By Alice Day WNPA Olympia News Bureau A political thriller earns its debut this week as the Legislature introduces its awaited and unreviewed drama that leaders claim will keep their fellow political thespians out of jail and solve the constitutional quandary hovering over them GÇô full funding for basic K-12 education. The state Supreme Court is holding those political actors accountable for a solution to its mandate issued last fall in the wake of unyielding inaction by the legislative body: fund education or be sentenced for contempt. Rep. Ross Hunter, a Democrat from Medina who serves as House Appropriations Committee chairman, said the Legislature has to fund education in a way that eliminates the state's dependence on local levies for basic education costs. "We have about a $2.5 billion obligation and I think we should fund it in equal annual increments,GÇ¥ Hunter said. "While the governor's budget is clever, it's not a good strategy for implementation on the ground.GÇ¥ Governor Jay Inslee rolled out his budget for the 2015-17 biennium last December, including a $3.6 billion education package with $1.3 billion for class-size reduction in K-3 and all-day kindergarten. Hunter says he's not fond of the governor's education proposal because it would prioritize class-size reductions in grades K-3 for low-income school districts within the second year of this biennium, and in doing so would overwhelm those schools with too many new teachers they would need to hire. Instead, Hunter recommends a statewide class-size reduction in grades K-3, rather than a sudden reduction in class size only for low-income school districts. "We need to phase in spending in a way that let's people hire teachers gradually so you don't wind up with a school having a huge number of new teachers at once,GÇ¥ he said. Sen. Andy Hill, who leads the Senate Ways and Means Committee, agrees that the governor's education budget phases in reforms too fast. "I would argue that funding everything this year is a huge shock to the state budget and the school districts because they would have to hire more teachers and put in new classrooms,GÇ¥ he said. "That's good reason why you would phase this in over the next three years.GÇ¥ Hill, a Republican from Redmond, says it's difficult to pinpoint a dollar amount needed to comply with the McCleary mandate because the number fluctuates depending on the interest group you talk to and programs included in the calculation. Each committee leader and his respective party were preparing to unveil their education budget solution March 23. Rich Wood, spokesperson for Washington Education Association, the union which represents more than 86,000 certificated teachers and classified staff workers in tschool districts throughout the state, including Bethel and Eatonville, said the governor's education budget fell short of addressing class-size reductions in kindergarten through 12th grades and didn't provide adequate compensation to attract and keep educators. "Until the state begins to reduce class size, our class sizes are still going to be 47th in the nation,GÇ¥ he said. "Until the Legislature begins to seriously address the need for competitive professional compensation, our teachers' pay is still going to be 42nd in the country.GÇ¥ State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn says he expects the House budget to address what the governor's budget didn't fully address GÇô specifically, statewide compensation for all employees. Dorn says the state can't continue to rely on local levies to fund teachers' salaries, because levies are not uniform statewide and the courts have ruled in McCleary that levies are an unconstitutional way of funding basic education. "Levies are so problematic because there are some districts that are at 36 percent and some are at 15 percent,GÇ¥ Dorn said. "It creates an unfair opportunity for kids.GÇ¥ School boards are authorized to request local school funds through maintenance-and-operation levies for up to 36 percent of the total of districts' state and federal revenues. Because levy percentages vary depending on the property values within school districts, it can be a major cause of disparity in education standards and programs, Dorn cited. Many school districts rely on levies as a funding source for basic-education programs, so this difference in levy percentages affects the amount of state and federal funding a school will get and as a result the programs the school district can provide. In addition to the state's K-12 education funding conundrum, Initiative 1351, which voters statewide approved last November, requires class-size reduction through 12th grade. This is another issue the Legislature must address, but so far has ignored. The state Office of Financial Management estimates I-1351 would cost the state $4.7 billion through fiscal year 2019 and an additional $1.9 billion each year thereafter. Local school districts also face a financial burden under the initiative especially since they would need to create more teaching space and hire more teachers. The state Supreme Court continues to play a dominant role in its McCleary mandate. Last September, the court found the Legislature in contempt for failing to make adequate progress in education funding and has postponed sanctions until the adjournment of the current legislative session this June. The court's hasn't said what sanctions it may impose if the Legislature fails to adopt a plan that fully funds its mandate. However, many outside critics are confident something will be done by the Legislature and the court. Andrew Siegel, constitutional law professor at Seattle University, doesn't think the court overstepped in ordering K-12 funding to be raised to a level that meets its mandate. If the legislators meet their obligations or if they show good faith effort and come close to meeting their obligations, he believes the court will purge the contempt order. If not, Siegel believes the court will start imposing sanctions. "My guess is that the court will start in a gradual way, like imposing small fines on the state as an entity or ordering some state property that's not being used to be sold and the funds placed in the education fund,GÇ¥ he said.
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