Supreme Court holds state in contempt over school funding
SEATTLE (AP) - The Washington Supreme Court is holding the Legislature in contempt for its lack of progress on fixing the way the state pays for public education, but it is holding off on punishments until after the 2015 legislative session, according to an order issued Thursday.
If lawmakers do not complete their plan for fixing the way the state pays for public schools by the end of that legislative session, the court promised to reconvene and impose sanctions and other remedial measures.
Possible sanctions include fines for the Legislature or individual lawmakers, or having the court rewrite the state budget.
In a statement signed by Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, the court said the justices were not impressed by the state's presentation at a hearing in Olympia, explaining the Legislature's lack of progress toward paying all the costs of basic education.
"The court has no doubt that it already has the Legislature's 'attention,'" she wrote, echoing comments from the state's lawyer from last week's hearing. "But that is not the purpose of a contempt order. Rather, contempt is the means by which a court enforces compliance with its lawful orders when they are not followed."
The Supreme Court ruled in January 2012 in what is known as the McCleary decision that Washington's system of education funding is unconstitutional. They gave the Legislature until the 2017-18 school year to fix the problem.
A coalition of teachers, parents, students and community groups sued the state. The Washington Education Association paid most of the cost of the lawsuit.
The coalition's attorney, Thomas Ahearne, said Thursday's order was as good as he could hope for since the 2014-15 school year already has begun and a special legislative session probably wouldn't help kids this year.
"It wipes out all the excuses that legislators tell themselves why they don't have to do anything," Ahearne said.
The order says that if the Legislature does not finish its work, the court and attorneys will talk after the session about what kind of punishment to impose. Sanctions suggested by Ahearne and the Supreme Court holds state in contempt over school funding | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News: