This Washington
I Give Today's Superior Court Ruling an A+
I'm borrowing Erica C. Barnett's "C" for a sec to post a quick bit of editorial. I'm not feeling cranky, though. I'm feeling good about today's King County Superior Court ruling (here's the Seattle Times report
) that the state isn't meeting its constitutional mandate to fully fund education.
Yes, I think it's a good thing that advocates for school funding may wind up with the weight of the courts behind them (watch for appeals.) But there's an even cooler thing if this decision sticks: It proves that education reformers were right to go to the mat and pass last year's big reform bill .
Detractors of the bill—which fattened up the definition of basic education so that students would be better prepared for college—said it was an unfunded mandate and that it was too soon to be making such important decisions about basic education and, in turn, accountability.
Advocates of the bill (I covered it like mad and tried to remain pretty neutral, but my reporting leaned in favor of the bill) argued that making the decisions about education now was key—and would actually frame and strengthen future battles over money.
Well, voila. Taken together—last year's smart reform bill and today's ruling that education funding is the paramount duty of the state—the fight for radically overhauling Washington State's education system has advanced light years ahead of where it was 12 months ago.
Yes, I think it's a good thing that advocates for school funding may wind up with the weight of the courts behind them (watch for appeals.) But there's an even cooler thing if this decision sticks: It proves that education reformers were right to go to the mat and pass last year's big reform bill .
Detractors of the bill—which fattened up the definition of basic education so that students would be better prepared for college—said it was an unfunded mandate and that it was too soon to be making such important decisions about basic education and, in turn, accountability.
Advocates of the bill (I covered it like mad and tried to remain pretty neutral, but my reporting leaned in favor of the bill) argued that making the decisions about education now was key—and would actually frame and strengthen future battles over money.
Well, voila. Taken together—last year's smart reform bill and today's ruling that education funding is the paramount duty of the state—the fight for radically overhauling Washington State's education system has advanced light years ahead of where it was 12 months ago.
