In a stunning decision late Friday, the Supreme Court of Washington state ruled that the state’s brand-new charter schools are unconstitutional and must be shut down. A majority of the Supreme Court has now reversed that decision, resulting in I-1240’s total demise. In the ruling, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that charter schools aren’t “common schools” because they’re governed by appointed rather than elected boards.
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In another telling passage from Madsen’s opinion, the court stated: “Under the Act (I-1240), charter schools are devoid of local control from their inception to their daily operations”.
Three justices (Mary Fairhurst, Steven González, Sheryl Gordon McCloud) dissented in part.
Washington’s charter school law, which narrowly passed in a 2012 referendum with financial support from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other wealthy philanthropists, has been struck down as unconstitutional by the state’s Supreme Court. The Washington Education Association, along with the League of Women Voters, El Centro de la Raza and the Washington Association of School Administrators, brought the suit. “Instead of diverting taxpayer dollars to unaccountable charter schools, it’s time for the Legislature to fully fund K-12 public schools so that all of Washington’s children get the quality education the Constitution guarantees them”, Mead said. This fall, nine charter schools are scheduled to open their doors across the state KIRO 7 News has calls into schools to learn what this means for them. At this point, no one really knows what to do next.
State Sen. Mike Baumgartner, a Spokane Republican and frequent critic of the high court, blasted the ruling.
“The decision strikes down the voter-approved charter school system”. I-1240’s backers had tried to characterize the charter schools authorized by their initiative as common schools, thinking that this would ensure I-1240 would pass constitutional muster. The ruling is not a criticism of charter schools or charter school organizations like our, nor does not immediately shut down charter schools.
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Immediate reaction from the state attorney general’s office and the state commission that authorizes charter schools was not available.
The state’s influential teachers’ unions opposed I-1240, as did low-income groups, arguing that charter schools would skim money and take talented students from the public school system. We are most concerned about the nearly 1,000 students and families attending charter schools and making sure they understand what this ruling means regarding their public-school educational options.”It is true that federal and many state laws define charter schools as public schools”. Nor can it be believed that voters would have approved the Charter School Act without its funding mechanism.
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Last month, a King County judge said that while the initiative appears to exceed the scope of the initiative process, it was unclear whether free speech protections in the state and federal constitutions would preclude a pre-election challenge of the measure, and that the Supreme Court would have to make that determination. The number of charter schools is small and “they can certainly be funded through the remaining 72 percent of the appropriation from the general fund”. After years of discussion and debate, the people of Washington registered their clear and specific desire for public charter schools.
