A proposed constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to provide all children with access to a high quality education is on the shelf in Washington.

House Joint Resolution 29, proposed by Representative Jesse Jackson Jr (D-Ill.) in February, has been stalled in the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution ever since.

Jackson has introduced a similar resolution every year since 2002 and each has stalled in committee.

Dewayne Wickham, Director of the Institute of Advanced Journalism Studies at North Carolina A&T State University, says he's not surprised. Wickham pointed out in a weekend interview that every state in the country, including Washington, has its own constitutional provision requiring the state to provide its children with at least a basic or adequate education.

How Washington funds education will be the focus of a State Supreme Court hearing next week in Olympia. The state is challenging a King County judge's ruling that found the state is not fulfilling its constitutional requirement to provide children with a basic education.

While not speaking about Washington specifically, Wickham says he's not surprised there hasn't been more political support for a federal constitutional amendment on education.

"Nobody in the current economic environment is willing to push states to fully fund public education,"  Wickham said.

When questioned about the cost of such an amendment when he first proposed it nearly a decade ago, Jackson said politicians always seem to find the money for things they consider a priority. He said it is more important to look at what it costs not to educate children.

"What are the costs of not having a high quality public education?" Jackson said. "We are paying for it in a lack of productivity. We are paying for it in terms of the prison population. We are paying for it in terms of not guaranteeing every American a true equal opportunity."