You must do more, the state Supreme Court told the state Thursday in ruling  the state is not making “ample” provision to provide for the basic education of all children in Washington.

The 7-2 decision by the state’s highest court comes as the state Legislature is to convene in a 60-day session Monday to hammer out how to save the state roughly $2 billion.

The Supreme Court in its ruling left it up to the Legislature to figure out how to meet financially the state’s constitutional obligation to provide ample basic education. But, significantly, the ruling does not protect education from further budget cuts by legislators.

The court will retain jurisdiction over the legislature’s already-approved reforms to fix the shortfalls in funding for grades kindergarten through 12 the state will implement by 2018.

This is a state issue, not a local one for school district’s such as Renton’s, because it’s the state’s constitutional duty to provide for basic education.

The court’s ruling and the massive state budget deficit potentially will set up a debate among majority Democrats in the House and Senate and Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has suggested a shorter school year as one way to save money.

The idea of a shorter school year was proposed last year and it was opposed by state Rep. Marcie Maxwell, D-Renton, who is one of the Legislature’s leaders on education issues.

Maxwell said she opposed cutting days from the school year which she believes would violate the state’s obligation to basic education.

“As we begin the 2012 session with cutting days suggested by the governor and some legislators, this decision provides grounds to stay firm again,” she said.

Maxwell was a key architect and sponsor of those reforms in 2009 and 2010, the Basic Education Reform and Funding bills, House Bill 2261 and House Bill 2776. The court’s ruling, she said, shows the justices agree those measures “will fulfill our education obligation.”

Maxwell serves on the Quality Education Council that will recommend and track implementation of the reforms.

“It is clear from the court decision and their continued monitoring of the budget investments that we cannot delay or dismantle 2261 and 2776,” she said.

State Sen. Steve Litzow of Mercer Island, like Maxwell, represents the Legislature’s 41st District. He is the ranking minority member of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.

Litzow said in a news release he believes bipartisan support will exist for legislation that will satisfy the Supreme Court’s requirements and “get us closer to the world-class education system we need and our students deserve.

“If it’s done right, we could fundamentally shift education funding toward a stable existing state tax and reduce reliance on less-dependable local school levies,” he said.

A press release from the office of state Atty. Gen. Rob McKenna explained the background of the case.

The case was filed in King County Superior Court in 2007 by a coalition of Washington teachers, school districts, community groups and parents, who alleged Washington had not fulfilled its constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education and relied too heavily on local levies for funding assistance.

In 2009 a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the coalition, directing the Legislature to do a study to establish a cost for basic education for all and then how to pay for it from stable state sources.

The state appealed, according to McKenna, a Republican who is running for governor, to clarify the Legislature’s authority and responsibility to meet this constitutional duty. The Supreme Court indicated the reforms approved in 2009 and 2010 amounted to that study.