Washington Still in the Middle in State Education Funding

SEATTLE (AP) — A new study shows Washington state is solidly in the middle of the nation in school funding. The state is 28th in the nation for per-student education dollars.

According to researchers at Rutgers University, Washington state government has not done a great job of catching up on school funding as the economy has improved.

The data studied for the national report does not take into consideration the current state budget, which includes more money for education.

Washington state gets a shout out in the report for teacher salaries. Apparently Washington's teacher pay is among the least competitive in the nation with teachers earning on average about 30 percent than their non-teacher counterparts.

The state spending the most per-pupil is Alaska and the state spending the least is Idaho.