By Tania de Sá Campos, DFER WA Deputy State Director
CO State Senator Talks Ed Reform:
Superstar Colorado State Senator Mike Johnston’s recent visit to Seattle to speak at the League of Education Voters’ annual breakfast is still being talked about, over coffee and in The Seattle Times. You can also watch the video of his speech here. He shared the work being done to reform K-12 funding in Colorado and remove the systemic inequities that have been in place for decades. He also exhorted Washington’s legislators to enact policies that ensure excellence and equity for all kids.
WA’s Budget:
The Washington State Legislature continues to negotiate a budget deal in special session. All eyes are on two dates – June 11th, the scheduled end of the special session; and July 1st, the start of the new budget year. If the legislature cannot make a deal by the 1st of next month, the state won’t be able to pay its bills. It addition, it won’t be able to make the $1 billion investment necessary this biennium to comply with the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision on basic education funding. Optimistic is not the word we’re hearing most…
Public Charter Schools:
Getting off the Ground
The process to authorize and open high quality public charter schools in Washington continues moving forward. The Charter School Commission held another meeting and heard a presentation from Don Shalvey of the Gates Foundation, complete with music and references to the Summer of Love. Shalvey gave a history of the public charter movement, profiled some successful CMOs, and gave an overview of what the CMOs are looking for as they consider coming to Washington. The Commission is working hard to get itself situated with rules (known as Washington Administrative Codes, or WACs) and put policies in place, while simultaneously getting ready to accept applications for the first public charters in Washington. Just this week they have three meetings scheduled to discuss and adopt the proposed WACs pertaining to the public charter school law. (The Commission also has an opening for an Executive Director. Only the fabulous need apply.)
New Organization to Help with Development
A new non-profit organization launched recently to help high-performing public charter schools get started. The Washington State Charter Schools Association will focus on three primary goals: “providing information about public charter schools; supporting leaders who want to grow high-performing public charter schools; and, providing general support and services to help charter schools operate.”
Possible Lawsuit
Meanwhile, the threat of a lawsuit from the WEA challenging the constitutionality of the public charter school law lingers, with their spokesman confirming that it’s “in the works” but not giving any clarity as to when it may drop. The sponsors of Initiative 1240, which passed in November to bring public charter schools to Washington, worked with Washington State constitutional law experts to draft the charter school law. We are confident that our law will pass constitutional muster.