Court fines Washington state over education funding

National News

Washington officials are considering a special legislative session after the state Supreme Court issued daily fines a of $100,000 until lawmakers comply with a court order to improve the way the state pays for its basic education system.
 
Thursday's order, signed by all nine justices of the high court, ordered that the fine start immediately, and be put into a dedicated education account.

The court encouraged Gov. Jay Inslee to call a special session, saying that if the Legislature complies with the court's previous rulings for the state to deliver a plan to fully fund education, the penalties accrued during a special session would be refunded.

Inslee and legislative leaders are set to meet Monday in Seattle discuss what next steps the state should take.

"There is much that needs to be done before a special session can be called," Inslee said in a statement. "I will ask lawmakers to do that work as quickly as humanly possible so that they can step up to our constitutional and moral obligations to our children and lift the court sanctions."

The ruling was the latest development in a long-running impasse between lawmakers and justices, who in 2012 ruled that the state is failing to meet its constitutional duty to pay for the cost of basic education for its 1 million schoolchildren.

Thomas Ahearne, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the court's action "is long overdue."

"The state has known for many, many years that it's violating the constitutional rights of our public school kids," Ahearne said. "And the state has been told by the court in rulings in this case to fix it, and the state has just been dillydallying along."

The lawsuit against the state was brought by a coalition of school districts, parents, teachers and education groups — known as the McCleary case for the family named in the suit.

In its original ruling, and repeated in later follow-up rulings, the justices have told the Legislature to find a way to pay for the reforms and programs they had already adopted, including all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, student transportation and classroom supplies, and to fix the state's overreliance on local tax levies to pay for education. Relying heavily on local tax levies leads to big disparities in funding between school districts, experts say.

Related listings

  • Federal report finds bias in St. Louis County family court

    Federal report finds bias in St. Louis County family court

    National News 08/01/2015

    The U.S. Department of Justice released a report critical of the St. Louis County Family Court on Friday, finding that black youths are treated more harshly than whites, and juveniles are often deprived of constitutional rights. Though unrelated to t...

  • Appeals court revives challenge to consumer age

    Appeals court revives challenge to consumer age

    National News 07/24/2015

    A federal appeals court on Friday revived a legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal office created to protect consumers in financial dealings with banks, lenders and credit card companies. The federal appeals court in...

  • Legal public nudity; cattle rustling; sheriff pays tax

    Legal public nudity; cattle rustling; sheriff pays tax

    National News 07/06/2015

    A Minnesota volunteer firefighter was suspended Sunday for flying a Confederate flag from an engine that he drove in a holiday parade, and he said he expects to be asked to resign. Brian Nielsen, 43, drove a Hartland Fire Department truck in the Thir...

East Greenwich, RI Family Law Office

The Law Office of Erica S. Janton offers a wide range of legal services in all areas of family law, encompassing divorce, paternity, adoption, child support, child custody and placement, post judgment modifications, mediation and other related issues.

Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters. For the last decade, Erica S. Janton has devoted her career to the family law, first as a mediator and then in her legal career as a family law attorney and mediator. Attorney Janton represents a large variety of clients and has earned a well-regarded reputation for resolving complex custody and high asset, high conflict divorce cases. When providing clients with representation as an attorney, she is a compassionate and staunch advocate who ensures that her clients are well informed of their options and the related process, and prepared for every possible scenario a client may encounter.

Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters and uses her experience within the family court arena to individually tailor strategies with each of her clients and provide realistic solution focused results.

Business News

Surry County Criminal Defense Lawyers. At DiRusso & DiRusso, we have the legal knowledge and experience to protect you. >> read
Canton, MI Criminal Law Attorney Rita White is a metro Detroit area attorney with a focus on criminal defense. >> read