Olympia Update

By Sen. Perry Dozier

OLYMPIA–Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and government shutdowns, depression and anxiety rates have rapidly increased in our young people. We also learned that our public schools have seen a 4 percent enrollment decline, or a loss of approximately 40,000 students statewide since the pandemic hit in 2020.

These shutdowns led many parents to turn to home and private schooling to ensure their kids weren’t left behind academically and socially. Now, almost two years later, many of these students haven’t returned to our public schools. This leaves us with a challenge in our school funding, as our districts rely on enrollment numbers to calculate how much money they will receive from the state.

One option to address the enrollment decline would be for legislators to simply shovel more money into basic education. Our estimates show that over the 4-year budget cycle, the state will take in approximately $10 billion more in revenue that we previously expected. The trouble with this is, just throwing money at the issue doesn’t get us at the root of the problem and address why our children aren’t returning and how we can fully address their educational needs.

I believe some of our parents are turning to alternative forms of education for their children because they aren’t satisfied with our public schools. They want to be active and involved in their child’s education. That’s why I introduced Senate Bill 5858, which would create a parents’ bill of rights. This legislation would allow parents to get an advance look at a course curriculum, information on who is teaching their children- whether it be teachers or guest speakers- who has contracts with the school, more access to school board meetings, and the ability to receive more specifics regarding their child’s health, safety and well-being.

Additionally, the public K-12 system relies too much on a top-down approach- starting at the Office of Superintendent of Public instruction (OSPI)- that limits the authority of district school boards and therefore fails to include parents enough in the process. I co-sponsored Senate Bill 5601, which would support parents and guardians by recognizing that not all school districts are alike and allowing our locally accountable school boards to decide what works best.

A bill that could handle our funding concerns and be a big help to our schools is Senate Bill 5922, another bill I’m cosponsoring. It would leverage part of the excess revenue we have and boost funding for special education; student support staff (counselors, mental health professionals, and nurses) career and technical education, and much more - including efforts to address the pandemic learning loss. At the same time, this bill would take the cap on local levies back down to where it was set by legislation passed in 2017 ($1.50/$1,000 assessed valuation), bringing equity among districts and tax relief to most property owners.

While I am confident these bills would be a good start in helping our students and families get back on track and address the needs our schools are facing, majority Democrats hold the cards on which bills will receive a hearing and ultimately a vote.

Our children, parents and taxpayers deserve our best - we must continue to listen, learn and address the needs they are facing.

Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, serves on the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.