To The Editor:
This year’s ballot contains a vote on Initiative 1033. The effect of this particular Initiative is to establish new limits on the growth in Washington State general fund revenues. Currently 41 percent of those general fund revenues are allocated to K-12 education. Based on the office of Financial Management’s projections, the passage of Initiative 1033 would reduce state revenue by an estimated $5.9 billion by the year 2015. If the K-12 education remains at 41 percent of the budget, the $5.9 billion reduction could translate into a $2.4 billion reduction in K-12 funding.
As you already know, there have been very serious cuts to K-12 funding adopted in the 2009-2011 state budget. Initiative 1033 would prevent the state from making investments and essentially gut the basic educational reform bill that was signed last year; furthermore, it will seriously undermine the state’s effort to fully fund K-12 education throughout the state.
Another major funding loss at this point in time will have an extremely negative impact on K-12 resources and programs that are critical to student success. If this Initiative 1033 is passed, Toppenish School District would potentially lose $8.27 million in funding over the next five years. This huge loss would be financially catastrophic to all of our school districts.
I encourage you to visit the website http://ofm.wa.gov./initiatives/i-1033 fiscal impact pdf.

Steve Myers
Toppenish