"The state's paramount duty is to provide ample funding for our public
schools (per the constitution). The constitution doesn't state anything about a viaduct, a stadium, a new freeway. Once education is funded, then you
look at fixing those problems.

It has been tough trying to teach more with less, but it has gone from
ridiculous to downright absurd over the past few years. I look into the eyes
of my students each day as I greet them and the spark that was once there
is slowly fading away.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I realized that my attitude and joy for teaching directly impacts their attitude toward learning. At some point along the way, I stopped teaching and became a test administrator. The joy and creativity of my craft has been diminished due to unrealistic demands and politicians
that just don't get it. It's a sad state of affairs and until our elected officials
and the general public realize what we’'e doing to our futures, things are
going to go from worse to extremely worse." -- Jason Brown, Federal Way EA

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Despite the commitment of caring citizens across the state, education funding has been on the decline for two decades - and it's left our schools behind in the areas that hurt students most. Washington's numbers are simply shocking:

• 46th in the nation in class size
• 45th in the nation in spending per student
• $2 billion less for schools this year because of the decline in state funding
• A 45 percent increase in tuition & fees just in the past five years for students striving to obtain a college degree
• $548 less spent per student in public schools than in 1992
• Since 1995, our state's contribution to public higher education costs has fallen by more than 16 percent
• Dead last in compensation for public school teachers among the five West Coast states, while college faculty salaries continue to lose ground to inflation.
• In recent years, the share of family income needed to pay college expenses, even after financial aid, has increased from 20 to 31 percent at four-year public colleges.

Now, imagine if we could put these bad numbers behind us.