Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 27, 2000
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Let school districts keep tax dollars to improve learning, Locke urges

OLYMPIA — Gov. Gary Locke today urged a key state Senate committee to give Washington school districts tools to better focus on the learning needs of each individual student.

"We live in a world in which it is more important than ever that our children know how to read, to write, to do math, and most importantly, to think," Locke told the Senate Education Committee. "We've been on a long, hard road to better schools for years, and we can be proud of our accomplishments. But it is time to pick up our pace." Today marked Locke's first appearance as governor before any legislative committee.

Locke urged the committee to embrace the heart of his ambitious proposal to focus more individual attention on school children: the Learning Improvement Property Tax Credit.

The legislation, contained in SB6470, would provide substantial, permanent new funding to school districts by allowing them to keep a portion of property taxes that now flow into the state treasury.

The state has used the same tax credit mechanism to fund the baseball and football stadiums in Seattle, business tax credits throughout the state, and economic assistance to Washington's rural counties. The bill complies with both Initiative 601 and Initiative 695, amends neither, and requires only a simple majority vote of the 2000 Legislature to be enacted.

New funding would begin in 2001, and total more than $1 billion for schools in its first five years.

Developed with the involvement of parents, educators, principals, superintendents and school board members from across the state, the proposal would provide the tools to increase the attention children receive in school.

Here's how it would work:

School boards would be granted authority to adopt local property taxes for schools, which would be credited against the state property tax. There would be no tax increase to taxpayers. School boards would vote to keep local property tax dollars at home in their school districts, instead of sending the dollars to the state treasury.

Boards would be authorized to adopt the tax credit for:

1. Class-size reductions in grades K-6 to improve the classroom environment and give teachers more time to work with students and parents.

2. Extended learning opportunities, such as before- and after-school programs, weekend programs, intercession, summer school, and full-day kindergarten programs in grades K-12. These programs provide more attention to students who need extra help, and extra challenges.

3. Developmental pre-school programs to prepare children for kindergarten; and

4. Facility improvements or additions. Districts may not use the tax credit funding for debt service, but may spend tax credit funding to improve and expand facilities as needed to provide more attention to students.

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