School Board Directs District
To File “Fair School Funding” Lawsuit

RESOLUTION 2006-28

            WHEREAS the Federal Way Public Schools receives the majority of its annual revenue from the basic education apportionment formulas for teaching, administrative and classified staff; and

            WHEREAS the state’s basic education apportionment formulas fund teaching, administrative and classified staff at different dollar amounts for different school districts; and

            WHEREAS the funding disparities do not reflect any rational distinctions in geography, demographics, student population, cost of living, or any other educationally relevant variables, and do not serve any compelling governmental interest; and

            WHEREAS the state has abandoned efforts to equalize the funding of school districts since 1987; and

            WHEREAS twenty years of inaction has left huge differences in the funding of school districts across the state such that some districts receive 51% more funding per classified staffing unit than other school districts and some school districts receive 68% more funding per administrative unit than other school districts; and

            WHEREAS the funding disparities in the three staff formulas negatively impact all school districts in the state; and

            WHEREAS the Federal Way Public Schools would have received approximately $7 million more in state revenue than it will actually receive this year from the staff funding formulas if Federal Way had been funded equally with other school districts in the 2006-07 school year; and

            WHEREAS these funding inequities also have a ripple effect on other areas of basic education funding, including employee benefit and special education reimbursements, as well as the ability of local taxpayers to levy additional revenue for the maintenance and operation of schools;

            NOW THEREFORE, the Board of Directors of the Federal Way School District authorizes its attorneys to file a complaint for declaratory action challenging the constitutionality of the inequitable funding formulas for teaching, administrative and classified staff.

            Dated this 24th day of October, 2006.