Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday that she has a lot of questions about last week's ruling by King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick that Washington state is not providing enough money to its public schools.

"There are some, if you've read the opinion, ambiguities in there... that really put billions of dollars at risk and litigation... at play," Gregoire said in a meeting with reporters. "I need clear understanding and direction. As does the Legislature."

"There is no question in my mind that education is the paramount duty of the state of Washington," she said. "...but how you carry that out needs to be well understood because we're going to invest billions and I don't want to end up in litigation forever."

Gregoire said state leaders may ask Erlick for clarification, or perhaps seek review by the state Supreme Court. The decision about whether to appeal rests with state Attorney General Rob McKenna, she said.

In the ruling, Erlick said Washington is failing to live up to its duty, outlined in the state constitution, to provide "ample" funding for the public schools. But Erlick left it up to state lawmakers to decide how much funding would be enough, and how fast the state should provide it.

Meanwhile, about 30 state representatives have signed a letter asking Gregoire and McKenna not to appeal.

"The court did not tell us anything that we do not already know," said the letter, circulated by state Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina. "The Legislature is not giving schools the money they need to provide the quality of education we want."

Hunter was one of the lawmakers behind a measure passed last year that calls for overhauling the state's school finance system. That bill also made major additions to the list of education programs that the state would pay for, such as a full day of school for kindergartners. As of now, the state only funds a half day.

The bill didn't establish a start date for the new basic-education program, but set a deadline for it to be fully in place by 2018.

Erlick's ruling, the letter said, is a mandate to make sure that bill "does not become an empty promise."

-- Staff reporter Andrew Garber contributed to this post from Olympia.