Posted: June 01, 2007

WASA region presidents partner to bring school finance expert John Myers to Washington state

John Myers' presentation, Washington School Finance: Next Steps 61k [pdf] March 16, 2005

WASA region presidents joined together to sponsor four regional events featuring John Myers, a nationally recognized expert in school finance. This is the second year that joint regional meetings of this type have been coordinated and the response has been positive. On Monday, March 15, Myers met with the Ample School Funding Advisory Board to talk about possible next steps. In the three days following, he spoke with over 300 WASA members and board members across the state.

Myers shared the expertise he has developed over the last 20 years working with over 30 states on school finance equity and adequacy issues. States where Myers and his partner John Augenblick have recently conducted school funding studies include Maryland, Colorado, Montana, Kansas and Nebraska.

Myers provided a national perspective on the efforts being made across the country to develop stable, adequate funding to support public schools in their work to ensure that all students achieve high academic standards. He also reviewed the work that has been accomplished in this arena in Washington state and suggested that the next step is filling gaps that still remain as we provide the data that establishes the financial impact of the new standards on our 25 year-old funding formula.

His presentation was clear, concise and offered a realistic view of the process that states go through to address public schools changing funding requirements.