The Washington State Supreme Court announced on Sept. 11 that the state is in contempt of court after Legislators failed to provide a clear plan to properly fund the education in public schools — a problem the state has been dealing with since the 1970s. The waiting game has now begun to see what happens during the next legislative session taking place in January.

The “million dollar question” is how to fix this, Wenatchee Education Association President Kris Cameron said.

In January 2012, the state Supreme Court ruled in what is known as the McCleary decision that the Washington educational system is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court gave the Legislature until the 2017-18 school year to fix the problems.

“For decades we have been holding schools and holding teachers accountable. Here we have the Supreme Court saying we are going to hold the State accountable,” attorney Tom Ahearne said at the 2013 WEA Representative Assembly.

Every two years the state comes up with new funding plans for the next two-year period. If lawmakers are unable to complete their plan by the end of the legislative session the court will have to reconvene and impose.

“Education is the number one civil right of the 21st century,” Ahearne said.

In order to fix the problem, the Legislature is going to need to shift money around to provide more money revenue for the educational system, Cameron said. By doing so, other programs in the state are going to be cut, Cameron added.

In the McCleary decision, lawmakers have already began paying some reforms in the K-12 public school system, though there still remains expenses to be paid for. Those expenses have been estimated at $4 billion or more in each session’s budget.

“It’s a Nordstrom’s education on a Walmart budget,” Cameron said.

Many of the reforms awaiting payment include: more instructional hours for high school students to earn the needed credits to graduate, all-day kindergarten classes in every school, student transportation fully funded and supported by state dollars, and more state support for school supplies and equipment.

“It’s written in our constitution that the education of our children is our number one priority,” Cameron said.

There have been three yearly reports since 2012 by the Legislature, each to fulfill the McCleary decision. The Supreme Court has responded to each report saying that the lawmakers are not doing enough for the educational system.

“It’s gratifying to see the Supreme Court take a stand in [favor] of our students,” Cameron said. “I hope it results in some concrete funding of education this session.”