State Senate OKs Compromise on Plan to Fix Education System

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state Senate on Tuesday passed a plan for fixing the way the state pays for education, mirroring a measure passed earlier in the state House.

Many lawmakers believe the bill will satisfy the Supreme Court's order to finish the work it demanded in its so-called McCleary decision.

The court has held the state in contempt over its failure to figure out the remaining issues about how the state can fully pay the costs of basic education, as the constitution requires.

A bipartisan group from both chambers met over the summer and falled to work out a compromise on how to find the money to end the state's overreliance on local tax levies to pay for basic education. The bill is similar to the language the task force agreed to before the session began.