The Kent School District Board of Directors Jan. 28 voted 4-0 to join with the Network for Excellence in Washington Schools in its lawsuit to get the state Legislature to fully fund education throughout the state.
Based on the state constitution’s language calling it the “paramount duty” of the state to make “ample provision” for the education of all students, the lawsuit insists the legislature has not done its part to ensure funding for public schools.
Kent joins more than 60 organizations across the state, from school districts to PTAs to teacher associations from rural Eastern Washington and urban Western Washington alike.
The decision will cost the school district $20,000 to help cover legal costs.
According to NEWS president and Chimicum Schools Superintendent Mike Blair, the goal of the lawsuit is twofold: force the Legislature to define exactly what constitutes a “basic education” and then fully fund it.
Blair said Friday in a phone interview that the lawsuit seeks to include in that definition of a basic education: 1) the grade level expectations and 2) essential academic learning requirements to which teachers teach, as defined in a 1992 law.
“These are the basic skills the kids need to reach to be successful,” Blair said Jan. 30. “Once you’ve defined what that is … then you need to authorize what that costs and then you need to provide funding for that.”
The lawsuit was filed in January 2008 and a court date is set for June 2009.
Kent School Board Vice President Chris Davies said though the board had decided against joining the lawsuit in the past, “the time was right.”
“We’ve truly been pushed to the limits,” he said Jan. 30. “We can’t go any farther.”
The school district, like many others throughout the state is grappling with budget gaps due to what many consider to be inadequate funding on the part of the state.
Davies said the current economic climate, as well as the recently completed recommendations from the Joint Task Force on Basic Education Funding made it time for Kent to join in.
“We don’t want to see (the recommendations) put on the bookshelf and start collecting dust,” he said.
Davies said the district was also asked by the Kent Education Association to join the suit and doing so shows solidarity with the teachers.
Following the vote, members of the KEA in attendance stood and applauded to thank the board.
KEA president Lisa Brackin-Johnson said Jan. 30 it was important for the fourth-largest district in the state to be part of the suit.
“It really shows this is an important issue and the state needs to step up,” she said. “It’s not just the small districts that are impacted by what the state does not do.”
Brackin-Johnson said inadequate funding from the state forces districts to spend levy money on necessities instead of additional services.
“The levies were designed for extras,” she said.
Blair also said having a district the size of Kent on board was good for the suit and shows that its importance cuts across demographics.
“It’s nice to see it’s a grassroots effort,” he said. “The fact that Kent wants to partner with us is a good sign.”
LEARN MORE
The Kent School District Board of Directors meets regularly at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the Administration Center located at 12033 S.E. 256th St., Kent. All meetings are open to the public.
For more information or to see an agenda of upcoming meetings, visit www.kent.k12.wa.us and click the “School Board” link.
For more information about the lawsuit, go to http://waschool
excellence.org
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