OPINION | Equitable Funding Is Essential for All Public School Students

by Karen Lobos

Rainier Prep is a charter public middle school just south of Seattle that is free, public, and open to all. We serve 335 students, 97% of whom identify as members of the Global Majority (i.e., Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other students of color) and 73% of whom are from families with limited incomes. For eight years, we have delivered on our community's vision for an exceptional college-prep public middle school option with the flexibility to innovate and meet the needs of all of our students. By integrating a foundation for academic growth with a robust, personalized advising and coaching program, our students, families, and partners are working together to navigate best-fit pathways for success in high schools, degrees, and careers.

However, because charter public schools like ours are not entitled to local property tax levies and lack access to dedicated funding for facilities, our students receive approximately 25% less public funding than their peers in traditional public schools. Last year, we called on legislators to address this funding inequity and were provisioned with one year of enrichment funding for charter public school students in the state budget. We are grateful for this critical support, which has allowed us to continue serving our students, increasing their access to technology integration, field studies, and enrichment activities.

While this funding is greatly appreciated, it is temporary. We cannot depend on it, and we cannot budget for it. This financial uncertainty makes it difficult to plan long-term to sustain our vision for our students' growth and the high levels of support that all of us have been working for. Thus, we continue to ask the legislature to make this funding permanent so that all public school students receive a fair shot regardless of the type or location of their public school. This means giving charter public school students equitable and sustainable resources so that their education is not funded at a lower level than their peers in traditional public schools.

There is no formula or rationale that justifies the current ongoing inequity in public school funding. Our students are not worth 25% less than their public school peers. In our local district, the levy approved by voters allocates $3,449 per student — but families who voted for this funding and have a scholar at our charter public school receive none of this support. Students are already navigating more than enough challenges. As they continue to weather the consequences from the instability of a global pandemic, economic insecurity, and social upheaval, incomplete funding for their public school should not be another (avoidable) obstacle.

Every public school that is meeting the needs of students furthest from educational justice is a critical and transformative part of our public school ecosystem, including charter public schools like Rainier Prep. Every student in the state of Washington deserves a public education that puts them on a path to a successful future. Just as all public schools in our state are struggling to support programs as funding per student falls behind the highest inflation we've experienced since the 1970s, that widening shortfall is especially felt at charter public schools that cannot access the local funding approved by voters for local public schools. One size simply will not fit all on our journey towards educational equity for all students. All communities should have equitably funded public schools that are held to high standards and have the flexibility to meet their students' needs.

Our families, our educators, and our community partners should not have to worry that the excellent schools they've built won't and can't continue from one uncertain budget cycle to the next. Our legislature's stated commitment to dismantle systemic inequities in our communities requires equitable funding for all public schools, especially schools like Rainier Prep that have what it takes to create longer-lasting impact and change. We ask that the legislature sustain equitable access and opportunity in our community by equitably funding all public school students.

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Karen Lobos serves as the executive director of Rainier Prep, a charter public middle school south of Seattle. As the daughter of Latine immigrants, Karen understands firsthand the impact a supportive yet challenging academic community can have on the lives of students and is proud to be working with students and families in the community in which she grew up.

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