Travis Mayfield: Marysville schools could be a harbinger of things to come

Every single taxpayer in Washington should be watching what’s happening with Marysville schools right now. The draconian threats facing families there could rear their heads where your family lives soon too if elected leaders don’t act.

Marysville schools within the district have been financially troubled for years. The administration, board and even voters have been unable or unwilling to solve the issues, so the state stepped in and started mandating change.

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Unfortunately for the kids in Marysville, the adults still haven’t been able to fix the mess. Earlier this week, the state moved to tighten control by putting the district under “enhanced oversight” and financial monitoring.

It could be school closures, layoffs and much more.

And here’s the thing: While the Marysville situation is one of the worst spots in the state, nearly all schools in Washington are facing its own deep budget hole right now. They’ve been hit with years of high inflation paired with the end of billions in federal COVID-19 dollars.

Making matters much worse, a number of years ago, the State Supreme Court ordered state lawmakers to fully fund schools, and our lawmakers said they would. But the truth is that they didn’t. In some ways, the situation is worse. The true cost of special education for the true number of students who need help in the true number of schools in this state is easily double what the state gives, and that’s just one of the areas where we were told things were “fixed.”

The truth is when the state legislature convenes in January, lawmakers absolutely must fix much of this. First, these districts need immediate inflation help. Second, voters in each district need to regain the freedom to vote on more realistic levies to fund schools instead of having them artificially capped for austere political reasons. Third, the state needs to fund a top-to-bottom independent evaluation of what it truly costs for public education in this state and then write a brand new formula for how to actually do that.

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Finally, the hard fact is that any common sense from the state won’t come soon enough. Districts will have to make cuts in the months ahead. Some buildings will be closed. Some teachers will be laid off. Our job as taxpayers and school families is to participate in that process, to ensure our school boards are listening to us and looking for ways to cut administrative and district costs that bloat before they even consider touching our classrooms.

It’s a tough time to have a kid in public schools in this state, but we are tough people and, as the old adage says, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Lawmakers, school districts, parents and taxpayers, lets get going.

Travis Mayfield is a local media personality and fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio

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