It’s Republicans who hold proven record of prioritizing education

Schools across the state kicked off the 2015-16 school year today. Of course, the Pasco teachers’ union is currently on an illegal strike, so schools there will be closed until further notice.

But, despite threats of more teachers’ strikes in Seattle and Spokane, students and parents have a lot of positive change to look forward to this year—thanks to Republican lawmakers.

It is important for Washingtonians to not forget that the Democrat Party and the legislators carrying its banner are responsible for our state being under a state Supreme Court order (the McCleary decision) to meet its constitutional duty and fully fund public education. The fact is that Democrats have been underfunding public education for a generation prior to the McCleary decision. They have controlled at least one house of the Legislature in 28 of the last 30 years – and had complete control of the Legislature in 14 of those years.

A Democrat governor—from Booth Gardner, to Mike Lowry, to Gary Locke, to Christine Gregoire, to Jay Inslee—has signed every state budget since 1985. Under these heavily Democrat-controlled budgets, the ratio of new education spending versus non-education spending was 1:2 (in other words, the Democrats’ priority was two dollars for bigger general government for every new dollar of education funding).

When Republicans finally had the opportunity to take lead in writing the state Senate budget, they managed to breath new life into our state’s spending prioritizes. In 2013, the Majority Caucus Coalition (with GOP Sen. Andy Hill as budget writer), the state budget re-prioritized spending and added nearly $1 billion more in new money for K-12 schools (and froze college tuition) for the first time in 30 years. The state budget prioritized education over non-education spending at a 4:1 ratio—again, for the first time in 30 years.

And that was all accomplished without raising taxes.

Republicans continued to prove their commitment to prioritizing education during the 2015 legislative session. The Republican-controlled state Senate’s original budget proposal truly put education first—again, without raising taxes. Nearly half of the Senate Republicans budget was devoted to education spending. Here’s what their budget proposal dedicated to K-12 education:

• $2.7 billion biennial spending increase, a jump from $15.3 billion to $18 billion
  •  $1.3 billion to meet constitutional requirements as ordered in the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. That included:
    • $740 million more for materials, supplies and operating costs
    • $350 million to reduce K-3 class sizes
    • $190 million for all-day kindergarten
  • $230 million for K-12 teachers’ and other employees’ salary increases
  • $210 million to pay for higher state pension costs, primarily due to longer employee life spans

The Senate’s budget featured a whopping 17.8% increase in state appropriations for education. Comparatively, they proposed growing non-education portions of the budget by less than 6%.

In the end, Republicans ensured that the state budget truly prioritized our public schools, both K-12 and higher education. And, they ensured working families would not be burdened by higher taxes, by fighting against Democrat tax increase plans (including a new state income tax) and insisting on a no-new-taxes budget.

This year’s budget constituted the largest allocation of spending for education in state history. In meeting the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision mandate, lawmakers managed to devote an impressive 47.5% of state budget to education. Again, that’s a level that has not been seen in the last 30 years—due to the facts all should remember, that a Democrat governor has signed every state budget since 1985, and that Democrats have controlled at least one house of the legislature for 28 of the last 30 years.

Despite what can only be called a victory for education, the state Supreme Court slapped a $100,000 per day fine on taxpayers for what it views as the state’s failure to take necessary strides toward meeting the requirements of the McCleary decision before the court’s own 2018 deadline. Whether one believes the court acted beyond its powers or not, Democrats’ reaction to the ruling granted an insight into where their priorities lie—and it’s not with education.

KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson said it best when he labeled the court’s fine on the state a “a ‘backdoor’ attempt to impose a state income tax,” something the court has “no right to do.” Following the court’s decision, liberal lawmakers lined up to walk through the “backdoor,” suggesting tax-related “solutions”—or, as Jay Inslee recently it, “additional revenue sources.”

Democrat state Rep. Jim Moeller—the number three Democrat in the state House—stated that he believes the court’s order is “appropriate” and “should not go ignored.” Moeller went on to suggest that a state income tax is a solution to the problems pointed out by the court.

Inslee followed up, and validated, Moeller’s statements. Our green governor claimed the state needed new revenue sources to raise the money—he estimates an additional $3 billion a biennium—to appease the court. Specifically, Inslee claimed that the state would require “spectacular revenue growth” or “some additional revenue source” to meet the constitutional duty which Democrat governors have ignored since 1985.

Democrat State Representative Ross Hunter said that appeasing the court would require an additional $3.5 billion every two years “on top of the $38.2 billion the state is already spending in its current two-year budget cycle.” Hunter also stated that the most difficult part of the problem was reaching a consensus on “how to pay for it.” No doubt, Hunter’s ideal solution is what he pushed during the 2015 legislative session: a state capital gains income tax.

Rather than look at the court’s decision as another important reminder of what their party has done to education funding in our state, Democrats decided to treat it as a means to impose their higher taxes agenda. Specifically, as a means to champion their party’s “guiding principle,” a state income tax.

For Democrats, it’s never really about prioritizing education. If it were, they would not try to burden working families with higher taxes at every opportunity. Rather, they would look for creative solutions that re-prioritize the state’s existing revenue toward education. Time and time again, Republicans have proved it is possible.