Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, and fellow Washington state senatorial conservatives are taking a hard line against the Washington Supreme Court’s McCleary ruling, and the finding of the court that the state Legislature is in contempt for failing to make progress in their constitutional duty to fund basic education. The Legislature has become very adept at playing the “kick the can down the street” game.
An earlier decision by the court made the same requirement, but the Legislature replied that it did not know what “basic education” was, so there was a multiyear process for determining “basic education.” Any school expenditure above “basic” had to be paid from local levies and restrictions were placed on the percentage of the local school budget that could be derived from “special levy” money. Also, the school year, hours of instruction, etc., were defined.
In subsequent years, in response to the need for additional funds for local schools, the “levy lid” has been raised and raised, hence the McCleary case.
Remember, Benton and his cohorts were elected in partisan elections. The Supreme Court is a nonpartisan body elected by all Washington voters, not just from a particular party or a particular district.
This argument reminds me some of the “Impeach Earl Warren” movement after the Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, which desegregated the nation’s public schools.
