McCleary v. Washington
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox court case
|name = McCleary v. State of Washington
|court = Washington Supreme Court
|image =Seal of the Supreme Court of Washington.png
|imagesize = 240px
|imagelink =
|imagealt = Seal of the Supreme Court of Washington
|caption =
{{collapsible list|title= Full case name|Mathew and Stephanie McCleary, on their own behalf and on behalf of Kelesy and Carter McCleary, their two children in Washington’s public schools; Robert and Patty Venema, on their own behalf and on behalf of Halie and Robbie Venema, their two children in Washington’s public schools; and Network For Excellence in Washington Schools (“NEWS”), a state wide coalition of community groups, public school districts, and education organizations, Respondents/Cross-Appellants, v. State of Washington, Appellant/Cross-Respondent.}}
|date decided = January 5, 2012
|citations = 269 P.3d [https://www.leagle.com/decision/inwaco20120105c84 227]; 173 Wash. 2d 477; 276 Ed. Law Rep. 1011
|ECLI =
|transcripts =
| ChiefJudge = Gerry L. Alexander
| AssociateJudges = Tom Chambers, Mary Fairhurst, Charles W. Johnson, James M. Johnson, Barbara Madsen, Susan Owens, Debra L. Stephens, Charles K. Wiggins
|number of judges = 9
|decision by = Debra L. Stephens
|concurring = Charles W. Johnson, Tom Chambers, Susan Owens, Mary E. Fairhurst, Charles K. Wiggins, Gerry L. Alexander
|concur/dissent = Barbara A. Madsen, joined by James M. Johnson
|prior actions =
|appealed from = King County Superior Court
|appealed to =
|subsequent actions =
|related actions =
|keywords =
|italic title = yes
}}
Mathew and Stephanie McCleary et al., v. State of Washington (short form: McCleary v. Washington), commonly known as the McCleary Decision,{{cite news|work=Seattle Times|last=O'Sullivan|first=Joseph|date=January 27, 2017|accessdate=May 6, 2017|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/state-senate-gop-releases-sweeping-schools-funding-plan/|title=McCleary fix? Senate GOP wants to change teacher pay, how schools are funded}} was a lawsuit against the State of Washington. The case alleged that the state, in the body of the state legislature, had failed to meet the state constitutional duty (in Article IX, Section 1) "to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders."{{citation|work=Washington State Constitution|url=http://leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/Pages/constitution.aspx|accessdate=May 6, 2017|date=August 23, 1889|at=art. IX, sec. 1|title=Education - Preamble.}}
King County Superior Court
Judge John Erlick sided with the Plaintiffs, stating that the State was indeed failing to adequately provide for basic education, saying "State funding is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable."{{citation|work=King County Superior Court|url=http://leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/Pages/constitution.aspx|accessdate=January 29, 2019|date=February 4, 2010|at=CONCLUSION|title=Court's Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law}}
Washington State Supreme Court
On January 5, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed with the opinion of the King County Superior Court that the State was not fulfilling its obligation to fully fund education in the state,{{cite court|litigants=McCleary v. Washington|opinion=84362-7 (majority)|date=January 5, 2012|url=http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/843627.opn.pdf|accessdate=May 6, 2017|court=Washington Supreme Court}} with some justices dissenting in part on the question of continued judicial oversight.{{cite court|litigants=McCleary v. Washington|opinion=84362-7 (concurrence/dissent)|date=January 5, 2012|url=http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/843627.ip1.pdf|accessdate=May 6, 2017|court=Washington Supreme Court}}
Subsequent developments
In the 2013 Legislative Session, the State Legislature increased school funding by 11.4% to a total of $15.2 billion. They also passed three major reform bills in an attempt to further comply with the McCleary ruling.{{citation|work=Washington Policy Center|url=https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/overview-of-the-mccleary-decision-on-public-education-funding-and-reform|accessdate=February 3, 2019|date=January 21, 2014|title=Overview of the McCleary decision}}
Despite these changes, the Supreme Court did not find the State in compliance. On January 9, 2014 the Supreme Court issued an order setting a deadline of April 30, 2014 for the legislature to come up with an adequate funding plan.{{citation|url=https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20News/20140109_843627_McClearyOrder.pdf|accessdate=February 3, 2019|date=January 9, 2014|title=Supreme Court Order re: McCleary, et al. v. State}}
On August 13, 2015, the Supreme Court ordered a $100,000 a day fine. This money was to be placed in a special account that would be used to benefit public education.{{citation|url=http://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20News/843627_081315McClearyorder.pdf|accessdate=February 3, 2019|date=January 9, 2014|title=Supreme Court Order No. 84362-7 - McCleary v. State of Washington}} The Court also urged the Governor at the time, Jay Inslee, to call a special session of the legislature to pass a funding plan to bring the State into compliance.{{cite news|work=Tacoma News Tribune|date=August 13, 2015|accessdate=February 3, 2019|last1=Santos|first1=Melissa|last2=Schrader|first2=Jordan|url=http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article31008225.html|title=Court fines state government $100,000 per day for failure to fund education}}
On June 7, 2018, the Supreme Court declared the state had fully covered the funding of basic education, lifting the contempt order and $100,000 a day fine, ending any judicial oversight of the case.{{citation|url=https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4498026/McCleary-Order-6-7-18.pdf|accessdate=February 3, 2019|date=June 7, 2018|title=Supreme Court Order No. 84362-7}}{{cite news|work=The Seattle Times|date=June 7, 2018|accessdate=February 3, 2019|last1=O'Sullivan|first1=Joseph|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-supreme-court-ends-100000-per-day-sanctions-against-state-in-mccleary-education-case/|title=Washington Supreme Court ends long-running McCleary education case against the state}}
In the McCleary ruling, the Supreme Court cited teacher pay as a primary issue with the failure of the state to fund public education.{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/tough-mccleary-puzzle-complex-history-teacher-pay/|title=How the complex history of teacher pay in Washington slows down education funding solutions|last=Morton|first=Neal|work=Seattle Times|date=2017-02-06|accessdate=2023-06-25}} In response to the court's satisfaction with the state's amended funding models, the state teachers, union, Washington Education Association, promoted the increase in state public school funding as justification to increase teacher salaries,{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonea.org/advocacy/mccleary-school-funding/|title=McCleary victory: Billions for Washington K-12 public schools and students|work=Washington Education Association|accessdate=2023-06-25|date=2022-08-09}} and sponsored multiple teachers' strikes to demand them.{{cite news|url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/this-is-the-most-teacher-strikes-in-washington-state-since-1983/281-591474890|title=This is the most teacher strikes in Washington state since 1983|last=Whittenberg|first=Jake|date=2018-09-06|accessdate=2023-06-25|work=KING 5 News}}
On April 11, 2019, at least one school district (Spokane Public Schools) announced significant staffing cuts, which it tied directly to the McCleary decision.{{cite news|url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/apr/12/spokane-schools-blames-mccleary-laws-for-deficit-layoffs/|title=Spokane schools blames McCleary laws for deficit, layoffs|author=Associated Press|date=2019-04-12|accessdate=2023-06-25}} Although the decision increased state funding of school districts it also reduced funding from local levies{{cite news|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=September 9, 2018|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/sep/09/for-school-systems-confusion-and-angst-mix-with-re/|accessdate=April 12, 2019|title=For school systems, McCleary decision gave with one hand and took with the other}} resulting in a projected shortfall of almost $31 million for the district in the 2019-20 school year. The net staff reduction of about 8% represented 325 paid positions, impacted either through layoff or reduction in hours. {{cite news|work=KREM (TV)|date=April 11, 2019|url=https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/this-is-a-scary-day-325-employees-laid-off-from-spokane-public-schools/293-0497513c-1b19-4e76-88be-d6aff03771a6|accessdate=April 12, 2019|title='This is a scary day': 325 employees laid off from Spokane Public Schools}}
The court identified teacher salaries as one of the basic components (along with class size) of an ample education. Teacher salaries have risen since McCleary, and as of 2023, average teacher salaries are the fifth highest of any state.https://www.king5.com/article/news/education/washington-state-school-funding-mccleary/281-56eace14-fded-46c0-a1e8-2105d2cb7974 Overall spending on education is among the top 20 states. https://www.king5.com/article/news/education/washington-state-school-funding-mccleary/281-56eace14-fded-46c0-a1e8-2105d2cb7974
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{caselaw source
| case = McCleary v. State of Washington, 173 Wash. 2d 477, 269 P.3d 227 (2012)
| courtlistener =
| googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17163065441405011302
| leagle =https://www.leagle.com/decision/inwaco20120105c84
| other_source1 = Washington Supreme Court (slip opinion)
| other_url1 =http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/843627.opn.pdf
}}