Legislature May Defy Supreme Court Decision

In a prior blog post, "",

I described how the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the State is under-funding the "program of basic education" for kids in K-12. It also ruled that the remedy to this situation is the implementation of ESHB 2261, the 2009 legislation that defined the program of basic education, and developed a schedule to enact the changes by 2018.

In order to avoid paying for the increased requirements in 2261, 8 members of the State House of Representatives have introduced a bill, HB 2411, which would lower the bar on HS graduation requirements, undoing the reforms in 2261. In short, students who graduate from HS would only need 18 credits instead of the 24 credits in 2261. Obtaining such a diploma would not be nearly enough to qualify for college, including our own State Universities.

I wrote the following email to the members of the House Education Committee, which held a hearing on the bill yesterday.

You can do the same (heck - you can use what I wrote, even!). You can find all their email addresses at http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/ED/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx

Dear Rep. Santos and members of the House Education Committee, 

In 2009, the Legislature passed a sweeping re-definition of what Basic Education means in ESHB 2261. This month, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature is not meeting its Constitutional duty to amply fund a program of Basic Education, and that enacting the reforms in 2261 is the remedy. 

The Court further stated that "to ensure that the legislature exercises its authority within constitutionally prescribed bounds, any reduction of programs or offerings from the basic education program must be accompanied by an educational policy rationale. That is, the legislature may not eliminate an offering from the basic education program for reasons unrelated to educational policy, such as fiscal crisis or mere expediency Rather, the legislature must show that a program it once considered central to providing basic education no longer serves the same educational purpose or should be replaced with a superior program or offering." (Emphasis added) 

HB 2411 is clearly in violation of the Supreme Court decision. It would decrease the number of credits required in ESHB 2261, 24 credits, to 18 credits. There is no "educational policy rationale" given, nor could there be one. Reducing graduation credits to 18, and removing the requirement that the 3rd Math credit be Algebra II, will mean Washington's HS diploma would not align with what college admissions requirements are. Already approximately 40% of HS grads require remedial Math in college- the number will only go up if this bill is enacted.

We cannot undo years of progress toward aligning our HS diploma with Career and College Ready Standards. Kids who graduate should know that they will be able to enter college if they so choose. Our economy depends on their ability to do so.

Please DO NOT PASS HB 2411. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Nancy Chamberlain