Update: Congrats Seattle families, and well done voters! Both school levies passed handily in the February 2025 Special Election with almost 80 percent of voters voting Yes on 1A, and almost 74 percent on 1B.
By now you should have received your ballot in the mail for the February Special Election. Ballots must be mailed or put in a special ballot box by 8 p.m. February 11. The ballot includes two school levies initiatives. This is an Op Ed from our Editorial Board on why we’re encouraging readers to vote Yes on both. We also have a piece from a parent with her argument on voting No on one, and and one from an advocate on voting Yes on both.
It’s the law: Kids have to go to school. And it’s our collective responsibility to ensure the schools they attend are safe, well-built, and have the materials students need for quality learning.
The two Seattle Public School levy proposals on special election ballots due February 11 do all three of those things, providing SPS with about $2.5 billion to close the gap between what the district needs and what the state covers. Yes, we know a lot of parents are still wondering why the district felt the need to propose school closures to balance a hefty budget deficit. Many of them marched on Olympia last week to demand that state lawmakers increase funding for Washington school districts and keep districts out of debt. But the current ballot is a place to put politics aside and do our part as a city to support our schools, keeping in mind that the levies proposed are not new taxes but replacements for current expiring Seattle school levies.
Vote Yes on Proposition 1
SPS is asking voters to approve a three-year, $747 million levy, which would give the district slightly more than what the expiring operations levy brought in over three years (about $732 million). We endorse this property tax increase, which would cover about a quarter of SPS operating costs, including:
- funding salaries, for multilingual staffers, mental health counselors, safety and security officers and others
- funding for crucial programs like child nutrition, special education and student transportation
- money to cover opportunities for students, like arts, drama, music and athletics
Vote Yes on Proposition 2
If approved, the district’s second proposition, a $1.8 billion, six-year capital levy, would fund the district’s Building Excellence VI (BEX VI) Program. It would fun more than $50 million for security upgrades, over $200 million for building repairs, renovations, heating and cooling upgrades that the district says are urgently needed, and other safety upgrades. It would also help meet technology needs across the district.
We join with others in endorsing Propositions 1 and 2. These levies are about keeping kids and teachers safe, warm (or cool), and ensuring buildings function. They are not about building new structures.
Last year’s potential closure fumble by SPS demands scrutiny, and we are thankful that parent groups like All Together for Seattle Schools are demanding the district examine its financial strategies and processes and make them more transparent. We hope state lawmakers find a way to make good on Washington’s constitutional promise to fully fund public schools by dedicating a greater percentage of the state’s budget to education.
In the meantime, voting yes on the two levies on this ballot is how we can personally contribute to the success and safety of all Seattle students. It’s an action that sits, literally, in our collected hands.
Read more
Op Ed: One parent on why she’s voting ‘No’ on Seattle schools BEX levy
Op Ed: An argument for a ‘Yes’ vote on both Seattle school levies
