Washington School Board Member: Lawsuit Costs Are Pushing Us to a “breaking point”
A local Washington state school board member has sent a warning that skyrocketing legal costs are debilitating the state's public schools, and he says Olympia needs to act now. In a Spokesman-Review opinion piece, Michael Cannon wrote that the state demands balanced school budgets while “leaving major legal costs unchecked.” His verdict: “In my view, this system is at a breaking point.”
A clear explanation is in the numbers. In June, a jury awarded $17 million to two families in a lawsuit involving his school district. Last November, a jury awarded $8 million against Seattle Public Schools in another case.
Cannon says the public is entitled to ask “whether the payout has become the point.” In his words, “These cases seem meant to test how much a public school district with an insurance policy can be forced to pay.”
And the costs are not contained in only one district. Many schools share risk through public insurance pools, where a large loss at one school can raise coverage costs for others, and major verdicts can raise demands in later cases. “A board can closely watch every dollar and still face higher insurance bills,” Cannon wrote. “When insurance takes a larger share of school budgets, less is available for the work taxpayers thought they were funding.”
School boards across Washington State have sounded the alarm. As PACT has previously reported, Highline Public Schools' board president said nearly all increases across school districts this year are “tied directly to Washington state's lack of lawsuit abuse reform and the resulting legal environment.”
The Washington Association of School Administrators has called for liability reform next session. Cannon urged lawmakers to look at fair limits on damages and legal fees and at ways to resolve valid claims sooner. “Lawmakers know the problem,” he wrote. “But another year spent discussing it without real reform is another year schools must absorb rising costs.”
Every dollar spent on massive lawsuit verdicts and rising premiums is a dollar less in the classroom for students. The legislative session starts in January, and Washington lawmakers should use it to pass commonsense lawsuit abuse reform that protects real victims and keeps school budgets focused on students.