City Council nearly doubles school-levy request

The Seattle City Council agreed Monday to place a $231 million Families and Education Levy on the November ballot, nearly double the amount of the current levy.

Councilmember Tim Burgess acknowledged the council was asking taxpayers to make a sacrifice at a time of continued economic difficulty to help the city's neediest children.

Burgess noted that nearly half of Seattle public-school students were at risk academically and in danger of failing.

"Time is running out for these students," he said.

The unanimous decision to put a bigger levy on the ballot came as a new poll showed two-thirds of Seattle voters in favor of renewing the levy, but only one-third supporting the larger amount.

The current seven-year, $116 million levy costs the owner of a $463,000 house (about the average in Seattle) $65 a year. The $231 million levy would increase that to $127 a year.

The measure would fund more early-learning opportunities, academic support at 23 elementary schools with the highest poverty rates, support for students struggling to advance from middle to high school, academic support and college counseling for at-risk high-school students, and continued funding for middle- and high-school health clinics.

Seattle voters first passed the levy in 1990. It has been renewed twice.

Mayor Mike McGinn praised the council action and noted the levy will incorporate a number of accountability measures, including performance-based contracts, removal of funding for programs that aren't working, annual reports on student performance and continued data sharing with Seattle Public Schools.

The mayor and council have worried in recent weeks that a financial scandal in the schools and the resulting dismissal of the superintendent might hurt the levy's chances among voters.

An Elway Poll released Saturday showed that 28 percent of Seattle voters said the city should let the tax expire, 35 percent supported extending it at "something like the existing levy" and 31 percent favored the expanded levy.

"There's clearly widespread support for extending the levy," said Stuart Elway.

But, Elway cautioned, the same degree of approval isn't there for the pricier levy.

"In terms of where voters are now, that's a risk," he said.

The poll surveyed 405 Seattle voters March 22-25. The poll had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.

The poll found that those most likely to vote are most supportive of the costlier levy.

Among "perfect voters" — those who voted in all of the previous four elections, 37 percent favored the larger, $231 million levy, and 32 percent favored extending the existing levy at about the same amount.

Councilmember Bruce Harrell said levy supporters must convince voters that the greater investment in education will pay off in great employees for the region.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com