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Posted by Jerry Bender

State Board of Education: New revenue needed to pay for schools

Melissa Santos, writing for The Olympian, discusses the State Board of Education's decision to weigh in on basic education funding. Here's an excerpt:

Yet another state educational agency is telling lawmakers that they’ll have to come up with new tax money to fully fund public schools.

The State Board of Education this month took the unusual step of telling the Legislature that there’s no way the state can fully fund basic education without new revenue.

It’s the first time the nonpartisan state board — which provides policy oversight of the state’s education system — has formally and explicitly weighed in on how lawmakers should come up with the money to comply with a court order to fully fund basic education by 2018.

In a resolution the board unanimously adopted this month, members said “there can be no credible plan to make ample provision for public schools that does not include new revenue to the state budget.”

Read the full story.