Teachers try new funding approach

Frustrated by a lack of state funding for schools, Seattle's teachers union plans to ask voters this fall for a citywide increase in taxes.

If successful, the initiative would pour as much as $40 million a year into the Seattle Public Schools budget, to be spent mostly on new teachers and staff. To approve the measure, voters would be agreeing to lift the levy lid and increase their property taxes.

If the initiative passes, the owner of a $400,000 home would pay an additional $150 a year, with property taxes rising about $37 per $100,000 in value.

The teachers union hopes Seattle voters will be willing to pay the extra amount for six years if they are guaranteed that the money will be spent primarily on smaller class sizes, all-day kindergarten and closing the achievement gap between white students and students of color.

"In order to assure that our children are able to pass the WASL and meet the standards, we need extra resources, and we believe that the city of Seattle will support that," said Wendy Kimball, the president of the Seattle Education Association, which represents teachers, instructional aides and clerical staff.

The initiative would make use of a loophole: The school district is limited in how much money it can ask voters for, but by routing money through the city government, the district can collect as much as voters will approve. Because the Seattle district's boundaries match the city limits, Seattle Public Schools is one of the few districts that can make use of a citywide vote.

"Certainly our schools need more money and certainly it's creative, and it would direct it to the classrooms, where it's going to be most beneficial," said Peter Maier, president of the Schools First Coalition, which lobbies for school-district levies in Seattle.

City officials so far are less enthusiastic.

Mayor Greg Nickels' spokeswoman called the idea "absurd"; City Councilman David Della said he's waiting on a legal opinion; and the president of the citywide PTSA said it's too early to take a position.

Della, who chairs the council's education committee, said he may support an initiative but that it would have to fit into statewide efforts to get money.

Seattle School Board member Michael DeBell had the same concern.

"I'm reluctant to have Seattle do something alone on school funding," he said. "I would prefer to see the state do something for the whole state, for all school districts."

But Seattle Education Association leaders say the city can't wait for the rest of the state. The city's schools have needs now, they said, and their polling indicates the city would support a tax increase. In 2004, a statewide campaign to raise $1 billion for schools with a sales-tax increase failed. But in Seattle it got passing marks, with 55 percent of the vote.

The teachers union would need nearly 18,000 signatures by midsummer to get the issue onto the November ballot, according to the Seattle city clerk's office.

Marianne Bichsel, the mayor's spokeswoman, said Nickels wouldn't support increased taxes until the school district implements recommendations of a 14-member committee appointed by Superintendent Raj Manhas to offer solutions to the district's financial problems.

Manhas' committee recommended late last year that Seattle Public Schools close schools, begin charging for bus service and cut administrative staff within the next two years to help resolve a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. The School Board is in the middle of closing schools and last month agreed to have Ballard and Franklin high-school students switch from school buses to Metro bus service starting in the fall.

"The school district needs to follow the recommendations of the task force first and foremost before asking for any more money," committee member Marguerite Roza said.

"As a community member, I would have a hard time voting for more taxes until I knew the district was doing what it needed to do to make those cuts," she said.

District spokeswoman Patti Spencer said the district will need additional funding even after the committee's recommendations are in place.

"The superintendent and board and the [committee] have all come to the conclusion that Seattle Public Schools needs a very significant increase in funding in order to adequately meet the needs of the students," she said.

But Steve Pulkkinen, executive director of the teachers union, said the initiative wouldn't provide any money until 2008 — after planned school consolidations are completed. And he said the money could help pay for some of the improvements the committee is asking for: smaller classes and more teachers.

A draft of the initiative is very specific about where the $40 million would be spent. More than half would be used to shrink class sizes and hire more teachers. The rest would be used to help students of color to do as well academically as white students, because a disparity exists now. The money also would go toward providing all-day kindergarten and more music classes in middle and elementary schools.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com