Last week, the Washington Supreme Court ordered the state to appear in court on September 3 to show why it should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with the Court’s prior orders that require the state to make sufficient progress each year to eliminate constitutional deficiencies in its education funding system by 2017-2018. The Court’s order requires the defendants to address whether, if they are found in contempt, the court should impose monetary sanctions, prohibit expenditures on certain other matters until the court’s constitutional ruling is complied with, order the sale of State property to fund compliance, or shut down the school system unless the constitutional violation is stopped. A history of the Court’s 2012 ruling finding the State in violation of the constitutional requirement to provide all students an “ample education” and the remedial orders the Court has issued since that time can be found on Access’s Washington litigation page.

June 17, 2014