By Tom
By the time my third graders graduate from high school, this state will finally have to pay the full price for their education.
At least that's one way to look at the recent ruling by King County Judge John Erlick on a landmark lawsuit brought by a consortium of parents, local associations, district superintendents and teachers against the state of Washington to make them fully fund education. Glossary in hand, Judge Erilick looked at what the state is currently doing and reread the State Constitution where it says that "it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders." He sided with the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit provided the backdrop for legislation passed last year in which lawmakers redefined basic education and pledged to fully fund it by 2018. Erlick recognized this effort, along with the current fiscal crises in which the state finds itself. Nevertheless, he ordered the state to figure out what it costs to educate Washington State's children and then pay it.
But he didn't say when.
So it's unclear what'll happen next. The state could appeal and hope for a different ruling; one that will get them off the hook. Judge Erlick could acknowledge reality and let the state take its time figuring out how to pay for basic education as it's been redefined. Or he could impose a swifter timeline, ignoring the fact that the state currently can't even pay for basic education under the old definition.
Or somebody really smart could come along, take over Olympia, and figure out how this state should pay for the education it wants with the money it doesn't have.
Call me a cynic, but my money's on 2018. Most of the lawmakers in Olympia today will be long gone by then.
Along with my third graders.
Turnip.
Great post, Tom. Is that a rutabaga??
My favorite part of ruling was that state funding was not ample, stable or reliable.
To have teachers face being riffed year after year, to have staff fired and rehired months later, to adjust to a reduced staff one year, then add new classes the next has been damaging.
In Seattle, many schools were closed two years ago. The staffs were scattered, the students reassigned, and furniture loaded up into trucks and surplused. Guess what’s happening now? Yep, those buildings are being reopened.
If Washington State could simply get the stable and reliable bit down, what we have would seem more ample.