 |
| Washington State Supreme Court |
by Jacob Gershman
"Washington’s highest court on September 11, 2014 in McCleary v. State of Washington took the rare step of holding the state’s Legislature in contempt for failing to come up with a plan to put billions of dollars into the state’s public education system as required by a 2012 ruling. In January 2014 the Court ordered the state to submit by April 30 a "complete plan for fully implementing its program of basic education for each year between now and the 2017-2018 school year". The State failed. In June 2014 the Court ordered the State to show cause why it should not be held in contempt.
The move was the latest chapter in a landmark case brought by teachers’ unions and parents who alleged in a 2007 lawsuit that the state was shortchanging public schools in violation of state constitutional standards.
The state “has known for decades that its funding of public education is constitutionally inadequate,” the unanimous court wrote in its opinion. “This proceeding is therefore the culmination of a long series of events, not merely the result of a single violation.”
The judges in Washington are the latest judicial body to get in the middle of a polarized state education policy fight. The ruling follows a California court decision from June declaring the state’s strong teacher-tenure laws unconstitutional. In that case the plaintiffs were students, and the issue in dispute wasn’t money but rules protecting teachers that critics said were dragging down the quality of education."
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment