SEATTLE — Early returns Tuesday showed no clear decision yet on an initiative that would limit class sizes in Washington state.
Votes counted in communities scattered across the state show opinions on Initiative 1351 were virtually tied after the first tally was posted after 8 p.m., including votes from some of the state’s largest counties.
The initiative would set lower class sizes at every grade level. Critics have said it would put severe pressure on the state’s already strapped budget.
Washington voters overwhelmingly approved a class size reduction initiative in 2000.
Supporters of the most recent initiative say it mirrors reductions already approved by the Legislature. However, it would make sure class sizes are part of basic education funding and not overlooked when lawmakers find money to pay for court-ordered education reform.
There was no organized opposition to the measure.
The Legislature is already scrambling to put more money into a series of education reforms under the Washington Supreme Court’s McCleary decision, including dollars for shrinking class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.
The state Office of Financial Management, in an analysis of the fiscal impact of I-1351, says the money needed for the measure goes beyond the estimated McCleary dollars. State financial experts believe the initiative would eventually cost the state about $2 billion a year to pay for thousands more teachers and other school staff.
That would be on top of the about $2 billion a year the Legislature is already seeking for education reform under the McCleary decision.
In the 2012 McCleary decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers are not meeting their constitutional responsibility to fully pay for basic education and that they are relying too much on local tax-levy dollars to balance the education budget. The court gave the Legislature until the 2017-18 school year to fix the problem detailed in the lawsuit by a coalition of teachers, parents, students and community groups.
Opponents of the class size initiative think the state could find better ways to spend $2 billion than on shrinking class sizes, an idea for which researchers have given mixed reviews, saying it makes a difference for learning in younger grades but isn’t as clear a benefit in middle and high school.
Proponents of the measure say class sizes are not consistent across the state because some districts can afford to hire more teachers with local levy dollars.
