In Our View: A Lesson for Lawmakers

Taxpayers throughout Clark County have done their best to support schools. Now it’s up to the Legislature.

On Tuesday, voters in six local districts — Evergreen, Vancouver, Ridgefield, Green Mountain, Hockinson, and La Center — approved replacement levies to fund schools for the next couple of years. In each case, these were levies funded through property taxes to help districts provide basic education — replacements for expiring levies rather than new taxes. The support led Steven Webb, superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools, to echo the sentiments of administrators throughout the county: “It’s an affirmation of the work, the vision and really a reflection of the community’s commitment to their children and their public schools. I’m elated with the results and the returns. I feel so blessed that this community cares so deeply about their children and their public schools. I’m grateful for their ongoing support. That’s from the heart.”

Now if only lawmakers would provide ongoing support for schools. That is, after all, their “paramount duty” as defined by the state constitution. And that is a duty they have neglected to the point of being held in contempt by the state Supreme Court and being fined $100,000 a day. None of this is new news, as the Legislature has been dithering on school funding since the 2012 court ruling in McCleary v. Washington. And yet Tuesday’s vote served as a reminder of the situation.

Lawmakers entered this year’s legislative session fully aware of their duty and fully aware that the Supreme Court has deemed their previous actions to be inadequate. All of this ties in with levy votes because those levies are used to make up for the state’s lack of full funding for schools. Between 18 percent and 24 percent of school funding comes from local levies, with 68-75 percent coming from the state and the rest from federal money. So, while the levies are necessary to keep schools functioning, they are not a long-term solution.

Despite that, the House approved a bill this year to form a school funding task force that would figure out by the end of the 2017 session how to fully fund schools. The Senate, meanwhile, was more deleterious in approving a bill that requires a funding plan by the end of the 2018 session — after the 2017-19 state budget is written and approved.

The Senate proposal, supported by Republicans in a party-line vote, would push a solution to a full six years beyond the McCleary ruling and beyond the original deadline set by the Supreme Court when it issued the ruling. Which means it is a wonder that legislators don’t have sore toes from kicking that can so frequently.

Meanwhile, lawmakers insist they have made adequate progress in pursuing solutions for school funding. Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, said during a committee meeting: “We’ve met every single deadline. We’re on track to continue to meet deadlines. And that’s something that never makes a headline — because that doesn’t bleed, does it, my friends in the media?” Actually, it doesn’t make headlines because it is not true. As the (Tacoma) News Tribune reported: “When asked last week about their claims, several lawmakers clarified their statements: They are referring only to deadlines the Legislature has set for itself.”

In truth, the only conclusion is that lawmakers have not met deadlines set by the court, nor have they lived up to their paramount duty. Fortunately, voters last week had a more evolved sense of what “duty” means.