Judge rules state must fully fund education; Kent school officials rejoicing

A King County Superior Court Judged ruled Thursday that the state is failing to meet its “paramount duty” of fully funding education.

Echoing the sentiments of educators across Kent and Washington State, King County Superior Court Judge John P. Erlick ruled in favor of two families and the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS), ruling that the state’s funding mechanism for public education fails to meet the duties laid out in the state constitution, which states that providing “ample funding” for education is the “paramount duty” of the state.

“In short (Washington) is not amply providing for the actual cost of operating the state’s public schools,” Erlick wrote in his decision, adding that it is not providing enough for the equipping of all public-school students with the “basic knowledge and skills” mandated by the state’s minimum education standards.

Erlick ruled that while state experts found educational facilities and opportunities “adequate,” the language in the constitution calling for “ample” funding, meaning more than adequate, and the “significant disparity” between facilities within districts and between districts shows it is not meeting the “all students” requirement laid out in the constitution.

The ruling also states that reliance on local levies, which in Kent make up 20 percent of the district budget, does not adequately shore up the difference because “local levies are neither dependable or regular” due to the fact they must be approved by voters.

Both the Kent School District and the Kent Education Association joined the lawsuit.

Education leaders throughout the state are hailing the decision as a victory.

State Superintendent of Public Schools Randy Dorn praised the decision in a press release, calling Thursday a “landmark day for the students of Washington.”

“Now that Judge Erlick’s decision has been returned, we, as a state, need to fully fund basic education,” Dorn wrote. “Only when the Legislature acts affirmatively and addresses this issue can our students obtain the education we are morally and legally obligated to provide.”

Kent School District Superintendent Dr. Edward Lee Vargas said he was “encouraged” by the decision and looked forward to working with legislators to provide a clear definition of “basic education” and how to fund it.

“This ruling is good news for our students, good news for the school reform movement and good news for our community as we work together to ensure that each and every student is successfully prepared for college and career,” he said in an e-mail.

Kent Education Association president Lisa Brackin Johnson said she was “really pleased” with the decision.

“The judge confirmed what educators have known for a very long time,” she said. “We have said for a long time we’ve been underfunded.”

Brackin Johnson also said she hoped the decision “lights a fire under the Legislature to do what is right” and act quickly to fully fund education.

“Children only have one shot at their education,” she said.

Erlick’s 73-page decision reviewed both the case history, which was brought by a pair of families in 2007, and looked at the definitions of the words “paramount,” “ample,” “all” and “education” in Article IX, Section 1 of the state constitution, which states “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”

The ruling also requires the Legislature to determine the actual cost of basic education and to meet those levels of funding.

“Funding must be based as closely as reasonably practicable on the actual costs of providing such programs of basic education,” Erlick wrote in his conclusion.

The decision, however, does not include a timeline, deferring to the Legislature.

The state has 30 days to appeal the decision.

“My legal team will review the specifics of this complex decision with our state clients to determine appropriate next steps,” Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a press release.