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particular level of state funding. Article IX, section 1 states: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its border . . . .” (emphases added). The Washington Supreme Court has stressed that this funding provision is “unique.” Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 90 Wn.2d at 510. And it has cited that unique language in concluding that article IX, section 1 “imposes a judicially enforceable affirmative duty on the State” to fund education “amply.” McCleary v. State, 173 Wn.2d 477, 485, 269 P.3d 227 (2012). For instance, by expressly “imposing the duty” on “the ‘State,’” article IX, section 1 implicates “all three branches of government.” Id. at 515. What’s more, article IX, section 1 has language permitting private plaintiffs to invoke the provision to seek funding, as its guarantee for “the education of all children residing within [Washington’s] borders” creates a “corresponding right of Washington children to receive an education.” Id. at 518. The lack of any comparable language in section 10—either in affirmatively mandating funding, identifying intended beneficiaries of such funding, or creating a duty of the “State”—confirms that section 10 establishes no funding duty. See Const. art. IV, §§ 1-31; City of Bothell v. Barnhart, 172 Wn.2d 223, 229, 257 P.3d 648 (2011) (“When interpreting constitutional provisions, we look first to the plain language of the text”; “[t]he courts cannot engraft exceptions on the constitution, no matter how desirable or expedient such exception might seem.” (cleaned up)). Because Plaintiffs’ section 10 claim is not legally actionable, the Court need not consider whether Plaintiffs have alleged facts sufficient to establish “unnecessary delay.” But again, Plaintiffs’ own allegations and judicially noticeable documents demonstrate that such a claim would fail, as the reasons
MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. 21-2-06462-7 SEA 153411396
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