Give every Washington student an opportunity for success

LIKE many states, Washington continues to battle significant budget challenges. Unlike many states, however, our constitution declares that it's the state's paramount duty to provide for the public education of all children. Unfortunately, steady declines in public resources now threaten our ability to live up to that commitment.

As a state, we should not allow our budget situation to permanently damage our schools' ability to prepare students for their futures. But the truth is that significant actions would be needed even without our budget crisis.