The role of schools in supporting student needs has greatly evolved over the last decade. What has driven this evolution is the recognition that schools need to meet students where they are in order for students to learn.
This means providing mental and behavioral health support, access to social-emotional learning resources, and other supports that work to establish the conditions that enable students to engage in learning. Simply put: a stressed brain cannot learn.
School districts have helped to lead this evolution because the state provides limited resources and support for districts to hire and support counselors, social workers, and mental health specialists, but districts recognize the need to provide these resources. For example, state funding formulas provide only a single social worker to meet the needs of over 4,500 middle school students.
It is through local levy funds that districts hire more counselors, social workers, and other student support specialists than state funding formulas provide for schools. Local levies are important in the work districts do toward making every student feel welcomed, supported, and valued.
Also, the state is underfunding special education. The reality is that without local levy resources many districts, including Seattle, would not come close to providing students with disabilities the opportunity to access their education. Unfortunately, levies have become a foundational part of special education budgets.
These are both the reasons levies have become a necessity and the reason why we need more state resources to be able to meet the needs of our students, especially students who experience the most barriers to accessing their education.
Seattle Public Schools need these levies, but we must also continue to advocate in Olympia for equitable, ample funding formulas that support the needs of all students. We don’t just need more funding from the state – we need more funding that is directed to students who have greater needs.
The Seattle 2025 Educational Programs and Operations Levy (EP&O) funds salaries, including school security, special education, and multilingual support staff, special education programs, student meals, student transportation, and activities such as athletics, arts, music, and drama. If you have comments about what the levy should fund, you can contact the Seattle Public School Budget Department at budget@seattleschools.org or reach out to the Seattle School Board.
Learn more about local levies at from the League of Education Voters levy FAQ sheet and with ” How We Fund K-12 Schools in Washington.”
