Washington’s Paramount Duty | Fully fund basic education in Washington State now

Join us for...

Lobby Day 2019

Do you envision a state where public education is amply and equitably funded and every child can succeed? Do you want the Legislature to prevent huge cuts to public schools this year? Then join us in Olympia on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 to deliver that message directly to your legislators!

Cuts? or...

Great Public Schools for All

Districts across the state are facing huge cuts thanks to the legislature's 2017 education funding deal. Here in 2019 we have a chance to stop those cuts -- and provide billions more in funding so every child gets a great public school education.

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS

Recent Blog Posts

Federal, state, and local leaders need to step up for students, educators, and families

Our schools are in crisis. The cause is both a pandemic as well as centuries of white supremacy and oppression. As school districts across Washington State rightly choose to keep classrooms closed this fall due to public health needs, we need our leaders to do more and better to meet the needs of students, parents, […]

Some truths about local levies and teacher pay

Schools across Washington State are gearing up for huge cuts and mass teacher layoffs – even as the state legislature claims they have fully funded public education. Washington’s Paramount Duty has mobilized parents across the state to fight these cuts by pressing legislators for more funds for public schools. We have two main approaches: more […]

Stop Betsy DeVos policies in Washington State – what happened to SB 5313

In the dead of night, at 1:30 in the morning, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed the bill proposing to address the school district levy lid issue, SB 5313. But the only way they could do so was to meet the demands of Democratic Senators Guy Palumbo (1st District) and Mark Mullet (5th District) […]

The State Has Failed Our Kids

For 40 years, Washington’s public school funding has been undermined by state government cutbacks, band-aid solutions, budget tricks, unfunded voter mandates, and indifference to student, parent, and teacher concerns. The State still does not fund what our K-12 students actually need.

HOW THE STATE FALLS SHORT

The Court Told Them to Fix It

In 2012, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the McCleary case that state government had failed its paramount constitutional duty to fully fund basic education for our children. They ordered the State to come up with a plan to fix it and then fully fund basic education by the 2017-2018 school year.

HOW WE GOT INTO THIS MESS

No more foot-dragging

Now the Legislature is dragging its feet while our children continue to suffer the consequences. We are Washington’ Paramount Duty — a broad-based network of parents, by parents, and for students — working to compel the State to fully fund our children’s basic education now.

HOW YOU CAN HELP