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REJECT THE LEVY
Current Levy Funds cover through 2026! "Renewal" (read 'massive increase') levy funds for 2027 which gives them enough time to try again in the Spring with a Special Election to show us the money!
Where More Money Can't Cover for Poor Leadership & Priorities
Con Statement to Highline School Levy Prop. 1
Reject the Bloated Highline Levy. Our Student Outcomes Aren’t Their Focus!
This $334 million Levy is the largest, most unsustainable tax increase in Highline history—a 38%
hike over the last four years is not a simple renewal. Buried in conflicting documents, it’s hard for
voters to distinguish the truth. It will raise property taxes again, on top of new state property tax
calculations, making living here unaffordable and unattractive. This places the greatest burden on
low-income, working families and renters who are forced to subsidize bloated district salaries and
mismanaged public funds.
Highline is set to spend nearly $25,000 per student (more than most private schools in our
boundaries), yet test scores continue to decline. With enrollment dropping, school attendance at just
63%, and two-thirds of students failing basic standards in English, Math, and Science, THE MONEY DOESN'T MATCH THEIR INVESTMENT! There’s no clear link between their unaccountable spending and
improved student outcomes. Our children are not being prepared for the future they choose and
deserve!
Taxpayers must stop approving blank checks, bloated budgets, and broken promises. REJECT THIS LEVY! Demand results!
Tell Highline to return in the spring for a special election with a credible, reasonable, and transparent plan.
Rebuttal Statement:
The state can never fully fund a district with runaway spending! It’s clear to parents and voters that academic performance and competency are NOT Highline’s top priority.
Highline already has one of the most competitive salary schedules in the state, with
the superintendent and his cabinet being near the top paid! Budget increases must be matched with meaningful cuts to ineffective programs, positions, and contracts.
We demand fiscal responsibility and accountability tied to student outcomes!
"The State can never FULLY fund a District that has Runaway & Unaccountable SPENDING that isn't tied to Improved & Meaningful Student Academic Outcomes!"
Holding Our Kids Hostage
The District will make you believe that if you don't vote YES to their continued runaway spending, that your kids programs and teachers will get cut! They feed off your fears that bad people are trying to harm your kids, and so you should always vote yes, even if they won't tell you where the funds are actually going OR where they have spent them in the past! Parents and communities have been asking, and School Board Directors with access were asking, and they will not give clear answers and line-items budgets that show an increase in academic priorities around Reading, Math and Science. In fact, their LAP funds (Learning Assistance Program) funding went down last year. With over 50% of our kids being 3 GRADES OR MORE behind (data they produced but hide), declining BEFORE the pandemic, more funding should have been put towards INTERVENTION READING PROGRAMS, TUTORING, ADDITIONAL PARAEDUCATORS and ONE-ON-ONE help for the students who need to be helped instead of graduating kids with a K-6th grade reading level!
Hiding the Highline Failure by removing Stats and Data, and replacing it with "Growth"
COMING SOON: Additional data and links for how this information was collected.
Who We Are & Why Would Anyone Say No?
We are a group made of retired teachers, a previous School Board Director, parents and alumni. We care about our kids, but we know that throwing money at a problem, where leadership refuses to acknowledge the problem in the first place, will never bring about the results needed to turn the ship around. We are asking our District to DO BETTER with the hundreds of millions of dollars they have BEFORE asking families and communities to keep investing when the funds are mismanaged and not put towards the programs that would actually bring about the biggest bang in helping our students learn to READ proficiently, WRITE effectively and come away with a BALANCED education that helps them be INDEPENDENT THINKERS.
Accountability Matters!
WE care about the kids, but it's OK to tell leaders to GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, and come up with a transparent plan that shows WHERE the money actually will be invested in the kids, WHY they need an almost 40% Levy increase over the last four year, with a DECREASING student enrollment, and a continually DECLINING academic report card.
