NEWS FAQs
Q: Who is involved in NEWS?
A: NEWS is a coalition of some 50 community organizations, school districts, education associations, teachers and parents who believe the kids of our state deserve a first class K-12 education.
Q: What does NEWS want?
A: NEWS wants the state to fulfill its promise to our children. No other state in the nation has a more strongly-worded constitutional mandate that puts public education first before everything else. The Washington Constitution unequivocally declares: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders...”
Q: Why has NEWS filed a lawsuit?
A: For decades, legislators and governors have danced around this issue instead of solving it. They have formed countless task forces, attempted piecemeal projects and made band-aid patches. The time has come for real change that ensures a stable and dependable state funding system for Washington public schools. While legal action is always a last resort, history unfortunately has proven that lawsuits are one of the few effective ways to move the state to make constitutionally required improvements in our education system. For more on how legal action has affected school funding, read our Timeline.
Q: What might happen if the state does not adequately fund K-12 schools?
A: While schools continue to make some progress in advancing student achievement, but without the constitutionally required full state funding almost every school district in Washington may soon be forced to take drastic actions that will significantly impact our kids and our future. For example, shortfalls in state funding will force school districts to:
· Close neighborhood schools
· Scale back or eliminate arts, music, social studies, and physical education programs… or even libraries
· Lay off teachers, further increasing class sizes and reducing the time teachers can devote to individual students
· Reduce classroom support personnel and maintenance staffs
· Add or increase fees for elective classes, sports and extracurricular activities… or eliminate them altogether
· Be unable, despite their best efforts, to ensure that our state’s children gain the knowledge and skills they need to live and compete in the 21st century. The next generation of Washington leaders and workers will be unable to successfully compete in the global marketplace, getting passed over for good jobs in favor of those from other states and nations that are making the investments necessary to amply provide a top-level education to their children.
Q: Does NEWS think Governor Gregoire is doing a good job of pushing for education funding?
A: NEWS believes that Governor Gregoire shares our desire for an education system that turns out high-achieving students who are well equipped to compete in the global marketplace. NEWS applauds her dedication to the issue. However, we believe education funding needs more immediate attention and much more significant action – we are, after all, citizens of a state that inexcusably continues to violate its “paramount duty” under our State Constitution.
Q: The Legislature has so many needs to balance when developing budgets – will fully funding education come at the expense of other things, such as health care?
A: This dilemma is an important reason why the state needs a long-term funding approach that doesn’t pit competing issues against one another from year to year. Our State Constitution’s mandate that education is the state’s “paramount duty” means that our children’s education should not be subject to the uncertainties of any particular political climate.
Q: Does NEWS advocate higher taxes to pay for education?
A: NEWS does not advocate for any particular funding model. Our State Constitution requires the state to determine how to fulfill its duty to amply provide for the education of all Washington’s students.
Q: Will a lawsuit just tie up more resources, and be divisive and time-consuming?
A: NEWS members believe litigation is a last resort. But, our children have endured much too much delay already. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where the courts must weigh in to force the State of Washington to comply with the Constitution of Washington. We actually hope to discourage division with this effort – impartial judgment by the courts should serve to remove politics from the issue of education funding, and force our state government to start complying with its “paramount duty” to provide ample funding for public education in Washington. We can’t afford to wait any longer.