Washington Policy Center education expert in the running for charter school commission slot

Will Washington Policy Center’s education expert, Liv Finne, serve on the new state commission that will approve some of our state’s new charter schools? The Associated Press today reports that Finne’s name is among those submitted to the governor’s office to serve on the commission:

Liv Finne, director of the Center for Education Reform at the Washington Policy Center, is another lawyer and education advocate who would like to serve on the commission.

Because of her job, she has done years of research on charter schools and wants to put that to further use as a member of the commission. She was quick to mention, however, 10 other people she would consider if she was making the decision.

“I think my best qualification is that I have studied the charter schools that have worked and I know how difficult it is to make any school be successful,” Finne said.

The A.P. also explains why the commission is being set up:

Charter schools will be authorized through two different paths in Washington: through local school boards that get permission from the State Board of Education to be authorizers and through the new statewide commission.

The makeup of the commission was outlined in the charter schools initiative approved by voters, but the new statute is not specific about a lot of details.

The initiative requires that “all members shall have demonstrated an understanding of and commitment to charter schooling as a strategy for strengthening public education.”

Liv, who serves as WPC’s Director for the Center for Education, authored the Citizens' Guide to Initiative 1240: To Allow Public Charter Schools. Prior to her current role at WPC, she was an adjunct scholar focusing on education policy issues, authoring in-depth studies including An Overview of Public School Funding in Washington and Early Learning Proposals in Washington State. She is the author of Washington Policy Center's Education Reform Plan: Eight Practical Ways to Reverse the Decline of Public Schools and Learning Online: An Assessment of Online Public Education Programs, among other publications. Liv holds a law degree from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. from Wellesley College.

Want to keep up with Liv? Check out her blog entries.