business backgrounder | education & workforce
basic education funding and the state constitution
Washington state has the strongest and clearest language on education funding in the nation. It can be found in Article IX, Sections
1 and 2 of the state constitution:
Article IX Section 1 – PREAMBLE: It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all
children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.
Article IX Section 2 – PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM: The legislature shall provide
for a general and uniform system of public schools. … But the entire revenue
derived from the common school fund and the state tax for common schools shall
be exclusively applied to the support of the common schools.
“Our state constitution is unusually unique,” said Sen. Bruce Dammeier,
R-Puyallup, vice-chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.
“The language is clear and unambiguous — it is the state’s ‘paramount duty’ to
amply and equitably fund our public schools.”
the state supreme court's 2012 mccleary ruling
“Our state constitution is unusually
unique. The language is clear and
unambiguous — it is the state’s
‘paramount duty’ to amply and
equitably fund our public schools.”
— Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, vice-chair
of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education
Committee
In the landmark 2012 McCleary v. State of Washington education funding case, the
state Supreme Court ordered the state to comply with the state constitution and
fully and equitably fund the program of K-12 basic education as defined in House bills 2261 (2009) and 2776 (2010).
In the ruling, the court strongly admonished the state’s overreliance on local property tax levies to pay for items such as teacher
salaries that are part of K-12 basic education. In a new development, on Aug. 13, the court decided to make its point clearer and
ordered unprecedented sanctions of $100,000 per day for each day the Legislature does not come up with a plan to fully fund basic
education, including what is paid for with local levy dollars. The court order also asked Gov. Jay Inslee to call the Legislature back
into session this fall – the fourth this year – to address levy reform. And, the court is closely watching the progress in the Legislature
to ensure it meets the statutory deadline of 2018.
44 association of washington business