Resolution 04-04  

Improving the Public’s Health by Prioritizing Education as a Social Determinant of Health and Insuring Adequate Funding of Public Education

 Whereas education is a primary determinant of health status in Washington State and elsewhere; and

 Whereas lack of education is highly correlated to poverty in Washington State and elsewhere; and

 Whereas poverty itself limits citizens' access to basic needs for positive health status; and

 Whereas the public education system needs children to come “ready to learn,” a status based in large part on the efforts of public health professionals and organizations to promote healthy pregnancies/births, healthy habits in early childhood, safe and healthy environments, and healthy parenting/care-giving; and

 Whereas the structure of taxes in Washington State is the country’s most regressive and is a greater financial burden on impoverished state residents; and

 Whereas the source of state funding for education comes from this antiquated and unfair manner of taxation; and

 Whereas a progressive and graduated income tax effectively boosts the disposable income of lower income families; and

 Whereas the current tax structure fails to recognize the benefits realized by those families who have benefited most from our State’s riches; and

 Whereas the United States ’ remarkable ability for creation of wealth is “part of the inheritance that we all receive in the form of public and social investments that have been made over the centuries,”

 Therefore Be It Resolved that the Washington State Public Health Association (WSPHA) supports universal, high quality public instruction and education for all children; and

 Be It Further Resolved that WSPHA recognizes the duty of the Washington State Legislature to “make ample provisions for the education of all children”; and

 Be It Further Resolved that WSPHA supports a stronger role for public health in supporting the health and well-being of ALL families of pregnant women, infants, and young children; and

 Be It Finally Resolved that WSPHA urges the Washington State Legislature to institute a progressive, graduated income tax that serves to reduce the tax burden on lower income families and increase it for those who have benefited most from public riches.