Chapter 49: Washington: Staff Writer¹

Washington’s school finance system is driven by strong state constitutional provisions. Article IX §1 declares in forceful fashion:

Article IX §2 goes on to mandate:

Notwithstanding, the state of Washington has experienced multiple lawsuits challenging the legislature’s plan for funding public schools.⁵ Modern reform progress in the state is generally marked as beginning in 1978 with the Washington supreme court’s overturning the school finance system in Seattle School District No. 1 v. State,⁶ a ruling that emphasized the specific language of ‘paramount duty’ and concluding that “… the constitution has created a ‘duty’ that is supreme, preeminent or dominant.”⁷ This represented a dramatic shift, as only four years earlier the same state high court had ruled in favor of the state in Northshore School District v. Kinnear.⁸