Simple majority amendment gives way to approval for more than fifty school districts

OLYMPIA – More than 55 school levies across Washington that would have failed last year are currently passing after yesterday’s election, thanks to a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2007.

Sen. Tracey J. Eide, Federal Way, was a long time leader of legislation that brought the measure before the public.

“I began sponsoring the bill for simple majorities since 1996,” Eide says, “its 15 years later, and with the vote of the people last year approving this, we’ve made a huge step forward — all of these local school levies that are passing now tells me we’ve made a difference.”

Eide says education is one of her top priorities and that simple majority for school levies is one of the issues that brought her to the Legislature in 1993. In Eide's legislative district, the Federal Way levy passed with 62 percent, but for the 55 other districts in 19 different counties, levies finally passed with a simple majority.

Before the constitutional change spearheaded by Eide and other lawmakers, those districts would have needed a 60 percent ‘yes’ vote to pass.

“This has been a long time coming. The Legislature and the people put schools on an equal election footing with sports stadiums, jails and fire stations. Now we see the positive impact and the help that students in these districts will get, local school levies are important for our kids,” Eide said.

Spreadsheet showing the result of yesterday's school levy, broken down by county

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