The Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling January 5, 2012, that the state is in violation of the state Constitution in its failure to properly fund K-12 basic education.
The Supreme Court's full ruling can be found by clicking here. Data sheets showing the extent to which the state is underfunding schools (including Snohomish), and much more are all available at www.waschoolexcellence.org.
The Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) filed the suit in January 2007 on behalf of the McCleary and Venema families. (The Venema family is a part of the Snohomish School District.) What's become known as McCleary v. State was heard in a seven-week trial in King County Superior Court in the fall of 2009. The trial judge issued the court's final ruling in February 2010 - holding that NEWS had proven its case on virtually every point. The court declared that the State of Washington was in violation of its constitutionally mandated "paramount duty" to amply provide for the education of all children in our State. The State promptly appealed and took the position that it did not have to comply with the court's ruling until the Washington Supreme Court ruled on the appeal. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the appeal in June 2011.