Staff Report
Washington state’s Supreme Court imposed a $100,000 per day penalty on the state for each day it violates the court’s Jan. 9, 2014 order extending from the McCleary decision of 2012, according to court documents stamped Thursday.
In the 2014 order, court documents note that the state “was not demonstrating sufficient progress to be on target to fully fund education reforms by the 2017-18 school year.” The order focuses on K-12 education, specifically student transportation; essential materials, supplies and operating costs; adequate capital funds to ensure reduced class sizes for all-day kindergarten and elementary schools; and adequate salaries for teachers and administrators, “the heart of Washington’s education system.”
Documents state that the penalty “shall be payable daily to be held in a segregated account for the benefit of basic education.”
According to Gov. Jay Inslee in a press release, he requested on Thursday during a conference call with lawmakers that they meet with him on Monday in Seattle at a time and location to be determined. This meeting will begin the necessary and difficult work before them before a special session can be called, Inslee said.
“I will ask lawmakers to do that work as quickly as humanly possible so that they can step up to our constitutional and moral obligations to our children and lift the court sanctions,” he said.
While Inslee said in the release that significant progress has been made, the Supreme Court stressed that bolder and more aggressive action is needed to meet the state’s obligation to adequately funding basic education.
Washington State Parent Teacher Association (WSPTA) President Barbara Martin issued the following statement on Thursday: “Fully funding McCleary is the WSPTA’s number one legislative priority and we are extremely pleased with the Supreme Court decision to ensure that fully funding education and holding the legislature responsible to comply with the constitution, is in the best interest of Washington’s children and will provide them with the best education possible.”
House Appropriations Committee Chair Ross Hunter (D-Medina) said, in part, in a statement on Thursday: “It’s important to know that the phase-in plan in the budget we passed this year completely pays for the class size reductions called for in the McCleary order. The court recognized the work done by the Legislature in funding class size reductions, but seems to be concerned about the phase-in of lower class sizes. There is some confusion in how the cost of this investment is described in various documents, and we will work with the court to clarify this.”
