Information Sheet

Education Budget

Although education, which accounts for 56 percent of the General Fund budget, remains Gov. Gary Locke’s highest priority, funding is reduced in the wake of declining revenue projections. The proposal:

• Provides $10.6 billion—nearly half of total General Fund spending—for basic education services for one million public school students. It maintains reduced class sizes and increases funding to improve academic achievement and get low-performing schools on track.

• Saves $545 million by canceling cost-of-living adjustments for teachers and a scheduled class-size reduction in the 2004-2005 school year, and by making program reductions affecting levy equalization funding and block grants for schools.

• Provides $2.7 billion to fund the education of more than 215,000 students at the state’s colleges and universities, including 1,550 new enrollment slots in high-demand fields such as engineering, computer science and health care.

• Cuts higher education costs by $109 million and grants state colleges and universities additional tuition-setting authority. Anticipated tuition increases to cover state funding reductions are capped 9 percent a year.

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