President Del opened our meeting after a two week vacation to Yellowstone and Tetons, saying he was glad to be back. He shared a bit about the history of Labor Day (coming up next Monday), which began in Canada, with beer, bands, and speeches urging the 8 hour work day. In later years there were parades put on by trade and labor unions. New York first made it a holiday on Sept 5, 1882.
Announcements:
The Club was shown a video from R. I. District President, John F. Germ, giving us many good reasons to attract new members. "It is a good chance to meet good people, to do some good work, and to have some fun.” He advised us to remain relevant, and to remember that it is up to us to extend an invitation to join. MEMBERSHIP IS A PRIORITY.
Sandy McIntire introduced his daughter Amy McIntire visiting from Italy
Steve Hager brought Father Gerry Swieringa
Greg Baker introduced Prateck Dutta from Harvard University
Steve Ban brought his wife of 40 years, Janis
Presentations:
Andy Day became the newest member of our Club, receiving his blue badge from President Del.
Program:
Our program was given by Kim Lund, the Executive Director of the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation. She graduated from our public schools and loves her job.
Kim talked about the “McCleary Decision” and its impact on Washington State. The State Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s decision in McCleary v. Washington that Washington State is not amply funding basic education under the state Constitution, and must do so.
So, what, exactly, is basic education? This is extremely difficult to define, and our legislature has been working on it for a number of years. The state legislature is expected to put out an update early in September. Meanwhile, fines of $100,000 a day are being levied as long as the legislature is not in compliance. Equitable funding for all schools is necessary. Currently, there are some communities that can afford and support levies and foundations, and other communities that cannot and/or don’t. This results in an unequal / inequitable situation for children’s educational resources and experiences across the state.
Some strides have been made to define what is meant by "basic education": (1) school systems need tools (books and computers); (2) schooling needs to be at least 180 days per year; (3) teachers and staff need to be paid "a competitive salary" (which is extremely difficult to define); (4) a full day kindergarten is needed (this has largely been accomplished); and (5) Special Education is necessary, for students at both ends of the educational spectrum (from learning disabled to highly capable learners).
Our levies cover 25% of our schools' costs, the State Legislature provides 50% and the Feds 24%. This total comes to an average of $7,669 per student, which is close to the national average. Last year, the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation provided another $18 per student.
The Foundation is fairly new; it was introduced by Dr. Greg Baker and carried out by Rogan Jones and many other community members. One of the goals of the Foundation is to establish an endowment, or pool of funds, to rely on. Last year, the Foundation distributed about $176,000 to the 22 schools in our school district. It also hired a grant writer who so far has brought in over $1 million.
Money has been given to schools to further encourage science and technology among younger students, and to fund music programs in elementary schools. The Foundation is allocating funds to make sure that all the options are available to all the schools in the hopes of fulfilling the McCleary requirement of equal funding for all schools.
This is a growing effort that will benefit our community forever.
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