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Seattle School District No. 1

Proposition No. 1

Replacement for Educational Programs and Operations Levy
 

The Board of Directors of Seattle School District No. 1 passed Resolution No. 18/19-2 concerning this proposition to maintain current educational funding. To continue high quality programs that are not state funded, this authorizes the District to levy the following excess taxes replacing an expiring levy on all taxable property within the District:

 

 

 

 

Collection 
Years

Estimated 
Levy

Rate/$1,000
Assessed

Value

 

 

 

Levy
Amount

2020

$1.05

$271,300,000

2021

$0.96

$271,700,000

2022

$0.87

$272,000,000

 

as provided in the Resolution, subject to legal limits at time of levy. Should this proposition be approved?
 

Yes

No


Seattle Public Schools requests voter approval of an operations levy of $815.0 million in the aggregate to be collected in the three year period from 2020 to 2022. The proposed levy will replace an expiring levy.

 

Passage of Proposition No. 1 would allow the levy of taxes over a three year period to pay for the education programs and operations and to meet the education needs of the students attending District schools. Funds will be used to fund programs that are not funded or not fully funded by the State. The money in and to be paid into the General Fund of the District is insufficient to meet those needs without additional funds.

 

Programs and services to be funded by the levy include, but are not limited to: teachers, instructional assistants, classified and administrative staff salaries; textbooks and classroom supplies; bilingual and special education services; student transportation, security, maintenance and other operations; student activities, such as arts, extra-curricular and co-curricular activities; professional development and training.

 

The total amount to be collected will be $271.3 million in 2020, $271.7 million in 2021 and $272.0 million in 2022. The estimated levy rates per $1,000 of assessed value will range from $1.05 per one thousand for 2020 collections to $0.87 per one thousand for 2022 collections. The exact levy rate will be adjusted based upon the actual assessed value of the property within the District at the time of the levy.

 

Exemptions from taxes may be available to certain homeowners. To determine if you qualify, call the King County Assessor at 206-296-7300.

Please Renew this essential Seattle Public Schools Educational Programs and Operations Levy. Its passage is vital to the quality of education we are able to provide the more than 53,800 students currently enrolled.

 

A great city must have great public schools. This levy benefits every school in every part of Seattle. It replaces our current levy and provides critically-needed funding to pay for things that the state is not fully funding like school staff, instructional materials and new curriculum, STEM education, and Special Education services. If the Operations Levy is not renewed, the district will have to make deep cuts. Teachers and instructional assistants will be laid off and valuable programs that support students will be cut back or eliminated. The state recently changed how it helps fund schools. Some school districts saw a large increase in funding, but Seattle did not.

 

 “Please vote to renew this levy! Without these resources it is hard to imagine how teachers can do their jobs. Thank you.” – Lyon Terry, WA Teacher of the Year 2015, Lawton Elementary School

 

This levy is not a new tax. It replaces the expiring Operations Levy. Please vote to renew our commitment to Seattle’s children.

I, Nicolas Ray Esparza am asking for a “no” vote on Proposition No. 1 of the Educational Programs and Operations Levy for Seattle School District 1”  It is the State’s job under the State Constitution to pay for basic education. It is illegal to pay for teachers’ and staff salaries under this levy. According to the McCleary Decision it is the state’s job to pay for basic education. The school district has had the opportunity to fix many of these financial problems with the monies that have been already provided. It is their financial mismanagement that has brought them to this current situation. If this levy passes we are letting the State legislature get away with not doing their duty to pay for basic education. When they pass it to the tax payers they are basically getting a free pass and not taking the responsibility for fixing the educational short fall. The School District has asked us to pay for this previously and it did not work then, so why would the District ask for this again. Obviously, it is not working.

Renewing the Educational Programs and Operations Levy is critical to ensuring a high-quality education for our children. It provides critically needed funding to operate our schools – money that the state does not yet provide. This funding benefits every student in every school.

 

The Con statement is incorrect. Seattle got shortchanged under the new state formula. We cannot have a great city without great schools. Vote Yes on Proposition 1.

 

Submitted by: Sheila Edwards Lange, Tim Burgess, Eric Liu, www.SchoolsFirstSeattle.org

Please reject the Educational Operations Levy for Seattle School District. The reasons for saying no to the levy is because the school district wants to use money illegally to pay for teachers’ salaries, which is against Washington State Law. Make the legislature take responsibility first.  The word levy means tax and it collected through our property. Don’t let the school district fool us into saying this is not a tax.

 

Submitted by: Nick Esparza, nickesparza75@gmail.com

Simple Majority (Wash. Const. art. VII, sec. 2(a))

For questions about this measure, contact: JoLynn Berge, Chief Financial Officer, 206-252-0087, jdberge@seattleschools.org

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