The Battle for Equitable Access to Education in Washington State: An Introduction
Battles for access to equitable education are taking place all over the world. However, not all fights take the same form. Here in the United States, students are lucky enough to live in a country where a basic western education is regarded as a human right. Particularly in Washington, students are lucky enough to live in a state which regards educating the youth as the “paramount duty” of the state. But despite such cultural attitudes and despite one of the most supportive state constitutions towards education, access to equitable education remains a relentless battle. In this, my first blog post, I will discuss why the field of education is unique in Washington, how those unique aspects have led to increase equitable access, and where improvements continue to need to be made. As my blog continues, I will elaborate on how people and organizations within the state are fighting to effect those improvements.
Article IX of Washington’s constitution reads “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.” The use of the word “paramount” to describe the importance of education is unique to Washington. Legally, this language implicates that education is therefore the most important priority of the state. No other state in the union labels education as its highest priority.
Unfortunately, despite such strong language, the state has not lived up to its constitution’s standards. An aggregation of budget cuts, stagnating student performance, and increasing disparities between rich and poor regions led to a court case, and from that court case came the McCleary Decision. The state Supreme Court ruled that the state had failed to fulfill its paramount duty, and demanded that the legislature take the steps necessary to change that.
The state of Washington, like most states in the U.S., funds education through a combination of basic state funding supplemented by local taxes and levies. I will try to refrain from going into too much detail about the sociological implications of this form of funding, but ultimately, those affected most negatively are the poor and minorities. The argument in favor of the levy system is to keep tax dollars local — through allowing local levies, your tax dollars are going straight to your child’s classroom/school/teacher. However, massive disparities between rich and poor (and white and non-white) communities ensue naturally. Thus, because the levy system promotes such inequity in access to a high-quality education, the levy system was deemed insubstantial by the McCleary Decision.
Since the McCleary decision was announced in 2012, state budget after state budget continued to fail the students of the state. The heavy reliance on local levies persisted, and access to equitable education for students in poor communities remained a struggle. However, this past summer, after countless sessions, the state legislature produced a budget that fully funds education — a huge step in the direction of equitable access to high-quality education. These next few months and years are going to test the solution that resulted from the efforts of thousands of parents, legislators, unions, NGOs, and other advocates. Thus, Washington is a fascinating case study in the United States. Can the solution produced by a legion of passionate Washingtonians solve the issue of education inequity? Can it potentially be used as a model for producing equity in other states? Time will tell.
The rapidly changing field of education in Washington state inspired an interest in me that began in high school. Since then, my passion has grown and led me to choose a minor in Education and Society with an intention to pursue education policy in the future. The accessibility issues in the state are unique, and at a very advanced stage. However, the battle for equitable access will not end until equitable access is achieved. Until I can return to the state and fight the battle myself, I shall remain informed about developments and advancements so that I am adequately armed upon my return.
“ARTICLE IX :: — EDUCATION.” Justia Law, Justia, 2017, law.justia.com/constitution/washington/constitution-9.html.
Finne, Liv. “Overview of the McCleary Decision on Public Education Funding and Reform.”Washington Policy, Washington Policy Center, 21 Jan. 2014, www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/overview-of-the-mccleary-decision-on-public-education-funding-and-reform.
