In what plaintiffs in a landmark school funding lawsuit called “a huge victory for Washington school children,” a King County Superior Court judge Thursday ruled the state in violation of its constitutionally mandated “paramount duty” to amply provide for the education of all children.

The court ordered the state to determine the actual costs of providing all children with the knowledge and skills set forth in the state’s high academic standards and to fully fund that actual cost with stable and dependable state sources.

Judge Erlick ruled that the word paramount in Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution, means “preeminent, supreme and more important than all others” and that funding K-12 education is “the state’s first and highest priority before any other state programs or operations.”

The case brought by a coalition of Washington teachers, school districts, community groups and parents in January 2007 alleged Washington had not fulfilled its Constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education and relied too heavily on local levy funding assistance.

The deadline for appeal will be 30 days after the entry of the judgment.