Public education in Clark County — and throughout Washington — is at an inflection point. Ensuring productive schooling for future generations will require effective leadership along with robust support from the public.
The overriding issue is how much that public is willing to invest. A variety of factors are leading to vast budget cuts in districts throughout the region, creating questions about short-term outlooks, long-term viability and management that has led to shortfalls.
In Evergreen Public Schools this week, district leaders proposed eliminating 140 staff positions for the 2024-25 school year. For the third consecutive year, the district of 23,000 students is facing a deficit of approximately $20 million.
Meanwhile, officials in Vancouver Public Schools have indicated that cuts of approximately $35 million will be required. Washougal schools are facing a $3 million shortfall, and Superintendent Mary Templeton has agreed to a $21,000 reduction in compensation. And other districts have dealt with similar shortfalls.
Administrators point to declining enrollment, which impacts how much state funding the districts receive, as a factor behind the cuts. Budgets also have been impacted by inflation and the exhaustion of federal COVID-relief money. When funding declines, athletic directors and teacher librarians and classroom personnel are the obvious targets. As Evergreen Superintendent John Boyd said: “Ninety cents of a dollar goes to staff. There’s no way to reduce $20 million without affecting staff.”
But there also are broader questions involved. In 2018, when the Legislature allotted an extra $1 billion for public school teachers, districts throughout the state faced contentious negotiations with teachers unions. The Columbian warned editorially: “As unions and school administrators throughout Clark County — and the rest of the state — negotiate teacher salaries, a word of advice is warranted for school districts: Don’t bargain away money you don’t have.”
In many cases, a one-time influx of revenue resulted in long-term deals that were not sustainable.
Since then, the pandemic and other factors have led to a decline in public-school enrollment, with a higher percentage of families opting for private schools or homeschooling. According to data from the state, private school enrollment has increased 17 percent compared with pre-pandemic numbers, and homeschool enrollment has increased 43 percent.
In addition, approximately 10,000 students in Washington are “missing” — unaccounted for in the public, private or homeschooling numbers.
The trend is not unique to Washington, and it is driven in part by claims that public schools run counter to community values. Such claims often are specious, but they should not be ignored by administrators. If public schools are being abandoned by a segment of the population, it would be foolish to not examine the reasons.
All of that should lead to reflection upon the importance of public education. As John Adams wrote in the years prior to becoming the nation’s second president: “The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”
It is disquieting that schools are facing the elimination of jobs and the reduction of services available to students. But the situation marks an important opportunity for taxpayers to define their commitment to public education.
