Court must keep pressure on
Published 4:58 pm Friday, January 6, 2012
Affirming what most Washingtonians already knew, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Legislature has chronically failed to meet its constitutional duty to fully fund a basic education for all of the state’s children.
Unlike previous rulings over the years, however, this time the court applied real pressure for change. In a 7-2 decision, it retained jurisdiction in the case to “help ensure progress in the State’s plan to fully implement education reforms by 2018.”
In other words, the justices want to see a plan. Soon. It must detail a basic education program that satisfies the state’s paramount duty, and funds it “through regular and dependable tax sources.”
If figuring out how to fully fund basic education were easy, it would have been achieved by now. The Legislature has been loaded with good intentions over the years. But when it comes to paying for them, even in good economic times, it punts.
The Supreme Court’s decision should mean those days are coming to an end. For it to represent a true breakthrough, though, the court will have to remain vigilant, insisting on significant, steady progress.
The 2018 deadline is based on the timeline of the Legislature’s latest plan for basic education, approved in 2009. That bill, however, contained no specific funding levels or sources. The court said the plan will pass muster — as long as it’s funded.
How much more money is required? A lot. Estimates range from $6 billion to $9 billion per biennium. That much extra is clearly not sitting around in the current budget, which lawmakers must cut by about $1.5 billion beginning Monday.
New “regular and dependable tax sources” will be required. The half-cent increase in the sales tax proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire would only raise about $500 million a year. Raising what’s needed to meet the state’s educational responsibility will take time, commitment and creativity.
Thursday’s ruling doesn’t appear to change the immediate budget picture. The recession’s four-year drag on state revenues has taken a terrible toll, and completely protecting K-12 from cuts this session would devastate critical social programs, corrections and/or state colleges and universities. It’s not realistic.
But planning must begin now on a framework for long-term, reliable funding for schools. Proposals that didn’t fly in previous years, like devoting half or more of future revenue growth to education and shifting levy authority from school districts to the state, must be reconsidered. New, creative ideas will be needed, too, for revenue and efficiencies.
Importantly, so will a renewed commitment by Washington’s citizens to a prosperous future for our children, the kind only a first-class education can provide. In its ruling, the Supreme Court wasn’t speaking only to lawmakers, but to those they represent.
For collectively, fully funding education is a duty we all share.
