Court sanctions state $100k a day for lack of education funding plan

Then, in September, the court held the Legislature in contempt for failing to do that.

In a sharply worded unanimous decision, the state’s highest court signaled it has run out of patience with lawmakers’ efforts to obey years of demands to meet their paramount duty of providing for public schools.

The court on Thursday ordered the state to pay $100,000 per day until lawmakers lay out a concrete plan to address shortfalls by the 2018 school year, funneling the fines to an account for “the benefit of basic education”. Inslee and legislators have until January 2016 to settle the issue, or the state could pay $15 million in sanctions. Many teachers felt the increase fell short of what’s fair, said Michael Woods of the Central Kitsap Education Association.

The court encouraged Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to call a special session to figure out an education funding plan.

“Everyone understood that even with those historic investments in education, our work would not be done”, Inslee said in a statement Thursday.

Thomas Ahearne, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the court’s action “is long overdue”.

“Last fall, we found the state in contempt of court, but held in abeyance the matter of sanctions until the completion on the 2015 legislative session”. The governor said he’ll ask lawmakers do that work as quickly as possible. They also need to work on the reliance of local tax levies to pay for education.

A bipartisan Senate bill would overhaul Washington’s school levy system by increasing the burden on the state, while decreasing the burden on local school districts.

“But the bottom line is that none of these proposals was enacted into law, and they remain, in the State’s words, only matters of ‘discussion, ‘” the court said.

“But while there is some progress in class size reduction, there is far to go”. Despite a regular session and three overtime sessions, lawmakers still could not satisfy the court.

The 2012 decision related to a 2007 lawsuit filed by the Network for Excellence in Seattle on behalf of parents Matthew and Stephanie McCleary who argued the state was not fully funding what it costs to pay teachers, provide transport for students, and maintain buildings.

The King County Superior Court ruled in favor of the petitioners.

“State funding is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable”, the judge wrote. They ruled it was the state’s responsibility to cover basic educational expenses. It envisions reductions in local property taxes for schools in the state’s 295 school districts while ramping up state educational property taxes and funding, in order to end the inequity of richer school districts spending more for teachers and smaller class sizes than poorer districts do.

State Senator Joe Fain, a Republican, said “30 years of an unconstitutional levy structure has created unconscionable pockets of poverty where teachers and students have been victims of unequal funding”.

Will The Fines Spur Immediate Action?

While imposing financial sanctions by courts is nothing new, some observers have stated this situation is unique.

The Washington state Supreme Court is seen on Thursday, August 13, 2015, in Olympia, Wash. “Until they’ve addressed that, the Legislature has not met the requirements of the court”.

“After 176 days, I think the legislature is a little burned out”, Magendanz said.

The governor did not discuss plans for a special session.

Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, advised against arriving at a hasty solution.

He called the Washington court’s actions “extremely significant”. “We can not tell a Legislature 10 years from now what to do”.

“Nothing would be hasty now”. They’ve had a chance.

“There are tougher sanctions that the Supremes could’ve imposed”, Ahearne said. “There’s no “easy” button here”.