Spokane schools join other districts to sue state

Fed up with footing a $4 million bill to provide special education services each year, Spokane Public Schools has joined a coalition of school districts that plan to sue the state for more funding.

As school officials see it, the model for funding is broken. State legislators ignored their problems. The best shot for relief is through the courts.

The Spokane Public Schools’ board voted unanimously Wednesday to join other school districts on the pending civil lawsuit.

School boards representing North Shore, Issaquah and Lake Washington have already joined the suit. Bellingham, Federal Way and Everett are in varying stages of passing the matter through their boards.

“We’re past the time when we should do this,” said Spokane Public Schools board president Rocco Treppiedi at Wednesday’s regular board meeting. “(Legislators) have purposely chosen not to fix this. It gets worse every year.”

The way Washington funds schools for expensive special education services is “illegal and inappropriate,” said Brian Benzel, Spokane Public Schools superintendent. The state has a paramount duty to make ample provisions for children’s education, Benzel said.

Last school year, Benzel said Spokane Public Schools used $4.3 million in levy funds to provide special education services, up from $2.5 million three years ago. The price will likely hit $5 million by 2006.

“We’re literally bailing out the under-funding of the state,” Benzel said.

The levy funds spent on special education take away programs from the other students, he said.

Part of the problem is the draw of Spokane’s concentration of health and social services, he said.

“We truly are a magnet” for families with special-needs students, Benzel said. “We have a more high-cost mix of students than is seen around the state. That requires more money than the state provides.”

Special education programs serve a wide range of problems from behavioral to performance-based issues that keep students from living up to their potential. Each student is tracked through the school system with an individual education plan.

The state caps its funding of special education students at 13 percent of the total population. Spokane’s special-needs population is 14 percent, Benzel said. That leaves about 400 students who must be funded from local levy funds.

School districts statewide spent at least $101 million in levy funds last year to make up for the shortfall in state special education funding, according to Spokane Public Schools.

A Seattle-based law firm, Preston Gates & Ellis, will be retained as special counsel for the planned civil suit.

State Rep. Alex Wood, D-Spokane, said discussion of the lawsuit came up before the last legislative session began. Within the Democratic caucus, Wood said he heard fellow members urge action to correct the problem, or a winnable lawsuit would be coming.

“They won 15 years ago,” Wood said recounting highlights of the discussion. “They’ll probably win again.”

In 1976, the Seattle School District sued alleging the state was not meeting its constitutional duty to fund education properly. In 1977, Superior Court Judge Robert Doran ordered the state to increase its share of public school costs. Two following rulings in 1983 and 1988 clarified the ruling to include special education.

State Sen. Brian Murray, R-Spokane, pointed out that since 1994, the Legislature has increased per-student funding by 30 percent.

“I understand that Spokane’s public schools do have a great need,” Murray said by e-mail. “The Legislature has been doing the best we can to provide for all of Washington’s public school students.”

State Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said focusing on per-student cost increases misses the point of the state not meeting the needs of schools.

“The state needs to step up to the plate here,” Brown said. “Their complaints are legitimate. I’ve been convinced that Spokane is particularly hit hard. Families may locate here to be closer to services that are available. I think we end up with a larger number of students who do require those services.”