This bill reenacts and amends RCW 28A.500.015 to create a new state local effort assistance program that supplements school district enrichment levies. Beginning calendar year 2027, the state must provide annual assistance to eligible school districts; if a district’s actual enrichment levy rate is less than $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, the assistance equals the district’s maximum local effort assistance multiplied by (actual enrichment levy rate ÷ $1.50), and if the rate is at least $1.50 the assistance equals the district’s maximum local effort assistance. For state‑tribal education compact schools the annual assistance equals the compact school’s prior‑year enrollment multiplied by the actual enrichment levy per student for the district in which the compact school is located (as calculated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction), capped at $2,692.74 per student and increased for inflation beginning in 2028. The statute defines key terms and calculation rules, including “eligible school district,” “maximum local effort assistance” (the difference between prior year enrollment times the state threshold and the amount generated by a $1.50 levy), “student enrollment” as average annual FTE adjusted for alternative learning experience (ALE) courses when ALE enrollment exceeds 33 percent, and “inflation” as the Seattle CPI‑U 12‑month change measured as of September 25th before taxes are payable. The law specifies how enrollments are counted in high/nonhigh district relationships and for innovation academy cooperatives, states that this assistance is not part of the state’s program of basic education under Article IX, section 1, and takes effect January 1, 2027. The change is a statutory funding and procedural change—not a criminal or penalty change—that modifies existing law by adding a new state funding mechanism, formulas, definitions, and timing. The extracted text does not include the prior version of RCW 28A.500.015 for comparison, nor does it show how assessed values or the Superintendent’s specific method for calculating actual enrichment levy per student are determined in other law or rules.

If this becomes law, starting in 2027 the state will begin paying a new, ongoing supplement to help school districts whose local enrichment levies raise less money per student. Districts that raise less per student will see additional state dollars tied to their shortfall; state-tribal compact schools will receive a per-student payment based on the local district’s prior-year levy up to a capped amount that is adjusted for inflation after 2027. Because the payments are explicitly outside the state’s basic education program, this creates a separate stream of state aid focused on evening out differences in what local levies can generate. The most affected parties are eligible school districts (those with low levy yield per student) and state-tribal compact schools, which will likely get increased revenue and therefore reduce pressure to raise local levies. The superintendent of public instruction will have a new calculation role for compact-school payments, and districts will need to account for enrollment adjustments (ALE courses, innovation academy shares, and nonhigh/high relationships) when determining eligibility and amounts. The state takes on ongoing budgetary obligations beginning 2027, and some important calculation details (exact assessed value rules, the superintendent’s precise method, and how prior-law language changes) are not included here, so final dollar impacts are uncertain until those are clarified.