Lfinne

Wednesday afternoon a blast of cold, fresh air blew through a Senate hearing room in Olympia.  New ideas for improving public schools were allowed a hearing.  Under the leadership of Senator Steve Litzow (R-Mercer Island), the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee convened its first meeting.  Former Chair of the Committee, Senator Rosemary McAuliffe (D-Bothell), looked on as ideas she had blocked for years were openly discussed. 

Yesterday the Seattle Times posted a well-reasoned, well-written editorial about the state teachers union (WEA) plan to file a lawsuit to prevent Washington school children from attending charter schools.

You can the full editorial here.

On Friday morning, Steve Scher of KUOW Radio (NPR-Seattle) interviewed Mary Lindquist, president of the state teachers union (WEA), about the union’s lawsuit to block children’s access to voter-approved charter schools. Here is a part of their conversation (at 12:15):

Today Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association, posted a cranky attack on legislative leaders Senators Tom, Litzow and Sheldon. She claims they have been “slashing school funding by $2.5 billion.”

The election results are barely certified for voter-approved Initiative 1240, the most hopeful education reform passed in Washington in decades. Opponents have formed a group to prevent children in need from attending a charter school. A new group called Protect Our Public Schools (POPS) has announced its creation as an affiliate of a national group that works against education reform in the states (see announcement below).

Today’s Seattle Times reports that the National Association of Charter School Authorizers says that states with weak charter laws should strengthen their laws to shut down their low-performing charter schools. Fortunately Washington's brand-new charter law is one of the strongest laws in the country.

Saturday afternoon the Initiative 1240 campaign announced that voters have approved the charter school measure. Opponents refuse to concede until every vote is counted, but this morning the Secretary of State’s website shows that with 91% of the vote counted, Yes votes exceed No votes by 44,193, gaining over the numbers reported on Saturday.