WA State’s I-1351: Successful K-12 Class Size Reduction
Great news for WA state coming out of the 2014 elections! Voters there passed a class size reduction ballot initiative. Provisions include:
Initiative 1351 would lower class sizes for kindergarten through 12th grade and create 25,000 more jobs, including about 7,400 for teachers. The state Office of Financial Management estimates the measure would cost $4.7 billion through 2019.
Mostly supported by teachers’ unions, the measure would establish limits for class sizes – 17 students for kindergarten through 3rd grade and 25 students for grades 4 through 12. Low-income schools would have smaller classes.
Read about the margin of voter approval and other details having to do with the funding requirements to support this new policy change here.
Bill text from the state of Washington is attached as a pdf.
