A long-running court case over the adequacy of education funding in Washington state has ended, with the state Supreme Court on

Thursday lifting its jurisdiction over the case and dropping daily sanctions after the Legislature funneled billions more dollars into public

schools.

The court's unanimous order came in response to lawmakers passing a supplemental budget earlier this year that the justices said was

the final step needed to reach compliance with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that found that K-12 school funding was inadequate.

Washington's Constitution states that it is the Legislature's "paramount duty" to fully fund the education system. The resolution of the

landmark case in Washington state comes as other states like Arizona, Oklahoma and Kentucky are now responding to calls for more

money to be allocated to education.

The state had been in contempt of court since 2014 for lack of progress on that ruling, and daily sanctions of $100,000 — allocated

specifically for education spending— had been accruing since August 2015.

"Reversing decades of underfunding has been among the heaviest lifts we've faced in recent years and required difficult and complex

decisions, but I'm incredibly proud and grateful for all those who came together on a bipartisan basis to get this job done," Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee said in a written statement.

Over the past few years, lawmakers had put significantly more money toward education costs like student transportation and classroom

supplies, but the biggest piece they needed to tackle to reach full compliance was figuring out how much the state must provide for

teacher salaries. School districts had paid a big chunk of those salaries with local property-tax levies, something the court said had to be

remedied.

In November, the court said a plan passed by the Legislature last year — which included a statewide property tax increase earmarked for

education — satisfied its earlier ruling, but justices took issue with the fact that the teacher salary component of the plan wasn't fully

funded until September 2019. This year, lawmakers expedited that timeframe to Sept. 1, 2018.

Democratic House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan said that the court's order was a relief, though he noted that legislative debates over

education funding aren't over. Sullivan said there is more work to be done on areas like special education, as well as recruiting and

retaining teachers.