Court Orders Lawmakers To Fully Fund Education

The Washington Supreme Court is ordering lawmakers to submit a complete plan by the end of April to detail how the state will fully pay for basic education.

The 8-1 ruling issued Thursday afternoon said that while the state made progress in last year's budget to increase funding for K-12 education, it was "not on target" to hit the required funding by the 2017-18 year.

After the ruling Governor Jay Inslee issued this statement,

“I agree with the court’s view that we made significant progress in the current budget toward meeting our basic education obligations. I also share the court’s concern about the pace we are moving and about all of the work that remains undone.

“As I discussed when releasing my 2014 supplemental budget, the state will need an estimated $5 billion over the next two bienniato fully implement the Legislature’s McCleary response, keep up with enrollment increases and provide teacher COLAs.

“I fully expect we’ll continue our vigorous discussion about closing tax loopholes and other sustainable strategies to fund our children’s education. As I said last month, we cannot — and will not — meet all these needs and obligations by cutting services to vulnerable children and adults, higher education and communities.

“In the end, this isn’t just about complying with court orders. It’s about our children. We owe it to them to fully fund the education reforms we promised

In its decision on a lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts, parents and education groups the high court initially ruled in January 2012 that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation concerning education funding. In the ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to make yearly progress reports on its efforts. Those reports are then critiqued by the group that brought the lawsuit, and by the Supreme Court.