Washington state House Republicans on Thursday released a proposed education budget they say would preserve the 180-day school year while cutting efforts to combat bullying and enforce civil rights.

A group of GOP leaders said at a news conference that their spending plan shows they are serious about paying for K-12 education ahead of all other funding obligations.

"This is all about `what dollars do you spend first?'" said Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches. "We're talking about funding basic education fully."

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed cutting the K-12 education budget by more than $330 million and then asking voters to approve a half-percent increase in the state sales tax to restore much of the funding.

Calling this the wrong approach, Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, says that education should be funded before other budget priorities are considered.

"Let (the Democrats) establish what they would like to buy back, which should not be education," Alexander said.

As the minority party in both houses of the Legislature, the Republicans do not drive the agenda in Olympia.