The Fight for Seattle’s School Funds
A legislative battle in Olympia settles whether major Washington cities can maintain control over their own school taxes, thwarting an effort to pull them into a state-wide pool.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane Falls will not be disturbed in the use of their own school funds. The Taylor bill to repeal the exemption clause in the present law was effectively and finally defeated in the House today. The bill came up on reconsideration and received thirty-two votes, six less than the constitutional majority. When the bill was called up, there appeared to be no doubt of its passage, and the affirmative did not even ask to discuss it. Therein a serious mistake was made, for a heated debate would have created a division between city and country, and in that case, the bill would have had a very good chance of passing. Having been lost twice, the bill cannot be brought up again. A bill is about to be introduced in the Senate to include cities of 5,000 inhabitants in the exemption. It was upon this understanding that some members voted against Taylor’s measure.
“Therein a serious mistake was made, for a heated debate would have created a division between city and country.”
Local school funding and the tension between urban and rural control over tax revenue remain a central, unresolved debate in Washington State's legislative landscape, mirroring the 1891 struggle between growing cities and the state legislature.
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