There are a lot of stories about the financial challenges facing schools right now: Seattle School District has a $100 million budget gap they need to close and they’re going to be shuttering schools to make ends meet. 

Bellevue School District also closed schools to shore up its budget last year.

Other districts are looking at million dollar shortfalls and considering school closures or ending programs. 

But Marysville School District is facing a particularly challenging landscape.

"They have a critically declining financial condition," said Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy. Her office reviews the finances of all 295 school districts in the state.

Their report on Marysville’s finances made headlines when it was published last week. McCarthy compared Marysville's situation to Vader School District, which dissolved in 2007 because of severe financial problems.

So what is going on at Marysville and how does it fit into the larger landscape of budget challenges at districts statewide? 

Guest:

• Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab and a Research Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy

Relevant Links:

• Washington State Standard: Why WA school budgets are getting tighter, and what can be done about it
• KUOW: Could Marysville schools have to close amid 'uniquely perilous' financial troubles?