Lawmakers About $1M Apart on Education Reform - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

SEATTLE, Wash. - About $1-billion separates Senate Republicans from House Democrats on how they believe the Legislature should respond to last year's Supreme Court ruling on money for schools in Washington.

However, lawmakers from both parties say the differences are not so far apart that they will not be able to work out a compromise before the Legislature goes home this spring.
    
The chair of the Senate Education Committee says they will not go home without coming to an agreement, but he says he does not promise the compromise will make anyone happy.
    
Lawmakers do not even agree within their own parties about what to pay for first, where to get the money, and how much of a down payment is needed toward an estimated $4.5 billion the state will likely add to K-12 education dollars by 2018.