This bill amends RCW 28A.150.410 to change minimum state salary allocations in the basic education program. It increases the statewide average allocation for certificated instructional staff to $64,000 and for certificated administrative staff to $95,000 (both adjusted for inflation from 2017-18) effective by the 2018-19 school year. It phases in higher minimum statewide averages for classified staff: $67,325 (inflation-adjusted from 2023-24) beginning 2025-26; $73,384 (inflation-adjusted from 2023-24) beginning 2026-27; and beginning 2027-28 separates classified administrative staff ($99,164, inflation-adjusted from 2026-27) and other classified staff ($79,988, inflation-adjusted from 2023-24). The act requires state allocations to be adjusted for regional differences in hiring costs and directs that those adjustments be specified in the omnibus appropriations act through at least 2022-23. The bill defines key terms used for these allocations: "inflation" as provided in RCW 28A.400.205, "classified administrative staff" to include noncertificated directors, supervisors, and other school administrators (for example business office, human resources, public relations, instruction supervision, and maintenance and operations supervision), and "other classified staff" to include all other noncertificated positions such as office, clerical, or support personnel. It ties regionalization factors for 2018-19 through 2022-23 to median single-family residential values per RCW 28A.150.412 and requires a review and rebasing of minimum salary allocations and regionalization factors beginning in 2023-24 and every four years thereafter. The bill was introduced at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, was prefiled 12/23/24, read for the first time 01/13/25, and referred to the House Appropriations Committee. It references RCW 28A.150.260, 28A.150.412, and 28A.400.205 and amends RCW 28A.150.410 (and 2022 c 109 s 7). The excerpt shows portions of prior text being struck or replaced; the full prior and amended structure of RCW 28A.150.410, the detailed methodology for how the omnibus appropriations act must specify regional adjustments, and fiscal or other implementation details are not included in these extracted facts.

If enacted, the state would raise the minimum per-staff salary funding it sends to school districts for teachers, certificated administrators, and classified employees to specific statewide average amounts on a staggered schedule and those amounts would be adjusted for inflation and for regional hiring cost differences. Practically, districts should expect larger state allocations over the next several years that are intended to move average pay levels toward $64,000 for certificated instructional staff, $95,000 for certificated administrators, and phased increases for classified categories (including $67,325 in 2025-26, $73,384 in 2026-27, and separate classified administrative and other classified targets in 2027-28), with regional adjustments set in the biennial budget and a review and rebase of these allocations every four years starting 2023-24. The people most affected are school districts and their employees: districts will receive more state salary funding and are likely expected to apply it to raising staff pay toward those statewide averages, and teachers, administrators, and classified workers are the intended beneficiaries. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the omnibus appropriations act play roles in setting regional adjustments. Key implementation details and the precise dollar impact on each district, any local funding responsibilities, and the overall state fiscal cost are not provided in the facts, so the exact distribution and budget trade-offs remain unclear.