Created: December 11, 2025
For: Moses Lake School District Transparency
Initiative
Congratulations! You now know more about the 19 members of the Washington State House Education Committee than 99% of voters:
You can now make informed decisions when these names appear on your ballot.
The Education Committee isn’t the top of the power structure.
There’s another group of people—nine of them—who have MORE power over Moses Lake schools than the entire Education Committee combined.
And when their names appear on your ballot, you get almost ZERO information about them.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT (9) │
│ • Can order Legislature to spend billions │
│ • Can hold Legislature in contempt │
│ • Can impose daily fines on state │
│ • Can retain jurisdiction indefinitely │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE │
│ • Must obey Supreme Court orders │
│ • Passes education laws │
│ • Allocates state budget │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE (19) │
│ • Controls which bills advance │
│ • Holds hearings │
│ • Votes on education policy │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT (OSPI) │
│ • Implements state policy │
│ • Administers funding │
│ • Sets standards │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MOSES LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT │
│ • Operates schools │
│ • Hires teachers │
│ • Implements state requirements │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘Notice who’s at the top.
In January 2012, nine judges you probably never heard of issued a decision called McCleary v. State of Washington.
That decision:
Then, when the Legislature didn’t move fast enough:
The Legislature had no choice but to obey.
Result: - Property taxes increased statewide - School funding formulas changed for every district including Moses Lake - Local levy authority reduced - Teacher salary structure completely restructured
Nine judges. One decision. Billions in consequences.
When those nine justices run for re-election, here’s what you see on your ballot:
☐ DEBRA L. STEPHENS
Supreme Court Justice, Position 7
☐ [Challenger Name - if any]
[Occupation]That’s it.
You DON’T get: - Which governor appointed them (if any) - Their judicial philosophy - Who funded their campaigns - Their previous major decisions - Their organizational affiliations - Their political leanings - Their voting record
Just: - Name - Current title - “NON-PARTISAN”
Yet these nine people have MORE power over your schools than your locally elected school board.
We just spent dozens of hours researching the 19 Education Committee members so you could learn:
But when it comes to the NINE JUDGES who can order the Legislature around?
You get their name and “non-partisan.”
That’s the irony we’re trying to fix.
Here’s what we’ve built for you:
A comprehensive guide to the Washington Supreme Court and the McCleary decision, structured like a swimming pool with marked depths:
You choose how deep you want to go. Stop whenever you want. Each section stands alone.
The Supreme Court material is NOT as straightforward as the Education Committee research.
Why it’s harder:
If you found the Education Committee research challenging, this is 2-3x more complex.
Good question. Here’s why this matters:
The Supreme Court ordered $13+ BILLION in new spending. That’s more financial impact than anything the Education Committee will EVER do.
When you vote for Education Committee members, you get to research them thoroughly. When you vote for Supreme Court justices, you get almost nothing. That’s wrong.
The same principle that drove us to research the Education Committee should apply to Supreme Court justices: Voters deserve full information about people with power over their schools.
If nine judges can order $13 billion in education spending with minimal voter scrutiny, what else can they do? (Answer: A LOT.)
McCleary directly changed Moses Lake’s funding, property taxes, and local control. These nine people affect your daily life.
DEFINITELY read if you: - Want to understand why your property taxes increased - Are curious about the McCleary decision you’ve heard about - Vote in Supreme Court elections and want actual information - Believe in government transparency and accountability - Enjoy deep research and want the full story - Are involved in school board, PTA, or education policy - Study government, law, or political science - Just finished the Education Committee research and want more
SKIP if you: - Are satisfied with shallow overview of school governance - Don’t vote in Supreme Court elections anyway - Find legal/constitutional material boring or confusing - Have limited time and just want basic facts - Already understand McCleary and current court composition - Don’t care who these nine people are
No judgment either way. This is optional deep-dive material for motivated readers.
If you proceed, you’ll find:
Each section has a STOP HERE marker. You’re not locked in. Exit whenever you want.
I spent 40+ hours researching the Education Committee members with equal scrutiny:
I documented Rep. Matt Marshall’s militia leadership and Rep. Shaun Scott’s Marxist affiliation with the same rigor.
Now I’m applying that same equal scrutiny to the Supreme Court.
Not because I have an agenda. Not because I want to attack judges.
But because voters deserve the same transparency about Supreme Court justices that we now have about Education Committee members.
If we’re going to research the people with power over Moses Lake schools, we should research ALL of them—including the nine at the very top.
That’s what factual, non-partisan transparency looks like.
Option 1: DIVE IN
→ Click here to open: “The Supreme Court & Your Schools: A
Multi-Depth Guide”
Option 2: SKIP IT
→ Return to main Moses Lake transparency site
Option 3: SAVE FOR LATER
→ Bookmark this page and come back when you have 20-60 minutes
Whether you read the Supreme Court material or not, remember this:
When you see Supreme Court races on your ballot with just a name and “non-partisan,” you’re voting for people with enormous power over your schools, taxes, and daily life.
They deserve the same scrutiny we gave to the Education Committee.
The information exists. We’ve compiled it. The choice to read it is yours.
END OF GATEWAY PAGE
Next Step: Reader decides whether to proceed to the full Supreme Court guide
This gateway page is part of the Moses Lake School District Transparency Initiative. Our goal is factual, non-partisan information about people with power over local schools. We apply equal scrutiny to all officials regardless of political affiliation.