The Law on Schools

Olympia's red ink flows toward schools: "That court decision (Seattle School Dist. v. State, 90 Wn. 476 (1978) forms the starting point for any discussion of education finance. In the 1970s, local school districts relied increasingly on local levies — the levy made up some 25.6 % of the average district’s operating budget — and local voters increasingly turned them down. The Seattle School District, where the levy had climbed to more than 37.7 %, sued the Legislature. It wanted a court to order the Legislature to pony up. Seattle cited the state Constitution: If education was really the state’s paramount duty, then the state had better not leave it in poverty."