Today the WA State Supreme Court issued a decision in the Federal Way school district case. Federal Way sued the state complaining that our distribution of funds did not meet the constitution’s requirement for a “general and uniform” way of funding schools. In specific, the district complained that since allocations to school districts for teacher salaries were based on historical patterns from over a quarter of a century ago it was effectively arbitrary and capricious.
I personally agree with Federal Way – there is no rational basis for the distribution other than political expediency.
The Supreme Court disagreed. I have not completely read the opinion, but it seems convoluted to me.
