Build a school funding policy
Choose which student needs Washington should fund more strongly. Each slider is a policy lawmakers could actually change.
How this works
Washington sends extra money for students with extra needs. Turn those up and see what it would cost.
Start at today
Every slider begins at current law.
Move a slider
Each one shows what students would get.
See the cost
The total updates as you go.
Estimate details and assumptions
- This is an educational estimate for comparing ideas, not an official fiscal note. It applies simplified statewide averages to real 2024-25 enrollment.
- Low-income, English learner, and special education counts come from statewide district enrollment data.
- The high-poverty bonus applies to low-income students in districts where at least 60% of students are identified as low-income.
- Supplies and operating costs (MSOC) use annual-average funding FTE rather than October student headcount.
- Local Effort Assistance uses Washington's actual formula and real district data - assessed valuation, voter-approved levy, and LEA enrollment from OSPI's Enrichment Levy Pre-Ballot Approval worksheet. A district's $1.50 levy capacity is subtracted from the state guarantee ($2,432 per student for calendar 2027), then scaled by its levy rate. Statewide cost is summed district by district.
- “Actually received” LEA is F-196 revenue code 3300 for 2024-25, a different period than the 2027 estimate, so the two will not match exactly.
- A district's levy limit is the lesser of the tax-rate cap and the per-student cap, so raising the rate does not always raise the limit.
- The special education multiplier is priced off each district's own 2024-25 state allocation, which already embeds today's 1.16× multiplier: dividing that back out recovers the basic-education base the multiplier acts on, so moving the slider scales the money the district actually receives, and closing the gap to what it spends matches the Big 3 figures elsewhere on the site exactly. The multilingual weight still converts at a flat $1,800 per student, a statewide figure rather than any one district's rate.
- Transportation is the sum of every district's actual 2024-25 state transportation allotment (revenue code 4199), not an estimate. It is divided by October headcount, while MSOC is divided by funding FTE, so those two per-student figures do not share a denominator.
- The local levy limit is shown separately because it is local property-tax authority voters may approve, not state spending, and it assumes districts use the full increase.
- The far end of each slider is a comparison ceiling, not a recommendation or a prediction.
- “What they actually spend” on special education, MSOC and transportation is this district's own 2024-25 F-196 General Fund actuals: special education is the state programs 21, 22 and 26 (program 24, federally funded IDEA supplemental, is excluded so the figure lines up with the state allocation it is compared against), MSOC follows the Superintendent of Public Instruction's 2026 budget-request definition - the same scope behind AESD's Big 3 dashboard: non-staff objects across basic education, career and technical education, and the categorical programs, less items that are not operating costs (student transportation purchases, tuition, debt, land and buildings) - and transportation is program 99. Scoping MSOC matters: counting every non-salary object across every program would pull in capital outlay and the non-salary share of special education, transportation, and food service, double-counting the other two lines. Because these are General Fund only, transportation excludes buses bought through the Transportation Vehicle Fund and so understates the true cost - for most districts it lands below the modeled state allocation for that reason.
- The MSOC slider starts at the $1,614 per-student rate set for 2025-26, while the spending it is compared against is 2024-25 actuals, so the two sit one year apart. The slider also models a single flat rate and leaves out the separate ~$215 per-student add-on the formula pays for grades 9-12, so it understates what districts with high schools actually receive.
Start by choosing a district
Every policy below will show what it would mean for that district: its own numbers, and the money the change would add.
Pick a district above to see each policy applied to real numbers.
1. Levy cap
The state limits how much local school tax voters can approve per student.
Most recently changed by ESHB 2049 (2025), which raised the levy lid.
Set on a schedule by ESHB 2049 (2025) in RCW 84.52.0531, the cap will be set at $4,077 for the 2026-27 school year (today's slider default), then a flat $5,035 in 2030-31, when the statute drops the district-size split and the same limit applies everywhere. Until then districts of 40,000 or more students (only Seattle) get a higher cap, $4,787 in 2026-27. Raising the cap only increases funding if the voters in the district have already approved it.
2. Local Effort Assistance (LEA)
The state compares a district’s property wealth with a statewide goal, then fills the gap for districts below it.
Most recently changed by HB 2050 (2025), which changed the enrollment counted in LEA calculations.
Local Effort Assistance, also known as LEA for short, is the state's program for providing additional funding to school districts with lower property values that have less ability to raise money through local levies. Based on the total property value in each school district, Washington calculates how much the district could raise through a levy of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Every year, the state sets a per-student funding target. In the 2026-27 school year, that target is $2,432 per student, so if a district's possible revenue at the $1.50 per $1,000 rate is below that, it qualifies for LEA. The state then helps fill that gap, with the amount depending on the district's actual levy tax rate. Districts taxing at $1.50 per $1,000 or more receive their full calculated LEA amount. However, districts taking in only $0.75 per $1,000 would get 50%. The slider below raises the target value.See the full LEA formula, step by step
3. English learner support
Language help for students learning English.
The funding framework shown here comes from ESHB 2261 (2009), Washington's core prototypical-school funding law.
The Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) from RCW 28A.180 funds language support until a student can test out. Districts with recent immigration and refugee resettlement carry most of this cost. Each student is funded at an additional $1,800 and the slider below adjusts that level.
4. Special education
Washington funds special education as a multiplier on basic education.
Most recently changed by E2SSB 5263 (2025), which increased special-education funding.
Special education is funded as a multiplier on top of basic education, under RCW 28A.150.390, and is considered one of the state's “Big 3” K-12 funding issues. Districts have long reported spending more than the formula provides. E2SSB 5263 (2025) raised the multiplier and removed the enrollment cap, but the gap is still debated. The multiplier currently sits at 1.16x, meaning the state provides additional funding equal to 1.16 times the basic education allocation for each eligible special education student. However, many districts' actual special education costs exceed that amount, forcing them to cover the remaining costs with local funds.
5. Materials, Supplies, & Operating Costs (MSOC)
Curriculum, technology, utilities, and insurance.
Most recently changed by ESSB 5192 (2025), which increased MSOC allocations.
Materials, Supplies, & Operating Costs, also known as MSOC, covers many of the non-staff costs required to operate a school district. MSOC is considered one of the “Big 3”, a term commonly used for three major areas of K-12 funding that districts argue are underfunded across the state. It includes costs such as curriculum, technology, utilities, insurance, and more. Because MSOC is largely funded at a set rate per student, increasing it provides additional funding to districts across the state. The slider below increases the amount of MSOC funding provided per student.
6. Student transportation
Buses, drivers, fuel, and required routes.
Most recently changed by ESSB 5009 (2025), which updated transportation allocations for different vehicle types.
Transportation is funded by a separate formula (RCW 28A.160.192) based on the students a district actually carries and how far, and is considered one of the state's “Big 3” K-12 funding issues. What each district receives varies enormously, ranging from $0 to over $9,000 per student. This slider raises the statewide average, and every district's allotment rises by the same amount per student, so a district starting below the average stays below it. Rural districts with long routes and districts running required special education routes feel changes here most. Both figures here are per enrolled student, not per bus rider - most students never board a bus, so the cost of actually carrying one is far higher than these numbers suggest. Bus purchases are excluded in these calculations. Those run through the Transportation Vehicle Fund rather than the general fund.
7. High-poverty school bonus
Extra money for schools where most students are low-income.
This is a modeled policy proposal, not current law: Washington has no statewide high-poverty concentration bonus. It is modeled on California's Local Control Funding Formula.
California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) provides additional concentration grant funding to districts where more than 55% of students are low-income, English learners, or in foster care, recognizing that serving high concentrations of students with additional needs can require greater resources. This slider models a similar policy for Washington using a 60% low-income threshold. It is an all-or-nothing cutoff where a district at or above the threshold receives additional funding, while a district just below it receives nothing.
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