Gov. Inslee signs K-12 finance bill to answer Supreme Court

SEATTLE (AP) — Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday signed a bill that sets out a plan for finishing the Legislature's work of reforming the way the state of Washington pays for K-12 education.


The measure is the first bill the governor has signed this legislative session. It is designed to answer the Supreme Court's ruling in 2012 in the so-called McCleary decision that Washington's school funding was not adequate or uniform.

The court has held the state in contempt over its failure to figure out the remaining issues about how the state can fully pay the costs of basic education, as the constitution requires, while ending its overreliance on local tax levies.

The measure would establish a task force to find the state dollars needed to replace some local levy spending and instructs the 2017 Legislature to finish the work.