Unfunded Mandates
Unfunded mandates are programs that districts legally must provide, due to state or federal laws, yet often these requirements do not come with sufficient funding to support the activity or program. When adequate financial support is not provided, schools must come up with local funding to comply with these requirements.
Each year state and federal governments add to the list of more than 100 school requirements that are unfunded or only partially funded. Here are just a few of these under-funded responsibilities of Washington school districts:
One specific recent example of an inadequately funded state mandate that has increased our expenditures was the 5.13% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) salary increase for educators that the State approved last year. The State is paying this increase for some teachers this year, but not all school employees, leaving local districts to pay the difference. For Snoqualmie Valley, our district must provide $.31 for every dollar increase for certificated staff and $.85 for every dollar increase for classified staff in 2008-09 -- an increase of over $400,000 that must be paid from our local General Fund.
