Budget for education first

In his June 20 op-ed column, Stephen Eugster says that until the McCleary case came along none of the past legal actions addressing public school funding in Washington state had gone anywhere. Not so.

The Doran decision in 1976 served notice that the state could not keep passing its responsibilities on to local school patrons through the mechanism of special levies. After its implementation, property tax bills dropped dramatically.

In the name of local control, school districts were permitted to keep asking local taxpayers to underwrite “enrichment” programs, but only up to 10 percent of what the state paid for basic education.

Over time, districts across Washington chipped away at that lid and the funding role played by locally approved special levies eventually reclaimed its prominence, freeing the Legislature to shun its constitutional duty. A lasting fix will take more than just another court ruling.

One solution has been proposed several times but always rejected. When legislators begin distributing public funds, they should start by first enacting a budget that makes “ample provision” (the Constitution’s words) for public education. Then, and only then, they could write a second budget that allocates what’s left for other state government needs.

Doug Floyd

Spokane