OLYMPIA — Lawmakers should be given until the 2015 legislative session to make progress in fixing how the state pays for public education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said in a brief to the state Supreme Court.
If lawmakers don’t do enough by next year, plaintiffs should then be allowed to petition the high court for sanctions, including asking that state spending not related to the 2012 McCleary decision be barred, Dorn proposed in a brief his office said was filed Monday.
In June, the Supreme Court ordered the state to appear before it on Sept. 3 and show how it has followed court orders in the McCleary decision or be held in contempt. The McCleary decision said lawmakers are not meeting their constitutional duty to fully pay for basic education.
Dorn argued that sanctions aren’t the proper course of action at this time.
Last month, lawyers representing the state also argued against sanctions or a contempt finding when they filed the state’s brief with the high court.
