Funding Sources for Schools

School districts receive their funding based on the number of students and the characteristics of the students they educate each year. All students are general education students first but additional resources may be provided for students with special needs or students identified as financially insecure.

The majority of funding comes from the state with other funding from the federal government, local property taxes, City of Seattle programs and individual donors. Details can be found in the adopted Budget “2024-25 Budgeted Resources by Type” on page 7.

Seattle Schools’ Maintenance and Operations Levy

Most of Seattle Public Schools’ levy supports critical basic education programs which are not fully funded by the state.

• These include areas such as special education and multilingual education teachers and instructional aides, and the gap in salaries between what compensation costs and what the state pays.
• A much smaller amount of levy is used for areas that would be considered enrichment, like security, transportation, and student activities such as athletics, drama, and music in schools.
• Learn more about the district levies.

City of Seattle’s Families and Education Levy

The City of Seattle’s Families and Education Levy is administered by the city’s Office for Education and provides various programs to families in the city such as community and school based family support, preschool programs, school based health centers, grants to schools for academic innovation, and a school readiness program for families with children ages two and three not enrolled in a formal early learning program.

Learn more about the City of Seattle levy.

More Information about How School Funding Works

Please review the links below for more information about how school funding works.

A Citizen’s Guide to Washington State K-12 Finance
The 2024 Citizen’s Guide to K-12 Finance was prepared by non-partisan Senate Committee Services staff supporting the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, with the assistance from staff of the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee.

Organization and Financing of Washington’s Public Schools
Publication by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to make the complex subject of school finance understandable.

Policies Pertaining to Budget Development
Policies adopted by the School Board of Seattle Public Schools that guide the development of central and school budgets.

Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)

Accounting and Budgeting

The documents below provide additional information related to school district accounting and budgeting.

Accounting Manual for Public School Districts in the State of Washington
This manual provides uniform accounting and financial reporting to allow for meaningful use and comparison of financial data, accounting instructions as a resource for local school districts, and furnishes the means for effective budgetary control as well as a consistent framework for financial reporting.  Published September 2023.