Close the schools? Washington education chief says 'final remedy' might get Legislature to act
Close down public schools in Washington.
State education chief Randy Dorn says that drastic action might be needed to force the Legislature to find enough money to pay for public schools.
"I believe most people are going to blame the Legislature for not funding basic education, and they will get mad at their Legislature," Dorn told KUOW's Bill Radke. "The one thing legislators don't like is their constituents being mad at them for not doing their jobs."
The Legislature is under a state Supreme Court order in the McCleary case to deliver a school funding plan that satisfies state constitutional requirements.
In a court brief filed Wednesday, Dorn says the Legislature failed to do that this year.
He listed a number of possible actions.
He said the court could fine individual legislators -- it's already fining the Legislature $100,000 a day.
It could halt tax breaks, such as the big one for the aerospace industry -- Boeing is the main beneficiary.
He said the court could also stop school districts from spending special levy money or keep the state from spending money on other things.
Or it could close the schools. Dorn, who is not running for re-election, said in the brief that was a "possible final remedy."
Dorn told Radke that some wealthier districts are doing a good job educating their kids. But that's not the case in poorer districts.
"A lot of minority and poor kids aren't getting a 21st-century education," he said. "This is a fairness issue. This is a civil rights issue.
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Bill Radke
Host
Bill hosts Week In Review and Words in Review. After starting with KUOW as a University of Washington student in 1985, Bill was KUOW's morning host in the '90s and the creator of past show, Rewind, a news-satire show heard on KUOW and nationwide on NPR. Bill moved away to Southern California to host American Public Media's Weekend America and Marketplace Morning Report and returned to KUOW in 2012.
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Andy Hurst
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
Andy Hurst is the senior producer for KUOW’s local broadcast of All Things Considered. He works behind the scenes to produce the conversations you hear each day with newsmakers, community members, experts, and journalists.
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Gil Aegerter
Gil edits feature pieces and helps guide staff reporters through their stories. He previously served as interim digital director and online managing editor at KUOW. Before that he spent seven years with NBCNews.com, where he was variously a senior editor, editor-producer and features editor. He also worked 25 years as a newspaper editor in Anchorage, Alaska, San Diego, Wilmington, N.C., and Seattle. He also was a freelance researcher for NBC Olympics for the Games in Atlanta; Sydney, Australia; Salt Lake City; Athens; and Torino, Italy. He is a graduate of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, with a degree in photojournalism.
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