Blaine Middle School eighth-grader Ruby Belarmino notices the effects of insufficient state funding in the lack of a librarian at her school.
Ferndale High School senior Gabby Lenssen sees it in the local tax dollars that must fund basic education, instead of the extra electives and after-school activities that make students excited to come to school.
Mount Baker Senior High senior Cailyn Jewell felt it most when her favorite teacher was laid off due to budget cuts, and the physics and geology classes she was looking forward to taking were removed.
“My peers and I aren’t going to accept being failed by the state anymore, because we deserve more,” Jewell told District 42 elected officials at a Tuesday, Jan. 7 town hall in Blaine.
The event was organized by a group of Blaine parents, frustrated by the last two years of budget cuts due to insufficient funding from the state. The Fund Schools Now town hall attracted several hundred students, parents, educators, administrators and school board members from Blaine, Ferndale and Mount Baker school districts, eager to hear what Sen. Sharon Shewmake, and Representatives Alicia Rule and Joe Timmons had to say about Whatcom County school budgets.
The three politicians called upping state funding a priority heading into the legislative session.
“We’re in, we’re so in,” Rule said, but noted it’s more than just them — they also need to work to convince other members of the state House and Senate of the urgency of the funding crisis.
“As a mother from this community, I see you. This is us,” said Rule, whose children all attend Blaine schools.
The numbers paint an expensive story: Blaine School District has been underfunded by $7.14 million for special education; $15.99 million for materials, supplies and operating costs; and $1.08 million for transportation since 2020 — totaling $24.21 million over those five years.
Math teacher Shawna Rouse told legislators about the success of an “intensified” math class at Blaine High School, which expanded to five sections in the 2022-23 school year, significantly increasing test scores in math. That class is now down to two sections (one for algebra and one for geometry) due to budget cuts.
“I urge you to recognize the true costs of these cuts — not in dollars, but in futures,” Rouse said.
Ferndale and Mount Baker’s budgets haven’t fared much better: Ferndale estimates that it has been short $22.79 million since 2020 for special education, materials and transportation costs, while Mount Baker estimates $17.7 million since 2020.
Shewmake told attendees that the solution to this funding crisis is more taxes on the “ultra-wealthy” in the state, especially as the state faces a multi-billion dollar budget deficit.
“I think what we really do need is a more fair tax system, which means the wealthy need to make sure that they’re paying into our tax system and putting that forward,” she said.
Timmons said the state’s anticipated budget shortfall does make allocating more funding to schools challenging, but some newer elected officials are eager to tackle the challenge.
Blaine challenges prompted community organizing
Parents formed the Fund Schools Now parent group last year. Dani Becerra, a mother of two children in Blaine schools and an organizer of Tuesday’s event, said the parents involved sought to understand why budget cuts kept happening and find solutions, rather than “joining the anger” in the community toward school district administration.
Parent Jaime Arnett said at the town hall that budget cuts have “ripped our community apart.” Blaine has been significantly affected by changes to school funding, with around 80 employees let go in the last two years to balance the budget.
Parent Pennie Allsop said the town hall, and the efforts around Fund Schools Now, are a way to build community around the school, “because it’s very broken right now.”
“I think this is a big building block to see if we can do this together, which, so far so good,” she said.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
