Senate and Republican legislative leaders said this morning during a meeting with reporters they don’t expect a solution immediately but Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said she expects to take some steps toward a solution this year.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said it “puts an exclamation point” on what she has been saying about the need for a temporary, half-cent sales tax increase to avert deeper cuts to education.
The Democratic governor said further cuts to education are clearly not an option and that her proposal provides $411 million for education. In a formal statement, she added:
The meaning of the ruling, which upholds a ruling in early 2010 by King County Superior Court Judge John P. Erlick, is still being sifted by policy makers. Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt said he understands it gives the state until 2018 to fully comply.
Justice Debra Stephens, who wrote the majority decision, made clear the court is going to keep jurisdiction in the case.
The Legislature passed a reform two years ago in House Bill 2261, which laid out a path for improving education funding over a series of budget cycles through 2017.
The majority ruling is posted here. in it, Stephens wrote a clear synopsis at the top. It includes this observation:
Stephens also wrote:
A dissent authored by Chief Justice Barbara Madsen and signed by Justice Jim Johnson is here.
In it, Madsen disagreed with having the court stay in charge of the case.
Education advocates with the League of Education Voters, the Washington Education Association and Public School Employees applauded the ruling, which echoes a decision 30 years ago in the case of the Seattle School District and increased reliance on levies.
One idea already on the table is from Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, that would replace part of local school levies with the unutilized part of the state share of the property tax.
Mary Lindquist of the WEA said: “Today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed what WEA and its partners in the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) have argued for so long: Public education in Washington is woefully underfunded. And this means students and schools can no longer bear the impact of further cuts to public education funding. “The decision by the Court, coming just days before the start of the 2012 legislative session, clearly puts the responsibility for correcting the underfunding where it belongs: The state legislature. The legislature can no longer punt on full funding for public education. The legislature needs to act immediately to remedy this injustice against our children and students.”
Washington State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur put out a statement blaming majority Democrats for the failed funding and boosting GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna:
McKenna’s office put out a statement quoting him as saying:
And Rep. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, put out a statement (here) that said in part: “Secondly, the court’s decision underscores the importance of living up to the expectations of House Bill 2261 from 2009, which established a new blueprint to define and fund basic education in the state. While more decisions will need to be made by state lawmakers in the future, House Bill 2261 is the path forward for education funding and meeting the expectations of the court’s decision. “Thirdly, the court’s decision runs contrary to the approach being proposed by the governor for education funding. She wants to demote certain areas of education funding to ‘buy-back’ status, including levy equalization and the number of school days, and then buy them back through a state sales tax increase that even she calls a ‘regressive’ approach. Education is not a ‘buy back’ or ‘buy last’ – it’s a ‘buy first.’ We should be amply funding education first, not using our students as leverage to drive a new tax increase. “Finally, while education funding is critically important, so are policy changes that are focused on better outcomes for our students. The status quo is not delivering for all of our students and we need solutions that ensure better results. As we move forward, the focus needs to be on student achievement – not process.”
UPDATES to original 1:23 p.m. post: Alex Hays, executive director for the Mainstream Republicans of Washington and consultant in judicial campaigns, said it was important that all nine judges agreed the state has fallen short of its duty. But he said it is problematic that the court is retaining jurisdiction.
“Since they are dealing with the ‘ample’ word here, they essentially are saying they will review the Washington state budget from here on out,” Hays said, adding that the court is not overstepping its boundaries yet. “But I believe they have created a framework where they could operate as a super-legislature.’’
Hays said McKenna is the only candidate for governor to outline a plan for improving public education in the future. “It’s a crisis that only Rob McKenna can fix,’’ he asserted
Link to Stephens opinion also is fixed.
