PARENTS teach their children to accept responsibility, to keep their promises and to make the right choices even when that's hard to do. We also teach them to respect authority. Now it's time for legislators to model these same lessons for all of Washington's children.

The state Supreme Court ruled last week that legislators are violating the state constitution by failing to fully fund K-12 public education. In the same breath that most legislators responded to that decision by extolling the importance of education, they refused to take school funding off the chopping block in the current legislative session.

Each lawmaker takes an oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Washington, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of (state representative or state senator) to the best of my ability."

With those words, each Washington legislator promises to abide by our constitution. Admonished very clearly by our state's highest court that they are currently violating that oath, those same legislators are nonetheless poised to continue breaking that solemn vow.

Shame on them.

No one questions how difficult budget decisions are in tough economic times. No one discounts how many other important moral obligations our state has to support the health and well-being of its vulnerable residents. These are all important considerations.

But our state constitution mandates that K-12 public education is the only consideration that rises above "important" to "paramount." The Supreme Court has admonished legislators that paramount means they must amply fund education first, "before any other state programs or operations."

And while the court held that legislators must complete the job of fully funding public education by 2018, it also warned them against making cuts in the meantime. The court declared that our constitution prohibits legislators from cutting public-school funding "for reasons unrelated to educational policy, such as fiscal crisis or mere expediency."

Any action by the Legislature this session to make further cuts to K-12 education is a slap in the face not only to all nine Supreme Court justices who unanimously supported this provision of the ruling, but to every schoolchild in Washington.

When my family — joining with the Venema family and a coalition of education associations and community organizations — filed the lawsuit that led to this Supreme Court decision, we had one goal in mind. That was to ensure that every generation of Washington children has access to what our forefathers wisely mandated in our constitution: an "amply" funded state system of public education that provides all children with a realistic opportunity to succeed.

Legislators have a sworn duty to uphold that mandate. And they now have a Supreme Court decision that reaffirms their constitutional duty to amply fund K-12 education first. They must therefore take the K-12 budget off the table as they consider cuts this session, and start increasing public-school funding now in order to meet the 2018 deadline of amply funding public schools with "regular and dependable tax sources."

"The court cannot idly stand by as the Legislature makes unfulfilled promises for reform," the Supreme Court said in retaining jurisdiction to enforce its ruling.

Neither should voters.

Begin by telling legislators to obey the constitution. Tell them to spare K-12 education from cuts and to keep their sworn promise to the citizens of our state.