Superintendents from 12 school districts, including Everett and Northshore, are to step into an Olympia courtroom today, two years after suing the state over special education funding.
“We’re prepared. We’re ready to go,” Everett Superintendent Carol Whitehead said.
The trial in Thurston County Superior Court is scheduled to last three weeks before Judge William Thomas McPhee.
At the heart of the lawsuit is more money.
Schools say they aren’t getting enough, and they offer up costly special education services as proof that the state isn’t fully funding education as its constitution requires.
They put the shortfall this year at $134 million. Across Snohomish County, the purported gap for 2004-05 would total $14.9 million, using the districts’ calculations.
State leaders counter that districts can’t adequately account for whether they’re spending enough of special education’s share of basic education funding on students with disabilities.
They also question in court papers whether some services are legitimate, pointing to past audits.
“The alliance (of districts) has to have the burden of proving that the level of funding is constitutionally insufficient, and not just something that’s politically insufficient,” said Dave Stolier, a lawyer with the state attorney general’s office.
The trial originally was scheduled for October 2005.
The state requested a two-year delay to allow for the 18-month Washington Learns study, a review of the state’s education system from preschool to college.
McPhee granted a one-year delay.
The group’s final report is due Nov. 13, shortly before the trial is scheduled to end.
“We felt that’s not a good use of taxpayers’ resources to put it into a trial when things are changing,” Stolier said.
Ideas from the study have included expanding all-day kindergarten and improving math and science instruction. How to best finance education and find new dollars to add to that pot also have been part of the discussions.
A report used for public comment at a series of forums in the last couple of months did not mention funding for special education.
Superintendent Whitehead said the silence on the issue tells her “we did the right thing by filing the lawsuit.”
The topic could come up in the final Washington Learns report.
State Superintendent Terry Bergeson, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was part of a study group that has made several proposals to improve special education funding.
One suggestion would increase the average funding a student in special education draws by about $323.
“While that doesn’t go far enough, it’s an important first step in the right direction,” said Grace Yuan, an attorney with Preston Gates &Ellis, which is representing the districts.
School leaders have long complained they don’t get enough money to do their jobs.
The districts suing the state claim special education as the most expensive example, since services are supposed to be based on a child’s needs, regardless of cost.
“You’re between a rock and a hard place,” said Susan Stoltzfus, spokeswoman for the Northshore School District, which straddles the King-Snohomish county line.
In Northshore, business staff say they draw from about 16.5 percent of their local levy each year, or $5.8 million, to cover excess special education costs.
More than 70 other school districts have filed briefs with the court showing support for the lawsuit. They include Arlington, Granite Falls, Lake Stevens, Lakewood, Marysville, Monroe, Oak Harbor, South Whidbey and Sultan.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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