K-12 focus of 2015 legislative debates

WNPA Olympia News Bureau

Washington’s lawmakers have opened this year’s legislative session amid predictions of a long and contentious debate focused on budget and tax votes for the K-12 education system.

Lawmakers are confronted with a mountain of expensive problems to solve, ranging from transportation to mental health. But education funding is pivotal.

The Washington Supreme Court held the Legislature in contempt last year for engaging in “an ongoing violation of its constitutional duty to K-12 children,” by not adequately funding public education. Combined with the responsibility to fund a...