Education weighs heavily as lawmakers prepare for 2016 legislative session

January 9, 2016

In two days, lawmakers convene in Olympia for the 2016 legislative session.  One top priority: education, as both sides of the aisle feel mounting pressure from the state Supreme Court on the McCleary decision.  Ruth Johnson reports.

Kristiansen: “At the end of the day our goals are going to be to make sure the outcomes are going to be the focus.”

Johnson:  House Republican leader Dan Kristiansen, whose mind is on McCleary, and the directive from the court to make ample provision for the education of all children.  The deadline: 2018.

Kristiansen: “We’re going to have to be sure we’re not just putting dollars into education but we’re putting side rails on it; specifically, where it goes, how much of it is going into the classroom.”

Johnson: 48 percent of the state budget goes to K-12 education.  But the money is not enough.  The Supreme Court wants to see a plan for how the McCleary directive will be carried out and the deadline met.  In August it issued sanctions against the state…100-thousand dollars a day until lawmakers follow through.

Johnson: In Olympia, I’m Ruth Johnson.