The Medical Lake School District is the 59th Largest Employer in Spokane County

This, according to the December 23rd edition of the Spokane Journal of Business.

It sorts of puts in perspective jost how important teachers are to the local economy.

The Governor's Education Budget

MLEA Members,

The big news last week was that the Governor released her supplemental budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. I mentioned in October that the picture wasn't very bright, but now we have a guide for how things could be. The cuts to the MLSD in her budget include:

• $1,085,361 in levy equalization funds, which helps to bridge the gap between property-rich and property-poor school districts in Washington.
  
• $199,137 in I-728 money, which we use for class size reduction.
  
• $268,799 from what is known as "K-4 Enhancement" funds, provided by the state to allow lower class size in the primary grades.
  
• $31,667 when the last state-funded Learning Improvement Day goes away.

There are also some other cuts to categorical programs and gifted education funding; when you put it all together, the potential deficit that we're looking at for Medical Lake next year is in excess of $1.5 million dollars.

To say that things are going to be tight would be an understatement on a magnitude of 10. The Governor is talking about a "revenue increase" that would allow us to avoid some of the worst cuts, but it remains an open question whether we'll be able to get that done for the 2010-2011 school year or not.

What can you do about it? Quite a bit, actually.

1. Contact your legislator to let them know how much these cuts will hurt. Losing teachers will hurt. Losing funding for gifted education will hurt. Losing the levy equalization that allows a district like ours to stay in the black will hurt. I think they know this, but they also need to hear it loud and clear from us as often as we possibly can.
   
2. If you're not already a member, please consider joining the WEA's Political Action Committee. It's an easy way to make a difference for $2.25 a month.
   
3. Stay together. We're all in this handbasket, wherever it may be taking us.

I'll be coming around in January doing building meetings at each of the schools; a schedule will come out next month. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call on my cell phone.

We live in interesting times.

--Ryan--