These are troubled times for the Issaquah and Lake Washington School Districts.
Following the news that both districts will be forced to cut about $8 million from their budgets for the coming year, they are facing the reality of increased class sizes and teacher lay offs.
And now they will have to fight a battle on two fronts, with the recent decision the Washington Court of Appeals not to overturn a ruling by a lower court which denied the school districts’ request that the current system of funding special education be declared unconstitutional.
The two area school districts are members of the School Districts’ Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education, a group of more than 70 schools which in 2004 filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to adequately fund special education programs.
The law requires that individualized programs are made available to students in special education programs. The alliance is arguing that the state’s failure to provide the money that they need to meet the requirements of the law, regarding special education programs, is illegal.
Despite the setback, the alliance has vowed to continue its fight for funding for special education programs in Washington state — all the way to the state Supreme Court.
According to the Issaquah School District, the gap between what the state is providing and what it should be providing for special education is almost $200 million per year, and growing. Just in Issaquah, the state under-funds special education by about $2.5 million annually, according to the school district’s Web site.
“We are deeply disappointed with the recent court decision and are even more resolute in our commitment to the children of Washington,” said Dr. Steve Rasmussen, Superintendent of the Issaquah School District, in a press release. “We believe in our case, and we will continue to fight for the right of all students to have access to state funding needed to succeed in school.”
Based on its belief that the case raises key constitutional questions and that it is of significant importance to the public, most members of the alliance have decided to file a petition with the Washington State Supreme Court.
“We cannot allow this injustice to stand,” said Dr. Nancy Stowell, Superintendent of Spokane Public Schools and member of the Alliance. “The state of Washington has a clear constitutional obligation to provide ample resources for the education of all children, and we will continue our effort to ensure the state meets that obligation.”
The Issaquah School District claims that the failure to fund Washington’s special education programs affects every student across the state.
“Local school districts are legally mandated to support special education needs,” reads a statement on the district’s Web site. “When state funding is not sufficient to meet those needs, school districts must make cuts to other programs. By underfunding special education, the state is underfunding all education.”
“The shortfall is anticipated to have even greater impacts on school districts as the Legislature grapples with the $9 billion budget deficit and proposes deep cuts to overall K-12 funding.”
