EHJR 4204 is the proposal to amend the Washington state Constitution to elminiate the Supermajority rules for School Levy votes.

Under current law, school levies MUST pass by at least 60% of total votes cast, or, when the total votes cast is 40% or less than in the last general election, 24% of votes cast in the last election (60% of 40%) in the disctrict.

This essentially means that Property Owners, who directly pay Property Taxes, which the School Levies are part of, have some insulation and protection against frivilous increases in their taxes.

The Columbian had a very nice piece on the Pros and Cons of this proposed amendment:

Cons:

»	The supermajority rule for tax measures was set higher to protect property owners, who more directly pay levies. So was the minimum-voter turnout standard this amendment would eliminate. Simple majority, and loss of the voter turnout minimum, ultimately means taxpayers will pay more.
»	The supermajority rule holds schools districts to higher standards and requires them to be more accountable to voters. Simple majority weakens districts’ incentive to perform well.
»	Schools could adapt their budget cycles to November levy elections without dire consequences.
»	Few school levies fail beyond a second attempt, even with supermajority rules. When they do, it’s only because of major disconnect with the public that requires attention.
»	Special elections outside of November should remain just that — special — and not be used for routine budget needs. What’s more, simple majority lets the Legislature off the hook for basic funding the state should provide equally to all districts and students.

Pro:

>> The supermajority unjustly rewards a minority who vote “No” and non-voters. All votes should count equally, and, Simple majority determines all elective offices — local, state and federal — and most tax measures, such as those for jails and sports stadiums. School levies should be no different.

While these two points are Democratic, they are counter to our Republican form of government.  They allow the tryanny of the mob (one half, plus ONE) to rule.  Instead of trying to make it easier to pass School Levy taxes, all other tax increases should use the existing rules, as a minimum, to ensure engagement by a plurality of the people, and confirm the need, or community desire, for the tax increases.

>> Modern vote-by-mail ensures all registered voters are aware of school elections. It’s not the 1930s anymore. Most districts run levies at the same time to split election costs; advertising and media coverage makes elections hard to ignore.

Ignorance of the election is not as much of the problem (though I would argue the point, as Junk Mail, SPAM, and the flight of viewers from Local TV and Newspapers had lessened, not increased, the level of awareness of community), and adding yet another task to people (property owners) who are already information overloaded and time crunched, by having special elections at changing and inconvenient times, in what seems to be an effort to keep participation to a minimum.

>> .November levy elections won’t work, because districts set annual budgets in summer and need to know revenue figures by then. Also, county property valuations are updated only at year’s end, making levy rate estimates months ahead of time more problematic.

As noted in the Cons, this is simply an accounting and scheduling issue, not a problem.

>> School resources are stressed and students suffer when districts with majority support are forced to re-run levies to reach the artificially high supermajority standard.

This one takes the Hypocrisy award.  One of the main supporters of this measure is the Teachers Union, whose concern for the Children was made clear to me, in their illegal strike at the start of the chool year in Bethel SD, forcing the School District to take funds from Copier reapair/replacement, to make up for increases to teacher pay and compensation. 

If you cant convince 60% of voters in an election that you need the money, and will use it wisely, then you need to take another look at your track record, and proposal.

>> Washington schools are chronically underfunded by the state, making local levies ever more critical. State per-pupil funding and class size rank near the bottom in national ratings.

The key to this item is The State.  If the State isnt doing it’s share in meeting it’s constitutional mandate, then we need to hold the state Legislature accountable.  Making it easier to punish local property owners by raising their property taxes to compensate for the State Governments inaction is killing your Ox for food for a short time, instead of using him to plow the fields to grow food as you need it.

—————————

In my opinion, EHJR 4204 is nothing less than an attempt to “game” the system.  Special Interests (WEA & other Unions, Politicians) will band together with well meaning folks (PTA, etc) and schedule obscure out of the way elections, to maximize turnout of their voters, while trying to minimize the turnout of voters that believe that just throwing money at a situation is not always the answer.

The only real answer to the problem, is complete privatization of the schools.  But of course, that will not happen, as their are too many special interests feeding at the trough of Education.  Too bad they are the ones intercepting much of that per student spending before it gets to the kids.