Edmonds School District Superintendent Nick Brossoit, president of the 420-member Network for Education in Washington Schools (NEWS) has sent a letter to every Washington legislator telling them to abide by the order of the Washington State Supreme Court and make real progress on K-12 education funding.

The letter begins: “When you took your oath of office, you swore to uphold our State Constitution. As a Washington legislator, you are a role model for our children as someone who not only creates laws, but abides by them. The highest court in our state has now ordered you to abide by the Constitution and fully fund K-12 public education by 2018.

NEWS is a coalition of school districts, teachers, parents and education groups that sued the state for not living up to the state’s Constitutional mandate to fully fund basic education. The Washington State Supreme Court ruled in the now-famous McCleary case in January 2012 that the Legislature must “amply” fund K-12 education and warned every legislator that “ample” means “considerably more than just adequate.”