OLYMPIA… Sen. Ann Rivers offered this reaction to the education-funding proposal issued today by Gov. Jay Inslee.

“The governor’s proposal looks more like another attempt to impose a new carbon tax and a new tax on income and less like a way to thoughtfully address the K-12 funding question. It fails to fully address the teacher-pay disparity, and the 8 billion dollars’ worth of tax hikes he wants would go well beyond what is needed to fully fund education.

“I was hoping to see new thinking from the governor on K-12 funding – like a proposal that is rooted in the actual cost of educating a child in our state, because that might start to gain some traction across the Legislature. What we got instead is a plan that would pull a truly massive amount of money out of the economy, through tax increases that can’t be dedicated to education the way he suggests, without showing how it would improve outcomes at the classroom level. The bottom line can’t be good for families and employers across Washington.”

Rivers, R-La Center, is a member of the Education Funding Task Force. She is about to begin a second four-year term as 18th District senator and will serve on the Senate’s early learning and K-12 education committee as well as the Senate Ways and Means Committee.