The state got a wake-up call recently when a King County Superior Court judge said that it is failing to fully fund public schools as required by the state Constitution.
The reaction from most people – state officials included – was “Duh.” In other words, the ruling didn’t surprise anyone and was long overdue.
The state Constitution clearly says that it is the “paramount duty” of the state to amply provide for the education of all children. That means legislators have their work cut out for them, but so do the taxpayers. What the judge is ordering isn’t going to come about with some slick shifting of funds. It’s going to cost real money.
This isn’t the first time a court has ordered the state to determine the actual costs of educating our children. Thirty years ago, a judge in Thurston County said the same.
In that interim, the state too often has passed the cost on to local districts. As a result, local school districts must raise their own money to pay for the programs, or cut the funds out of some other portion of their budget. Robbing Peter to pay Paul does nothing more than make a different batch of students suffer. There’s still not enough money to do the job right.
And doing the job right is what’s going to be asked of the state – and us.
The main organization that brought the lawsuit, Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS), is a coalition of more than 75 school districts – including Bellevue – along with statewide civic organizations and community groups, education associations, parents and teachers.
As NEWS President Mike Blair said after the ruling: “This decision will have a profound impact on every public school student in Washington. Everyone in our state will benefit when we finally have a public school system that is funded amply and can provide a world class education to all students.”
Doing this won’t be easy. In fact, it never has been easy and thus never has happened.
Historically, students in our schools fall into one of three groups. About one-fourth of the students thrive in the classroom. About one-half of the students muddle through, get their diploma and go about life. The final one-fourth struggle every day. These are the one who dropout or get moved along with a passing grade, but no real learning.
Helping this last group of students will take lots of work – and money.
There’s no magic wand that will make struggling students into solid performers. But there is hope, if we’re willing to make the effort.
There’s no doubt all students can learn. It’s just that they all don’t learn at the same speed. Those students who fall into the lowest quarter need more time and more resources if they’re going to master the lessons. Giving them that will take more teachers and more time.
That’s right, the school day may need to be longer for some. The school year may need to be extended, too. Class sizes may need to be smaller for those who are struggling so they get more one-on-one attention.
All of that will take more money.
The state can get by on the cheap, of course. It can simply lower the standards so much that anyone can get by even if all they do in the classroom is breathe. But that’s not what we should want.
If we want to educate our kids – all of them – we, as taxpayers, are going to have to step up to the plate. This time, let’s do it right.
