Today the state Supreme Court ordered the parties in the McCleary school funding case to appear before the Court on Sept. 7.

Background: On Jan. 9, 2014, the Court ordered the state to provide a plan for complying with McCleary. On Sept. 11, 2014, the Court found the state in contempt. On August 13, 2015, the Court levied sanctions. The Legislature submitted its annual report to the Court on McCleary progress in May; in the report, the Legislature argued that by enacting E2SSB 6195, it complied with the Court's demand for a plan. Since then, the attorney general asked the Court to lift contempt and end sanctions and the AG responded to suggestions by plaintiffs and Superintendent Dorn that the Court should levy additional sanctions in the case.

After hearing the arguments on Sept. 7, the Court will decide whether to dismiss the contempt order or continue sanctions. 

Today's order specifies that the parties will have to address:

• "what remains to be done to timely achieve constitutional compliance," 
• "how much it is expected to cost," 
• "how the State intends to fund it," and
• "what significance, if any, the court should attach to E2SSB 6195 in determining compliance with the court's order to provide a complete plan." 

The order includes more specific questions, including:

• What exact date the 2018 deadline refers to (i.e., the end of 2018, the school year, the fiscal year?),
• The estimated cost of full state funding of basic education, and
• The estimated cost of full state funding of competitive staff salaries.

The question about how much staff salaries will cost to fund is a tricky one — the Legislature does not agree on an answer. E2SSB 6195 provides for the hiring of a consultant to collect and analyze compensation data. This process is already underway, but the consultant's report isn't due until Nov. 15. After that, the Education Funding Task Force will make recommendations to the Legislature by Jan. 9, 2017.

(For more on McCleary — its history, what remains to be done, and how much it might cost — see our special report.)

Meanwhile, the Everett Herald reports that Superintendent Dorn intends to sue some school districts in order to get the courts to be explicit about whether it is illegal for districts to use local levies to pay for salaries when they don't get enough from the state.