive to producing able students."

Gloria Smith, a math teacher at Frontier Middle School in the Evergreen district, said the math books she uses are 10-year-old paperbacks. Some are falling apart, she said, "but we can’t just replace them because they’re out of publication."

Because print shop budgets have been slashed, Smith will get $2 per student this year for printing lab sheets, quizzes, tests and other instructional materials.

Some of the harshest cuts have come in the Battle Ground district.

"We are in an era of budget cuts and attacks on public education," said Sheryl Piper, a teacher and coach in the district for 25 years who now works as a counselor at Battle Ground High School. "In our building, there is no more staff development or travel."

Three weeks into the school year, Battle Ground High already has depleted a charitable fund that helps students who are unable to pay school fees.

"There are fees for almost every class" that range from $5 to $30, Piper said. The fees cover materials for both elective courses and some core required courses, including science and social studies. A student can easily rack up $100 or more in course fees, she said, on top of the fee the district charges students to take part in interscholastic athletics, which doubled to $100 this year.

Class sizes are ballooning, Piper said; 11 teachers at Battle Ground High have reached their maximum student load of 150 students per day, and 14 others are close to hitting that mark.

"The workload is horrendous," she said. "The attention that individual students receive is compromised."

Linda Peterson, an art teacher at Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground, agreed. Budget cuts this year cost teachers their start-up day at the beginning of the school year and their education improvement day.

"Our parents expect us to walk into the classroom and prepare their students for the 21st century," she said. "Students are not getting the attention they deserve because there just isn’t time."

Howard Buck contributed to this story. Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.