Senate OKs bill to meet education obligations
Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, testifies against a bill to create plan to address the court’s McCleary decision.
OLYMPIA — The Senate passed a bill Tuesday to create a plan to fully fund basic education in the state.
The bill creates a task force to make recommendations on how the state should best allocate funding for education. Senate Bill 6195 also directs the Legislature to take action by 2018 to reform school district levies.
The bill was created in response to a 2014 state Supreme Court decision. In McCleary versus the State of Washington, the Washington Supreme Court justices ruled that the Legislature had a constitutional obligation to fully fund education in the state. The court ordered the Legislature to produce a funding plan in order to meet this obligation.
Many senators expressed disappointment that the bill does not do enough, even those supporting the bill.
“The reality is this bill is better than no bill,” said Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup. Dammeier said he was standing in “reluctant support,” and acknowledged the solution to the problem will be pushed out another year.
Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, said Democrats have offered plans on several occasions to meet the court directive. Frockt also expressed concern about not extending levies for another year.
Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said she did not think the bill was strong enough because it did not address levy equalization problems.
“Our small districts are really struggling with keeping good teachers and maintaining operating costs,” Warnick said.
Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, said the bill should be passed, despite some disappointment with it.
“Lots of legislation that moved through here is not perfect,” Nelson said. “But what we need to do is to make a commitment…to move forward in 2017 to work through our state obligation and local levies.”
Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, did not support the bill because he does not agree with the McCleary decision.
“I think it’s a flawed premise, based on a flawed definition of basic education,” Baumgartner said about the decision. “The key to improving education in this state is not pumping more money into a broken system, it is to fundamentally change that system.”
SB 6195 passed with a vote of 26-23.
The House companion bill was passed on the House floor on Jan. 25 with a vote of 64-34.