(The Center Square) – School districts across Washington state would receive more funding for materials, supplies and operating costs, known as MSOC, under a bill that passed out of the House Appropriations Committee on Friday.
The bill nearly died in the final vote but ultimately passed when majority party Democrats pushed one of their own to change his vote after the initial vote.
House Bill 1338, sponsored by Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, would increase per-pupil funding by 20% from current law – from nearly $1,600 to more than $1,800 per student – for everything from technology to textbooks and other supplies, to security and central staff.
A fiscal note attached to the bill estimates more than $693 million in operating expenditures for the 2025-2027 biennium.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, offered several amendments to the bill ahead of final passage.
“If a school district is allocated dollars for a certain MSOC category, which there are various ones, and they misspend what was allocated for those categories, they would have to refund the state’s general fund,” Couture said in speaking to one of his amendments.
Berg responded.
“Our schools do have current accountability measures in place and accounting measures that we’ve voted on throughout the years that really make sure our schools are using the funds as appropriately as possible,” she said.
Couture pushed back.
“If they’re not misspending now, then there should be no problem taking the amendment,” he said. “It just says if they do misspend any dollars that they would have to refund it to the state.
None of the Republican-backed amendments were adopted, but ahead of a final vote on the bill, several GOP members spoke about their concerns about giving schools more money without any accounting.
“As a former school board member myself and somebody who has seen firsthand the challenges districts face, I definitely understand the importance of making sure our schools have the resources they need,” Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Eatonville, said. “But we all have to acknowledge that simply increasing funding without accountability is not the solution forward.”
Huge increases in education funding have yet to yield better outcomes for students, according to Marshall.
“Education spending in our state has skyrocketed to over $19,000 per student per year,” he explained. “Despite this investment, our performance has been on a steady decline.”
He went on to note that Washington teacher salaries are among the highest in the nation, but student outcomes have not improved.
“The intent of this bill is to protect materials, supplies and operating costs and ensuring the resources go directly to the classrooms,” Marshall said. “Too often, the funds we allocate to schools and put into certain buckets are diverted through collective bargaining agreements, and a lot of time, they end up going to areas that are not the intended purpose. There really is no accountability where the money is spent once it gets to the school districts.”
Rep. Michael Keaton, R-Puyallup, told the committee he had hoped to support the final bill, but he would not vote for it without any of the amendments ensuring accountability.
“My district in Puyallup is over the last five years down $47.43 million – unfunded versus actual cost for those type of supplies,” he said. “The Couture amendment would have provided the safe guardrails around funding to make sure the money is used properly and in the right areas. Now, I just can’t support this bill.”
Berg pushed back, saying that lawmakers did include some guardrails and accountability measures around MSOC in the operating budget last year.
“There’s very specific language around guardrails that they have to use this money for specific purposes, and I think those are things that we actually thought about, and they are there,” she said.
When it came time for a vote on the final bill, the original tally was 16 votes against and 15 votes for, with Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, voting against the bill. When staff read the final count and it was clear the bill was not going to pass, a murmur could be heard among committee members, with Democrats swinging their chairs in the direction of Pollet.
Some Democrats could be heard urging Pollett to change his vote, and he complied, much to the dismay of demoralized Republicans who shook their heads in frustration.
“I’d like to change my vote, from nay without recommendation to yes,” he said.
The new tally was 16 to 15 to pass the legislation.
HB 1338 now goes to the full House for a floor vote, which is not yet scheduled.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
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