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Schools are struggling to meet the complex needs of an increasingly impoverished student body with less funding from shrinking budgets. Photo by Phil Roeder.

Paramount Duty: K–12 Education And The Recession

From KUOW Reporter Phyllis Fletcher:

I have covered education for KUOW for seven years. The recession has meant that I have done repeated stories on poverty and budget cuts. This year, the Washington State Legislature cut funding to school districts in the middle of the school year, taking back money districts had already budgeted. The new state budget has given districts a grim outlook for the next two years.

Meanwhile, school districts are increasingly serving poor children. Families have fallen into poverty as a result of the mortgage crisis and the loss of jobs. The Puget Sound region continues to attract refugees and other immigrants, some of whom are using pencils for the first time. Families living on the edge have slipped into homelessness. Federal law says schools must serve all these children and improve in serving them each year, or risk losing everything — including control of their schools.

And the Washington State Constitution says the education of all children is the state's "paramount duty." A trial court has agreed with school districts that the state is not fulfilling that duty. The state Supreme Court will hear the state's appeal of that decision this month.

In "Paramount Duty," I report on how the recession has affected children, parents, teachers and school districts. I produced this series with assistance from Mike Babb and Anita Rocha from the UW Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology; Shannon Harper of the West Coast Poverty Center; Doug Haddix of Investigative Reporters and Editors; and NPR's Hansi Lo Wang.