The Stranger’s 2025 Bill Tracker
The Stranger

Fully funding special education: Rep. Gerry Pollet plans to persist this session with his bill to fully fund special education in Washington’s public schools. The bill has three parts: First it removes the state’s funding cap that limits how many students with disabilities in each school district the state will pay for to 16 percent of the student body; second it increases how much money the state allocates to each individual student with disabilities; and third it makes it easier for schools to access additional funds for students who may need extra help, such as requiring a physical or speech therapist. Fixing this funding gap would go a long way to filing school district budget deficits across the state, such as the one Seattle Public Schools currently faces, Pollet says. Pollet plans to coordinate with Parent Teacher Associations to try to pass these school budget bills early in the session because without some sort of promised influx of state cash, he fears schools may begin announcing staff lay offs and cutting programs due to looming budget shortfalls. Pollet, alongside Rep. Lisa Callan, has managed to inch the cap higher over the last two sessions, but Pollet wants to do away with it completely since about 95 percent of school districts struggle to conform to the arbitrary limit. In order to pay for the bill, Pollet has some ideas for potential progressive revenue sources, such as closing a tax loophole that prevents the state from taxing Wall Street investments by businesses. According to an estimate from a couple of years ago, closing that loophole could conservatively raise more than $300 million per year. Pollet acknowledged that may cover only a portion of the roughly $3.6 billion in funding needed over the next four years to pay for special education across the state. But the longer the state kicks this issue down the road, the more local school districts suffer and the higher chance of a lawsuit.

Isolation and restraint: Rep. Callan plans to reintroduce her bill to limit isolation and restraint of children in schools. While the bill passed the House last session, it stalled in the Senate, with even some Democratic State Senators voting against it. Still, Callan remains optimistic that some lawmakers may be convinced this session to at least limit these practices for younger children, such as those in elementary school. That would be a good start, considering schools mostly use restraint and isolation against children in K-5 schools. Seven-year-olds in handcuffs really aren’t a good look.