Wash. latest state to be sued for school dollars

Wash. latest state to be sued for school dollars Seattle Times Newspaper

The timing wasn't planned, but that doesn't make it any less auspicious.

Right in the middle of a recession that has created the worst atmosphere for school budgeting in decades, a coalition of Washington school districts, parents, teachers and community groups is going to court Monday to demand that the state start paying the full cost of education.

Attorneys for both sides say the economy will have little or no influence on the outcome of the non-jury trail, scheduled to begin on the first day of the school year for many district and to continue for six weeks of testimony in King County Superior Court before Judge John Erlick.

School districts have been struggling economically for decades, so while the recession makes things worse it doesn't make them different, said Mike Blair, chair of the group calling itself Network for Excellence in Washington Schools.

School funding adequacy has been the subject of lawsuits around the country during the past decade. The Columbia University-based National Access Network, which advocates for school funding fairness and maintains a database of current litigation, reports that 45 of the 50 states have been sued over their methods of paying for public schools.

State and federal dollars pay most, but not all the cost to educate Washington's students. The rest of the money comes from local tax levies, donations and PTA fundraisers. Meanwhile, the Washington Constitution makes education the state's highest priority.