Guest column: Lawmakers to consider bipartisan bill to keep charter schools open

Kai Baker, age 11, is a sixth-grade student at Green Dot Destiny Charter School in Tacoma. His popular charter school may be forced to close. He recently wrote a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee saying:

“I believe my charter school is a fantastic place, and I want you to support it and other schools like ours.”

Kai is just one of the 1,200 students attending Washington public charter schools. Seventy percent of these charter school students are from low-income and minority families. Charter schools often do a better job educating children than traditional schools because they have the freedom to customize their programs to fit student needs. Their specialty programs make charter schools very popular with parents in communities that are underserved by traditional schools.

How was Kai’s educational future placed in jeopardy? Soon after voters passed the state’s charter school law, the powerful Washington Education Association teachers union filed a lawsuit to kill it. The legal move was the latest in the WEA’s 20-year effort to prevent children from attending charter schools in Washington state.

Last September, they succeeded. In a surprise 6-3 decision, the state Supreme Court ruled charter schools must close because they should not be considered “common schools” within the public education system. In the meantime state records showed the WEA had played a key role in the election of judges to the court, providing $50,000 to a Political Action Committee formed to elect Justice Susan Owens. Textual analysis of the charter school ruling showed Chief Justice Barbara Madsen copied entire pages from papers union executives sent to the court in April 2014.

The court’s decision met with severe criticism from the state attorney general, four former state Attorneys General, including former Gov. Chris Gregoire, a bipartisan group of ten lawmakers and from respected legal analyst Phil Talmadge, himself a former state senator and supreme court judge. Still, the court refused to review the majority opinion. The court’s ruling is so illogical that many people consider it to be politically motivated.

All is not lost, however. Several legislators from both parties have emerged as champions of charter schools. For example, Rep. Eric Pettigrew, (D-Seattle), a leader in the House, describes his support for charter schools like this:

“The opportunity to get a great education should be available to everyone, regardless of their ZIP code or the color of their skin. But many students, especially students of color, are not getting the education they deserve in our current system. Washington’s voters agreed that charter schools should be a part of the solution to a public education system that is leaving too many kids without the education, hope and opportunity to achieve the American dream.”

Sen. Steve Litzow, (R-Mercer Island), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, has introduced a bill with Pettigrew to fund charter schools through the state’s Opportunity Pathways Account. The bill would comply with the court ruling while identifying different funding that would keep charter schools open. Encouragingly, the Senate has already passed the bill and soon the House may consider it. A number of Democratic and Republican members have already signed on as supporters. Inslee has previously said he opposes charter schools, but he may be willing to sign a bill that passes the legislature with bipartisan support.

Most parents think kids in underserved communities should have the option of attending a high-performing charter school in their area. I’m sure Kai Baker would agree.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Guest column: Lawmakers to consider bipartisan bill to keep charter schools open."