Updated: Leaders in Lake Washington and Issaquah School Districts Criticize State Senate Budget Cut Proposals

Lake Washington and Issaquah school district officials are calling the state Senate budget cuts an "encroachment" and "assault" on Washington's basic education requirement, adding more opposition to a proposal to fill a statewide dollar shortfall of more than $5 billion.

Their words followed the Tuesday night unveiling of the state Senate budget proposal, which would trim hundreds of millions of dollars by essentially having teachers take a 3 percent pay cut and withholding money to schools for students' unexcused absences.

(Editor's note: The unexcused absence language has been removed since this story was originally posted.)

"While I certainly understand the state's difficult fiscal position, this proposal goes too far, and does not reflect our values," Lake Washington Superintendent Chip Kimball wrote to his staff in a Thursday email.

Under the state Senate plan, the Issaquah School District announced Thursday that it could stand to lose more than $5.2 million each year.  

Lawmakers from the Senate and state House need to meet to resolve differences in their respective budget plans and the proposal from Gov. Chris Gregoire. That compromise budget bill and the dollar savings in it is what would go before Gregoire for her review before the legislation becomes law.

"We are lobbying for whatever keeps us at the least amount of cuts," Issaquah spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said in an email.

Last week, the state House released its budget proposal, which would eliminate money to help reduce crowding in kindergarten through fourth grade classes.

The Washington Education Association, a union which represents teachers, believes that more students would be crammed into classrooms and that schools will have fewer teachers should the proposed cuts go into effect, spokesman Rich Wood said.

His group estimates the Senate budget cuts would total more than $2 billion for kindergarten through 12th grade students - or $2,000 per student.

"We know that some cuts are unavoidable, but these budget cuts are going to hurt our state's kids and jeopardize their futures," he said in a statement. "There's no way around it."

WEA also believes that the House budget proposal "freezes the salary schedule" for teachers, he added. 

The state constitution's basic education requirement is the framework for learning in a school day, officials said. Niegowski said that officials are questioning how the state Senate wants to save money. 

"There's some issue about its legality under the (state) Constitution," she said.

If the Senate's plan to withhold dollars based on unexcused absences stands, the  could lose a significant amount of money, spokeswoman Kathryn Reith said. 

"We don't have a high unexcused rate. But they always happen," she said. "If a student plays hooky, we still have to pay for the teacher, electricity and all the costs."

S. Krishnan Thyagarajan, a Sammamish resident, called the cuts harmful to the public and the region's future. His children attend and .

"There's enough evidence to show that education is the cutting edge of the country," said Thyagarajan, who works on strategy and special projects for Quest Software.

To help the public schools, he said he's willing to pay more money. Policymakers, he added, need to figure out budget tradeoffs. For example, he said he would rather have state roads be of slightly lesser quality and public schools receive enough money.

"Every time I hear about this, it pains me," the 47-year-old said. "Cutting down teachers when classes are bursting seems like a stupid idea." 

Already this academic year, the state Legislature has cut about $1.5 million from the Issaquah School District, an email from the  PTA said.

As a result, the PTA added, the district is short $500,000 to implement a new kindergarten through fifth grade science curriculum.

"The Issaquah School District is asking us as a PTA and school community for financial support to bridge that gap," the email said.

Senior district officials also are coming up against a May 15 deadline. Under state law, they are required to issue official notifications to teachers whose jobs might be cut. 

The Issaquah School District's contract with teachers stipulates that administrators inform the Issaquah Education Association, the union, by April 27 if job cuts are anticipated.

Lake Washington administrators, Reith added, are working on the upcoming budget but the uncertainty in Olympia makes it difficult because proposals from the governor, House and Senate remain as possibilities.

The legislative session is scheduled to end on April 24.

"We don't know which of the three versions will predominate. We have a meeting on Friday to figure out how we approach our budgeting," Reith said Thursday.

"We don't want to end up scaring people and planning for cuts that you don't need to make."

Editor's note: The Seattle Times reports that Gov. Chris Gregoire said that a special legislative session will be needed to finish the state budget process. That process is expected to last longer than the original completion date of April 24. Also, the state Senate has dropped language which would penalize school districts should students play hooky, according to The Times. This note was added on the evening of Friday, April 15 to reflect the new timeline and the removal of that language.