Charter schools are put on hold

By Linda Shaw
Seattle Times staff reporter

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most e-mailed articles

A coalition of groups that oppose charter schools, led by the state's largest teachers union, said yesterday it expects to submit enough signatures by today's deadline to place a referendum on the November ballot that will ask voters to repeal a charter-school bill passed in March.

Kelly Evans, the campaign's manager, said she didn't have specific signature numbers, but that "we're confident we'll have the required plus adequate cushion."

"Voters have rejected charter schools twice," Evans said, referring to two charter-school ballot initiatives that failed in 1996 and 2000. "We need to be investing in what we know works: smaller class sizes and quality educators in every classroom."

But Jim Spady, a businessman and one of this state's most avid charter-school advocates, said the referendum would be a blow to students and parents who want the option of charters and now will have to wait at least another year.

The charter-school law, which was to go into effect tomorrow, will be put on hold until the state election's office determines whether there are enough valid signatures to place a referendum on the ballot. If there are enough signatures, it will stay on hold until the November election.

Spady also charged that the Washington Education Association doesn't like charter schools because it stands to lose members and dues. (Under the bill, new charter schools could not require teachers to be members of their local union's bargaining units.)

"This is about greed and selfishness, and putting the interest of union bosses ahead of the interest of children and teachers," he said.

Up until the past few weeks, it was unclear whether the anti-charter coalition, Protect Our Public Schools, could get enough signatures. But Evans said the campaign made a last-minute push, including hiring paid signature gatherers, something the campaign initially said it didn't plan to use.

"We planned not to, but we also knew that we might," Evans said. She estimated that volunteers collected more than three-quarters of the signatures that will be submitted.

The number of required valid signatures is close to 100,000; to be safe, at least 125,000 are recommended.
 
Signature gatherers were still out collecting yesterday, Evans said.

If the measure gets on the ballot, the anti-charter group will become the "no" on Referendum 55 campaign, because the measure will ask voters whether to keep the law, a yes vote, or to reject it, a no vote.

Charter schools are a new kind of public school, paid for with tax dollars but run by private organizations, and freed from many of the regulations surrounding public schools. They have more freedom to hire — and fire — staff members, to increase the length of the school day or week, and spend their budgets as they see fit.

There are now close to 3,000 charter schools around the nation. Forty states, plus the District of Columbia, have laws allowing the creation of public schools. Washington would be the 41st state, if the measure approved by the Legislature in March survives.

Washington state's bill was considered by many to be a modest step. It allows only five new charter schools to be created each year for the next three years, and 10 a year for the three years after that. The majority must be schools serving disadvantaged children. Existing public schools where test scores were low and not improving also could convert to charter status.

Teachers at new charter schools would not be part of their local union for five years — after that, they could decide whether to join one. Teachers at existing schools that converted to charter status would continue to belong to their local bargaining unit, although they could ask for waivers from some of its provisions.

To open, charter schools would have to be sponsored by a school district or the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, which would oversee them and could close them if they don't live up to the terms of their "charter," or contract. They would have to take all students who apply, by lottery if need be. They could not charge tuition. And, in this state, they could only be run by nonprofit organizations.

Charter-school opponents say that charters, on average, haven't proved to be better than traditional public schools and, because of that, they're an experiment that should not be allowed to go forward, when there are better-known ways to improve student achievement.

Evans said that charter schools would divert $100 million from public schools by the end of 2009. But Spady says that number is misleading because charter schools are public schools, just in a different form. And if the charter-school bill does not become law, the state will lose up to $3 million in federal money that it sought under a grant to help get them started.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com