Advocating for the Full Funding of Washington State's Public Schools

The May 27th online Town Hall hall featured a panel of education leaders and partners sharing insights on the current funding landscape and the path forward.

Highlights from the event:

- Reflection on key outcomes from the legislative session

- We heard perspectives from leaders across districts, associations, and communities

- Discussed opportunities for collaboration and advocacy

- Strengthened our collective voice for fully funded public education

Thank you to our panel speakers:

Dr. Kelly Aramaki, Bellevue School District, Superintendent

Dr. Jon Holmen, Lake Washington School District, Superintendent

JoLynn Berge, Northshore School District, Deputy Superintendent

Marie Sullivan, Washington State PTA Legislative Consultant

What's at stake?

Schools are in crisis now.
The state’s paramount duty is to fund basic education — and students can’t wait years for new revenue that still doesn’t guarantee K‑12 investments.
The 2026 legislature made deeper cuts to early learning and K-12 without new investments.

Regional Town Hall on Education Funding

Student Voices Leading the Way Forward

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the January 7, 2026 Regional Town Hall on Education Funding — students, families, educators, community members, and legislators. Your presence, engagement, and support helped make this student-led event meaningful and impactful.

We are grateful to all who shared their time, voices, and perspectives as we came together to advocate for fully funded, equitable, and sustainable public education in Washington!

Take the next step:

Sign the letter to State Legislators calling for fully funded K–12 education
Join the K–12 Funding Coalition — especially students

🔗 View the Town Hall Slide Deck

2026 Session - Legislative Update

Week 9: Legislature Adjourns, Cuts $90 million from K-12 Education

By Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant

The 2026 regular session of the 69th legislature adjourned “sine die” at approximately 8:25 PM Thursday, March 12th. House and Senate Democrats celebrated, counting among the “wins” the passage of 9.9% tax on households with an annual income greater than $1 million. ESSB 6346, the new income tax would begin in calendar year 2028, with tax collections starting in 2029. This depends, of course, on the new law surviving court challenges and a possible initiative.

As shared by Advocacy Director, Megan Larkin, in messaging on this bill: “The intent section promises to ‘Increase state funding for K-12 education in order to improve outcomes for Washington’s students by strengthening high quality instruction and expanding student supports.’ While this sounds great, the intent section is nonbinding and there is nothing in the operative portion of this bill that dedicates money to K-12 basic education. Legislators may claim that this bill supports our schools because it deposits the revenue into the General Fund, which is the main account financing the operating budget. However, increasing funding to the state general fund that supports K-12 (and many other services such as health and human services and the department of corrections) is in no way the same as allocating more money to schools. Moving forward, it is important to let the Legislature know in no uncertain terms that we are not placated by that misleading messaging and that we expect them to increase K-12 funding as promised. Our kids can’t wait.”

On the final day of the session, legislators passed supplemental operating, transportation and capital budgets. We’ll have more on bills later, but here is a budget summary of the losses and gains in K-12 education specifically.

Continue reading on the WSPTA blog.

OSPI K-12 Equity Funding Workgroups

Members of the OSPI K–12 Funding Equity Work Group and the University of Washington Superintendents Work Group discuss key equity priorities guiding work to come in 2026.

You’ll hear from Dr. Kelly Aramaki (Bellevue School District), Marissa Rathbone (Washington Association of School Administrators), and Dr. David Knight (University of WA) as they share key principals and findings intended to inform the 2026 Legislature’s consideration of improvements to Washington’s education funding system.

Town Hall Recap

Town Hall: Presentation Slides

This slide deck captures key moments and messages from the January 7, 2026 - Regional Town Hall on Education Funding, a student-led event bringing together families, educators, community members, and legislators from across the region.

The presentation includes background information and data of the statewide funding gaps across Special Education, MSOC (materials, supplies & operating costs), and Transportation. The overview of Washington’s K–12 funding challenges was shared, and both short-term needs and long-term solutions were highlighted. It also features context shared by Chris Reykdal and school finance expert Dan Steele, along with information presented during the student-moderated legislative discussion.

The slides are shared here to support continued learning, advocacy, and community engagement around fully funded, equitable, and sustainable public education in Washington.

🔗 View the Town Hall Slide Deck

Advocating for the Full Funding of Washington State's Public Schools