THIS week, the Legislature will file its own progress report on its efforts to get back into the state Supreme Court’s good graces on education reform and funding.
The court would be right to take a dim view of the Legislature failing to fully fund education, fully 10 months since the court held the state in contempt. The state still relies too much on voter-approved local levies to pay for basic education.
No question lawmakers made impressive progress this year, adding about $1.3 billion in new education funding, including class-size reductions in K-3.
But the court, in its 2012 McCleary ruling, made clear the state’s reliance on local levies must stop because it creates intolerable inequities between property-rich and -poor districts.