Small Town News

Court prods state to provide more dollars for education

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In a Feb. 4 decision, King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick ruled the state isn't living up to its obligation to education under its constitution.

"Thirty years have passed since our state Supreme Court directed the state to provide stable and dependable funding for basic education," he said. "The State has made progress toward this Constitutional obligation, but remains out of compliance. State funding is not ample, it is not stable and it is not dependable."

The ruling was handed down in McCleary vs. Washington State, or what is commonly referred to as the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools lawsuit. That lawsuit was brought by a coalition of parents and funded in part by several school districts that sued based on the state constitution.

Issaquah did not put in funding to support the lawsuit. It helped finance a special education funding lawsuit against the state, instead. That suit is undergoing appeal at the state Supreme Court.

Under the state constitution, the Legislature's "paramount duty" is to fiilly fund education.

In his ruling, Erlick ordered the Legislature determine the full cost of giving basic education to every student in the state and figure out a more stable funding mechanism to ensure the money is there to provide it.

"The judgment affirms what we have known and felt for years--the state's public education funding system is not coherent, and it does not include many elements necessary for students to receive a basic education in today's modern global economy," District Communications Director Sara Niegowski wrote in an email. "In Issaquah, we rank 282 out of 295 districts in per pupil funding - we especially need an education finance system that is not able to arbitrarily advantage or disadvantage certain districts; and we certainly need a system that covers that actual basics in 'basic education.'"

However, Erlick didn't specify how or when the Legislature should decide how to carry out the orders, but said the state must show "real and measurable progress," he wrote.

Right now, the state's Legislature is busy working to draft and implement plans for a new early learning, kindergarten through 12th grade and higher education strategies, with new funding sources by 2018 as outlined in House Bill 2261, which passed last year. It also expanded the definition of basic education to include new items like technology.

"This could potentially light a fire under the feet of lawmakers who are currently studying what an ideal funding system would look like," Niegowski wrote. "As it stands now, there is no definitive timeline or mandates for any changes."

The state could appeal Erlick's decision.

However, several local state legislators, including Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-5th District, Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-41st District and Rep. Marcie Maxwell, D-41st District -- and at least 30 others -- have signed a letter asking Gov. Chris Gregoire and state Attorney General Rob Mackenna not to appeal the decision.

"The Legislature is not giving schools the money they need to provide the quality of education we want. The court has rather bluntly reminded us that we are required under our state's constitution to make the education of our children our number one priority," the Feb. 5 letter said. "We hope that the savings from not pursuing the appeal process will be applied and focused on efforts to solve our state's education financing problem."



Copyright 2010 The Issaquah Press, Issaquah, 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.

© 2010 The Issaquah Press Issaquah, 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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