Too many mandates, not enough funding.That’s the dilemma local school board members have been facing lately — balancing increasingly stringent state guidelines with fewer dollars to pay for such requirements.
But school boards can have a voice in state education mandates. Each year, school board members from Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley, Burlington-Edison and other local districts travel to Olympia to voice their opinions on hot-button issues within the state.
The idea is to let local legislators know the needs of the districts, said Charlie Guildner, Mount Vernon School Board president.
To stay abreast of such state education challenges, school boards usually elect a legislative representative. The board representatives are tasked with keeping up with state issues in the Senate and House of Representatives and attending the annual legislative conference in Olympia each year.
The board representatives usually serve a one-year term, and can have that position extended.
Guildner has made the trip the past three years for Mount Vernon’s Board, although fellow board member Robert Coffey serves as the legislative representatives. He said oftentimes entire school boards, along with superintendents, attend the Olympia conference.
“Last February, (Superintendent) Carl (Bruner), Rob and I got a chance to sit with groups of school board members and administrators from our legislative district and met with Rep. Dave Quall,” Guildner said. “We try to get an audience to push the needs we have.”
School boards stay informed of potential issues through the Washington State School Directors’ Association, which is made up of board members from around the state. The association is comprised of nearly 1,500 members, and advocates public education and student achievement at the local, state and federal level, according to its Web site.
Although board members may not get a chance for one-on-one dialog with legislators during the state conference, Guildner said just being there has helped push for the needs of districts statewide.
He said a couple of years ago, the WSSDA was looking to rally support for a simple majority for school levies in Washington. The result helped change former state Rep. Chris Strow’s opinion of the measure, which was approved by voters in November 2007.
Providing information to legislators plays a big part in being a school board rep, said Tim Howland, Sedro-Woolley School Board member and legislative rep.
Howland said the experience has taught him a lot about the legislative process and how school boards push for certain laws or regulations.
“(We’re similar to lobbyists) in the sense that we’re there to provide them with information and encourage them to look at various issues in light of how we look at them,” he said. “We try to persuade them to help us with certain projects and tell them which bills are good or bad for our districts.”
Since the WSSDA represents all school districts in Washington, school board reps often find themselves pushing for their own districts — sometimes at the opposition of other reps.
Howland said Sedro-Woolley has been working to change the way the district receives transportation funding. More urban school districts would likely not support such measures, which would benefit schools in rural areas.
“We’re trying to get the rules changed to be fair, but there’s only so much that our (state) reps can handle,” he said.
Since state legislators make up committees to oversee various state areas, not all legislators are well-versed in education, Guildner said, so making it easy for them to see a school district’s needs is critical.
Local board members will likely bring up increasingly unfunded cost-of-living adjustments for teachers during this year’s meeting, school board members said. A percentage of those state-required raises must be paid for in local dollars.
“Issues vary from district to district, but in general all districts are united in the area of unfunded mandates,” Howland said. “That is a real big problem. The legislators are doing a much better job — we’re not getting as many as we used to — but they still happen.”
School board members push for education at state level
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