Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, issued the following statement after the Senate voted to take action on the levy cliff bill, Senate Bill 5023, preventing a $358 million cut to school districts across the state:

“School districts, teachers, and kids across the state will have some certainty tonight after passage of the levy cliff bill. Their locally approved funding will not be cut by the Legislature. This is what I and other Senate Democrats have been pushing for since the House passed the bill 44 days ago.

“Passage of this bill is a huge win for our state’s 1.1 million students who rely on high-quality teachers, low class sizes, and support in the classroom.

“It’s time to return to the hard work necessary to fully and fairly fund K-12 education in our state. The clock is ticking on McCleary and our state’s kids, their parents, educators, administrators and school districts are counting on us.  Let’s focus and get to work.”