Class-size initiative won’t need recount

OLYMPIA – A measure limiting class sizes in Washington state is passing by enough votes that there would be no recount.

Initiative 1351 would set lower class sizes at every grade level. Backers say it would make sure class sizes are part of basic education funding and are not overlooked when state lawmakers find money to pay for education reform.

With more than 30,000 votes separating the yes and no votes, “it is beyond the recount range,” David Ammons, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said Thursday.

Recounts are required if there is a 2,000 or less vote difference and less than one-half of one percent spread. The spread on I-1351 was 1.5 percent.

Nearly 70,000 votes in the state remain to be counted, most in the state’s largest counties where the measure is passing.

Counties will certify the elections on Nov. 25, and the governor and secretary of state certify the returns on Dec. 2. The measure would take effect Dec. 4

Washington voters overwhelmingly approved another class size reduction initiative in 2000, and 14 years later, lawmakers are just starting to pay that bill as part of their McCleary efforts. The current initiative was different, in both its scope and the way it was written.

I-1351 would set lower class sizes at every grade level. The previous initiative focused on the youngest grades.

Critics of the initiative said it was too expensive. State financial experts believe the measure would eventually cost the state about $2 billion a year to pay for thousands more teachers and other school staff. That would be on top of the about $2 billion a year the Legislature is already seeking for education reform under the McCleary state Supreme Court decision.

In the 2012 McCleary decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers are not meeting their constitutional responsibility to fully pay for basic education and that they are relying too much on local tax-levy dollars to balance the education budget. The court gave the Legislature until the 2017-18 school year to fix the problem.