OLYMPIA, Wash. - In his inaugural address, Gov. Jay Inslee says that lawmakers must fulfill their top priority of fully paying for the state's basic education.
Inslee told a joint session of the Legislature Tuesday that while several other issues are also important, such as the mental health system, homelessness and higher education, none is more important than education.
Lawmakers are working to comply with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that they must fully fund the state's basic education system. Lawmakers have already put more than $2 billion toward the issue since the ruling, but the biggest piece remaining of the court order is figuring out how much the state must provide for teacher salaries.
School districts currently pay a big chunk of those salaries with local property-tax levies.
