School Districts Alert Superior Court Decision Issued on Special Education Lawsuit

School Districts Alert
March 2007
Authors:
Grace T. Yuan
+1.206.370.7814
grace.yuan@klgates.com
Christopher L. Hirst
+1.206.370.8336
christopher.hirst@klgates.com
www.klgates.com
Superior Court Decision Issued
on Special Education Lawsuit
Two years ago, the School Districts’ Alliance filed a lawsuit against the State of Washington
for its failure to fully fund special education programs. The members of the Alliance are
Bellingham, Bethel, Burlington-Edison, Everett, Federal Way, Issaquah, Lake Washington,
Mercer Island, Northshore, Puyallup, Riverside and Spokane School Districts.
John C. Bjorkman
+1.206.370.8311
john.bjorkman@klgates.com
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More than 70 school districts joined the Friend of the Court Brief filed by the Tacoma
School District in support of the Alliance. All together the Alliance and Amicus School
Districts serve more than 62 percent of the students in this State receiving special education
services.
On March 1, 2007, the Thurston County Superior Court Judge issued a decision in the
special education funding case. The ruling was a mixed bag.
As you know, the State currently provides funding for students in special education up to
12.7 percent of a district’s student population. However, if the number of special education
students in a district exceeds 12.7 percent, the State provides no additional funding for such
students. The Judge found this to be unconstitutional. Over fifty percent of the districts
statewide have more than 12.7 percent special education students in their overall student
population, and this alone constitutes $43 million of the funding gap per biennium. Over
time, this ruling will help many districts.
However, the Judge then determined that the Alliance failed to establish that the State
so inadequately funded special education that it violated the Constitution. We are
disappointed that the Judge did not go further in his decision. It is not clear that the
Judge understood that most special education students spend most of their time in
basic education classrooms, where most of the basic education funding must be spent.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the State underfunds special education programs. On a
two-year basis, school districts statewide have spent over $268 million in local funding in
order to provide the necessary special education services. Alliance members are considering
potential next steps.
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