By Tom

A year ago, before the economy went sour, the Basic Education Finance Task Force was told to figure out what the state of Washington would have to do if it was serious about providing a high-quality educational system. So they did. And to no one's surprise, the fixes involve spending more money. Billions of it.

The timing couldn't have been worse. Our state is looking at a $5 billion deficit as we head into the legislative session. Education amounts to about 40% of the state budget. The Task Force proposals will cost up to $3 billion beyond what the state already pays for education. So where is all that money going to come from? Good question. And it's exactly the question Governor Gregoire asked Dan Grimm, the chair of the Task Force.

As a former state treasurer, Mr Grimm should know his way around the state budget. His response? Increase taxes. Specifically, extend the state sales tax, currently applied only to the sales of goods; to services, such as doctor visits. The governor also told him that she would put the Task Force's funding proposal to a voter referendum. Hmm. I could probably name about four people that would vote for a tax hike at this point in time. And I work in a school.

Which means we won't be getting a pony for Christmas this year. We won't be starting the next school year with the school system described in the Task Force proposal. That's too bad, since the proposals address most of the obstacles that stand between us and a really effective public school system.

Is there a silver lining to this cloud? Perhaps.

Washington State is primarily funded by an asinine and regressive sales tax. It's also one of only seven states without a state income tax. That's a perfect recipe for a wildly fluctuating economic climate. When things are going well, people buy stuff and we have a ton of money. When things aren't going so well, the spending shuts down and we go broke.

That's how come we can appoint a School Finance Task Force in 2007, and by the time they figure out what to buy with the money they thought we had; the money's all gone.

So maybe this is the time to reform not just school financing, but the entire tax structure in this state. Smart people have been arguing for it for years. Perhaps some gifted leader will emerge and finally convince the people in this state that we'll be far better off with a progressive, equitable, and far more stable, state income tax.

And in the meantime, let's continue to look at the Task Force Proposal. Let's have serious discussions involving all the stakeholders; lawmakers, teachers (including the WEA) and especially parents. And by all means, let's make it clear that in order to get the school system our students need, we're going to have to pay for it. Let's stop pretending that we can get by with what we have. We've been "getting by" for too long. It's time to get better.