How K-12 policies considered during the 2025 Washington state legislative session affect students and school systems
Many U.S. states have overhauled their public school finance systems in recent years, aiming to strengthen and equalize educational opportunity for all students. Reforms often address competing goals, including increasing overall funding, allocating funds more equitably, reducing taxes, and ensuring all taxpayers pay their fair share. State legislators use property tax limits, or “levy lids,” to cap the amount of funds districts can generate from local property taxes. Levy lids help reduce tax payments and can address equity concerns but also have the adverse effect of reducing overall education funding. Tax base equalization provides more equitable funding while reducing disparities in property tax payments across school districts. In this brief, we describe an analysis of Washington’s property tax limits and tax base equalization policies, explaining how potential policy changes may impact different student groups, including students of color, multi-language learners, and low-income students.