We are weeks away from the start of a new school year. Educators are busy preparing for their new students, students are enjoying the last weeks of the summer break, and families are looking forward to leaving the childcare challenges of the summer behind. However, there is an undercurrent of concern from many as the upcoming school year will look different for students, families, and educators in many districts as they have had to make some difficult decisions in response to the budget crises that have been amplified by the drying up of one-time federal stimulus funding.
In anticipation of this challenging time for districts, League of Education Voters undertook a research project during the 2023-2024 school year to better understand district budget challenges. We wanted to understand how our current resourcing approach wasn’t meeting district needs, how student needs have evolved in recent years, and how districts are responding to this challenging time. In Underfunded and Unsustainable, we share findings from in-depth interviews with district superintendents from 28 Washington state school districts and a look at district staffing and spending data to help inform how we can respond and ensure that students are centered as we look to how we can emerge from this challenging time with a system that is more responsive to student needs.
You can read the executive summary and full report here.
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