The Cost of I-1351 Will Shock You – Yet, It’s Passing

Although many votes remain to be counted, the "yes" margin for controversial Initiative 1351 is growing.

According to the latest data from the Washington State Secretary of State's office (who oversees elections),  the initiative now has over 11,000 more yes votes than no, and based upon elections trends, it's likely to widen a bit.

The State's Office of Financial Management says the bill could end up costing over $4.7 billion dollars through the fiscal year 2019.

I-1351 sounded good on paper:  limiting class sizes K-8 and high school, but didn't say anything about how much it would cost to hire over 23,000 new educators to achieve that goal.    While the bill doesn't mandate any new taxes,  it will force school districts to pull money from smaller classrooms and other programs.  It was pushed heavily by the WEA (Washington Education Association).

What the WEA (teachers union) didn't make public was that the bill grants new authority to schools to push for higher property taxes to pay for the measure.

It's largely viewed as a "fund-raiser" for the union, because if it does pass,  all new teachers hired after it takes effect will be required to pay another $1,000 in annual dues and fees to the WEA.  This would eventually mean another $7 million annually for the union.

Critics say it's a classic case of "bait-and-switch,"   telling voters it will decrease class sizes and that will fix all our educational problems;  but NOT telling voters how much it costs, or where the money would come from.