On Sept. 11, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a court order, holding the state Legislature in contempt for failing to make enough progress in addressing the state’s constitutional requirement to fully fund public education.
According to court documents, the state is not “meeting its ‘paramount duty…to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.’”
“This ruling provides districts with renewed assurance that the Legislature will be held accountable to act to ensure that it is meeting its constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education by 2017-18,” said Lake Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce. “This includes funding all-day kindergarten for all students across the state.”
She said the district is counting on, and planning for, the Legislature to follow through on its paramount duty.
In response to the order, Sen. Andy Hill of the 45th Legislative District, which includes Redmond, released a statement saying, he is “glad the court has again confirmed its commitment to making education funding a priority for this state.”
“As our primary constitutional duty, funding education must come first when it comes to the budget,” he said in his statement. “One of the main reasons I first ran for office as a PTA dad was to end Olympia’s decades of neglect in prioritizing our schools.”
Hill (R) is chair of the State Senate’s Ways & Means committee and a member of the Early Learning & K-12 Education committee.
Hill’s statement continued, saying, the court states that the state “’has known for decades that its funding of public education is constitutionally inadequate.’ The ruling adds, ‘This proceeding is therefore the culmination of a long series of events, not merely the result of a single violation.’”
Since he was elected, Hill said in his statement that he has “taken steps to end this period of neglect, writing and passing a budget that invested $1 billion more in education, added $4 to education for every $1 of non-education spending increases, and froze college tuition rates.”
“While these are simply first steps, they represent the first steps taken in 30 years to reverse this trend,” he said.
Hill is up for re-election this November and his opponent Matt Isenhower also had a response to the court order.
Isenhower, (D-Redmond), said, “In both the 2013 and 2014 sessions — knowing the court was expecting results — Hill refused to adopt reforms that would have increased school funding, and in fact placed additional tax loopholes and other lobbyist-driven giveaways in his budget.”
“The court today underscored what parents, students and teachers already know: that our schools are underfunded and we need to take action to fix the problem,” said Isenhower. “Instead of focusing on what’s right for our kids, Andy Hill gave even more away to wealthy special interests.”
In his statement, Isenhower also said, “The only way to change the equation and actually fund our schools will be to elect leaders committed to putting education first. Andy Hill was given a chance to step up and do the right thing, and he failed.”
The King County Republican Party called Isenhower’s comments a political stunt as he claimed the court’s ruling was against incumbent Hill’s 2013 budget.
“It’s clear to anyone who knows the issue and even bothered to read the ruling that the court is demanding a new plan for education from the entire Legislature, not ruling against Senator Hill’s budget,” said party chair Lori Sotelo. “Isenhower’s misstatements concerning the ruling makes it clear, he is a bit uneducated about what goes on in Olympia.”
She also asked, “If Matt Isenhower wants to single out members of the Legislature to blame for the court’s ruling, is he going to condemn Rep. Larry Springer and Rep. Roger Goodman, Andy Hill’s Democratic seat mates? Both voted for his budget. Is he going to condemn Jay Inslee, Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and 17 of his endorsers who have served during the decades of neglect for education?”
A closer look at the decision on education funding
On Sept. 10, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) voted to adopt a resolution suggesting guiding principles for the Legislature in its duties to ensure that ample provision is made for all students residing within its borders, in a general and uniform system of public schools.
The resolution came as the SBE’s view of its statutory responsibility to provide strategic oversight of the public education system.
In the past two years, the state Legislature has begun to take steps to fully fund basic education as a result of the McCleary state Supreme Court decision, which ruled the state was not meeting its obligation to fully fund K-12 public education as required by the state constitution.
There are six guidelines as part of the SBE resolution:
• Considerations of delaying the timeline for compliance with McCleary orders should be weighed against the consequences a delay will have on incoming kindergarten students.
• There can be no credible plan to make ample provision for public schools that does not include new revenue to the state budget.
• Proposals to increase funding for public schools by decreasing funding in other state programs should be viewed not merely through the lens of court compliance, but also in view of the ultimate impact on students and their families.
• A comprehensive school-funding solution should include a substantial increase in the state funding share accompanied by some additional clarity on the intended limits of local levy authority or spending. What is needed is not different dollars; what is needed is more dollars.
• A comprehensive statewide accountability program continues to be an essential element to any significant McCleary investment in public schools.
• The SBE affirms that Washington’s public school system has the potential to be the best in the world and could serve as a case study of best practice public education for other states and nations. The board urges the Legislature to embrace this challenge and to process all school funding decisions with the success of each student in mind.
