Education weighs heavily as lawmakers prepare for 2016 legislative session
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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.
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