Endorsements and editorials are made solely by the ownership of this newspaper. As is the case at most newspapers across the nation, The Spokesman-Review newsroom and its editors are not a part of this endorsement process. (Learn more.)

Editorial: Time has come for lawmakers to act on funding for schools

Sun., Aug. 16, 2015

Like a desperate college student trying to resolve an “incomplete,” the Washington Legislature submitted its progress report on satisfying the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision; then discovered what it already knew.

It failed to complete key assignments.

The low-key responses to the court’s unanimous ruling by the governor and legislative leaders contrast with the victory laps taken after final passage and signing of the 2015-17 budget. A day before the court’s Thursday ruling, Gov. Jay Inslee met with this newspaper’s editorial board and praised the recently completed legislative session. Now, he’s calling legislative leaders to a Monday meeting to decide on when they’ll tackle that “incomplete.”

Lawmakers and the governor point to this year’s record allocations for education, but the McCleary decision didn’t say “set a record.” It told lawmakers to devise a sustainable long-term way to implement the Legislature’s own basic education bills – ESHB 2261, passed in 2009, and SHB 2776, passed in 2010.

The court acknowledged the progress made thus far, but also said the state hasn’t fixed the over-reliance on local levies or found a way to pay for the additional teachers, staff and classrooms needed to meet the ultimate target of 17 students per classroom in grades K-3. In its report to the court, the Legislature spent page after page discussing various challenges and possible solutions, but it didn’t produce a plan to be graded.

Eyebrows have been raised over the court’s imposition of a $100,000-a-day fine, but it should be viewed as merely symbolic. Even if the state waited until the next regular session to act, the amount would total only $15 million, and the money is to be deposited in a basic education account.

Politicians should concentrate on a permanent solution, not the fine. And the governor should not call a special session – as the court suggested – unless he and the Senate and House leadership have a plan that will get the state to where it must be by 2018. Not many plans; a plan.

And that plan must ensure all Washington students have equal access to quality education, which is not possible as long as Washington’s 295 local school districts must supplement state dollars with local levies. But shifting the full burden to Olympia requires messing with property taxes, which will rile affected homeowners.

Rep. Kevin Parker put his finger on the political dilemma, saying the current budget “was as aggressive as we could go without cuts to the most vulnerable or raising taxes.”

But the court has shown throughout that it isn’t going to respond to political arguments, nor should it. Its job is to uphold the state constitution, which says funding basic education is the state’s paramount duty. It doesn’t say do that without raising taxes or cutting other spending.

We know the task won’t be easy, but we also know a simple solution will never materialize. So, lawmakers need to get back to work.

To respond to this editorial on-line, go to www.spokesman.com and click on Opinion under the Topics menu.