EDMONDS—Educators and community members painted the Edmonds-Woodway High School gymnasium red, so to speak, sporting “Red for Ed” attire last Wednesday, October 23, to rally for more funding toward public schools.
The Education Funding Crisis Town Hall was officially hosted by the Edmonds Education Association (EEA), though it was a joint effort by educators and staffers at the Edmonds, Northshore, and Shoreline school districts.
The event was designed to resume a dialogue between educators and legislators about school funding—one which began earlier this year. In January, the Edmonds Education Association asked for $538m of the state’s projected surplus to go toward schools in a letter to legislators.
“There is nobody in the Senate Democratic Caucus that thinks our schools are adequately funded today,” said Senator Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), one of many political figures who attended the event.
Other attendees included Sen. Derek Stanford, Sen. Jesse Salomon, Sen. John Lovick, Rep. Roger Goodman, Rep. Lauren Davis, Rep. Davina Duerr, Rep. Shelley Kloba, and Rep. Strom Peterson. The senators and representatives sat at folding tables on the courts across from the hundreds of educators in the bleachers.
The town hall brought in roughly 1200 attendees, according to the EEA, many of whom were educators and staffers at local school districts.
The EEA provided handouts comparing estimated costs of the 2024-25 school year with estimated revenue from the state. All three districts anticipate a significant shortfall.
A major point of concern was special education. Each of the three districts falls millions of dollars short in fully funding special education programs.
“Special education budgets are stretched beyond breaking point,” said Nancy Elder, Shorewood High School assistant principal and parent of a student in special education programs.
Elder shared the story of one student who struggles to get the services she needs in class. Her student, Miriam, uses a wheelchair and a Tobii device to communicate.
“Miriam wants to interact with her classmates, contribute to group work, understand the class materials, and show teachers what she knows. Miriam will tell you how frustrating it is for her, when due to lack of staffing or materials, she is set to the side or ignored.”
Elder’s school is a part of the Shoreline school district, which relies on local levies to fully fund special education. The EEA predicts Shoreline’s special education program will suffer an $8 million shortfall this school year.
Washington state does not currently “fully fund” schools. Districts rely on local levies to cover basic costs, like special education programs. Districts where levies fail on the ballot can end up in a massive budget crisis, as happened in Marysville, which is now hosting a series of public meetings to discuss which three schools will shut down to cut costs.
Some reasons legislators attribute to the funding issues include low enrollment, inflation, and poor management of funds.
Joseph Webster, a 30-year educator and principal of Meadowdale Middle School, called out the low enrollment claim.
“Our enrollment has increased for four years in a row, and our staffing has decreased for four years in a row,” he said.
“There’s a reason why multiple school districts from Moses Lake to Vancouver to Seattle are in financial distress—the outdated funding formula doesn’t work, and progress only seems to be made when the courts intervene, and that is not leadership.”
Educators asked the state to cover costs, but Sen. Marko Liias explained that the funds just aren’t there.
“There are no wasted dollars in the state budget that we can scoop and spend on education. All the dollars we are spending right now are being spent on somebody else’s important needs, so that means we need more revenue and fairer revenue in this state to help us in this challenge,” said Liias.
The event then opened up to public comment, and one community member moved quickly to be first in line. Jason Moore, parent and community member, discussed his concerns within the Edmonds school district.
“First thing that’s most important to me in schools is safety….We need to bring back SROs [school resource officers] to keep our children safe. There’s gangs in the schools, there’s drug dealing,” Moore said, at which point several in the crowd started shouting over him.
Moore then began to discuss concern with gender-inclusive restroom policies, alleging an instance of assault. He pointed his comments to Senator Liias, who did not respond.
The crowd began booing, and an EEA member reached for the microphone but was unable to retrieve it.
Moore then referred to the controversial Senate Bill 5599, sponsored by Liias and others, which allows child runaways to stay in emergency housing without immediately notifying parents if the child is seeking an abortion, reproductive medicine, or gender-affirming care.
An EEA member began shouting “I’ll take his mic,” which she later did after the first member failed to gain the mic back from Moore. The crowd was in an uproar.
“I will never stop fighting for inclusive schools,” Senator Liias responded.
Washington state funding for education has doubled since 2013 at nearly $30.7 billion in state funding and $5.26 billion in local funding over 2023-2025, according to the Washington House of Representatives.
The Edmonds Education Association said the event was “just the beginning of our advocacy efforts” to fully fund public education.
Author: Olivia Thiessen
