By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER Washington State Director
Trying to have a conversation with Washington State Democrats about allowing the development of charter schools is like trying to talk to Republicans about implementing an income tax. Their minds are closed and they don’t want to be confused with facts. (Washington Voters have repeatedly turned down charter school and income tax proposals.) But, fortunately, thanks to leadership from Representative Pettigrew (D-Seattle, 37th District), Senator Rodney Tom (D-Bellevue, 48th District) and others, our legislators will be revisiting the issue of public charter schools this session.
The news of an upcoming legislative charter school debate has sparked charter hater ideologues to hit the blogosphere, posting things like “Why Democrats Oppose Charter Schools” and “A lesson by a Seattle teacher on charter schools.”
New flash to the haters: There are many Democrats who support charter schools. Our country’s top Democrat, Barack Obama, the man we all fought to elect, is a big charter school fan. He believes in the ability of successful charter schools to help some of our most educationally disadvantaged kids.
Charter schools are not a silver bullet. Not all charter schools are great, just like not all traditional public schools are great. Over 40 states now have charter schools and a number of lessons have been learned from the last 20 years. High quality charter schools like KIPP have figured out how to close achievement gaps and they are successfully replicating themselves across the country to achieve greater gains in student achievement for at-risk student populations.
Local Democrats should examine the reasons why the National Democratic Party platform, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and many good Democrats support high quality public charter schools.
Here are a few good reasons:
• High quality public charter schools are successfully closing achievement gaps.
• High quality public charter schools can give underserved parents a choice and voice in their education.
• High quality public charter schools can act as laboratories of reform, identifying successful practices that can be replicated by traditional public schools.
• High quality public charter schools offer teachers autonomy not typically found in traditional public schools.
What great charter schools have in common is a relentless focus on high student achievement for a group of kids that the traditional system has failed, and their results are making urban educators and policy makers take notice.