Do the deed: sue for school funding

Frustrated parents, teachers and school districts are back in court seeking to force the state Legislature to live up to its clearest directive: providing for public schools.

They're right. Too often, broad lawsuits are annoying and we oppose them. But in this case, the lawsuit is an appropriate tool to spur lawmakers into obeying Article IX of the state constitution, mandating that the state make ample provision for the education of all children.

Washington's 296 school districts are not adequately supported by the state. Strapped districts cobble together local resources such as levies to create a funding level that is neither stable nor enough.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, is not overreaching. It requests a court order requiring the state to affirm its constitutional obligation, cost it out and pay it.

No one believes education should trump everything and eat up every last state dollar. But predictability and continuity of education funding are critical.

Twenty-nine years ago, the Washington Supreme Court ruled on a similar lawsuit brought by the Seattle School District, ordering the Legislature to define what the constitution meant by basic education and then pay for it.

In the ensuing decades, education reform created high academic expectations and accountability measures, including the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. But the third leg of the stool, education funding, has been ignored.

Gov. Christine Gregoire's budget for education makes strides in the right direction. It totals nearly $1.3 billion, including money for teacher-salary increases, improvement to math and science education and class-size reduction. But the governor's Washington Learns panel gave wide berth to a long-term funding plan.

Education funding is subject to the political and fiscal climate in Olympia, creating an unpredictability that hinders long-term planning. This is untenable and lawmakers in Olympia know it.

We don't like budgeting by lawsuit. But the sorry state of education funding cries out for the force of law to fix it.