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State must define basic education before meaning of paramount duty can be established

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In Our Opinion

Paramount duty.

It's a phrase kicked around a lot in conjunction with Washington state's role in K-12 public education.

Constitutionally, this is where it all begins in Article 9 section 1: "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex." Article 9 section 2 goes further with: "The legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools."

Pretty simple and clear right? Wrong.

Defining what this constitutional provision -- the only one in the U.S. -- really means has been the focus of legislative and legal action for decades. According to legislative background materials prepared in 2005 by the K-12 Advisory Committee, in 1974 the courts ruled "general and uniform" means "Every child has free access to certain minimum and reasonably standardized educational and instructional facilities and opportunities."

That means a child could transfer from Wilbur High School to Lewis and Clark "without substantial loss of credit or standing."

But this takes money and in 1977 the court ruled "The state complies with this mandatory duty only when it makes ample provision through regular and dependable tax sources." Levies don't do this so the Legislature passed the Basic Education Act that, among many things, set funded ratios for certified staff to students.

The 2005 committee concluded that fulfilling "paramount duty" means K-12 education takes precedence over other state spending, although education "is not the only constitutionally obligated expenditure."

Is it clearer yet? We didn't think so.

The argument often bounces between funding, graduation rates and test results. Proponents of increased funding point out Washington is ranked 45th nationally in per pupil spending.

Opponents have statistics showing the state ranks 25th in SAT scores while states like Maine have the fifth highest per pupil spending yet the lowest SAT scores.

According to the state's Office of Financial Management education spending has been increasing every year since 2000, and yet school districts claim they struggle with revenues and expenses. More money is needed and in a 2010 lawsuit a court agreed that the state is not meeting its paramount duty.

There is some truth in that, depending upon which of the current budget proposals you look at. Both the House and Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2011-13 budgets have public schools receiving the most money while the Senate proposal has K-12 second behind the Department of Social and Health Services.

Money isn't everything in this issue. There are unfunded mandates and schools are often trying to hit a moving target when it comes to testing standards.

Teachers seem to be teaching to the test because low testing scores can mean less funding.

This is the fault of our legislators.

But schools share some of the blame. Protecting teachers and administrators by moving them around in a budgetary shell game when real cuts should be made is one example.

It's a complicated mess. Perhaps the only real way out is by being honest about what we mean.

When schools say the state isn't meeting its paramount duty are they saying the Legislature should give them what they ask for and dole out what's left to everyone else in the budget pie?

We don't think it should work that way, but we'd like to hear their argument nonetheless.

What really needs to happen is what hasn't happened yet Establishing a true definition of what we mean by "basic education" Should we be focused on the three "R's" in order to create good workers, or should we include other disciplines like art and music and seek well-rounded, intelligent members of society?

Defining that should be our paramount duty.



Copyright 2011 Cheney Free Press, Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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