This is a good outcome, and reflects a lot of hard work by members of our communities.
Olympia has one of the top-rated school systems in the state, and the support of our community is what makes this possible.
But the school population forecast is sharply down. It's not because parents are sending kids to private schools. It's because our birth rate is down very sharply, as it is in other advanced societies. My grandparents had four kids; my parents had three; the three of us all put together had two.
The official state population data shows that there are 1 million people in the state in the 45-54 age range, but only 860,000 in the 0 - 9 age range. There will be fewer students in the future than in the past statewide. Thurston County may be a little different from the state average, but we are likely to have extra room in our schools. Renting out space for pre-school and early learning is one way to put this space to productive use and keep more schools open.
But, when a school area cannot support a full class of students in each grade, it will become necessary to consolidate schools.
Oh: this same issue is why Social Security is at risk. Too many retirees, and not enough people of working age. When Social Security started, there were four workers for each retiree; now it's down to two. Since benefits to today's retirees are paid for out of taxes of today's workers, that ratio matters a lot.
We will need to cut benefits, raise taxes, or raise the retirement age. My preferred solution is to tax investment income (stock dividends, bond interest, capital gains) at the same rate as earned income (wages and self-employment). No change in the tax rate, but more paid by people who don't work and have plenty of money. There's no reason that Warren Buffet's hired help should be paying a higher tax rate than he is. What's your preferred solution?
https://ofm.wa.gov/washington-data-research/statewide-data/washington-trends/population-changes/distribution-washington-population-age-and-gender
Age Group Population
0-4 439,657
5-9 429,877
10-14 438,233
15-19 462,128
20-24 461,512
25-29 480,398
30-34 453,383
35-39 448,607
40-44 459,698
45-49 492,909
50-54 495,296
55-59 453,078
60-64 382,087
65-69 270,474
70-74 186,746
75-79 142,068
80-84 111,118
85+ 117,271
Please explain the inappropriate content below.
