The Washington State Legislature will soon decide whether to save Washington’s charter schools. The state Senate has already passed SB 6194, a strong charter school fix. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives may soon consider this bill’s companion, HB 2367, sponsored by Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle) and Rep. Chad Magendanz (R-Issaquah). It makes sense to ask lawmakers if they’ve visited a charter school lately. 

Lawmakers are discussing the growing popularity of charter schools, and their success at bringing students to grade level and higher. A number of prominent political leaders, who earlier opposed these innovative schools, are making visits to see first-hand for themselves what the excitement is about. These visits are turning charter school skeptics into charter school supporters.       

For example, on January 12^th, Governor Inslee visited Destiny Middle Charter School in Tacoma, tweeting the following day that he:

“Loved meeting the 6^th-graders at Destiny MS, who showed off a love of reading, science & knowledge of planets.”

This 110-character tweet deftly captures the essence of what charter schools are achieving for children—the love of learning and the pride of accomplishment.  

Then, on January 15^th, House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan (D-Kent) said on TVW:

"I did not support the charter school initiative, but Excel [charter] school opened up in Kent. I visited the school, saw the opportunities that the students had. They are very excited. For many of those kids, the public school system may not have worked for them, and they looked for other options. I think we have to look at solutions that will move the system forward…” 

One of the opportunities that kids have at Excel is the excitement of playing a violin, cello or bass in an orchestra. Excel Public Charter School gives every student daily instruction on a string instrument. Here is their program:

Excel’s String Orchestra program (ESO) is committed to ensuring that every Excel student benefits from daily strings education. Through ESO, we strive to educate the whole child. Through music, we are not only teaching musicality and technical skills, but academic stamina, accountability, and teamwork, and building a community of competent leaders for tomorrow.

ESO’s premiere concert was in December. It is obvious the parents and families of these aspiring musicians are thrilled. Listen and watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4DEMT1Su8I

By any measure the Excel String Orchestra has reached a remarkable level of competence in four short months of study. Its deep and hopeful sound may soften other hearts and minds towards charter schools.

One way to visit a charter school is to go online. Here are the websites for each charter school in Washington state.   Excel Public Charter School in Kent. Rainier Prep Charter School in south Seattle/Highline area. Summit Sierra in Seattle’s International District. SOAR Academy Charter School in Tacoma. Summit Olympus in Tacoma. Destiny Charter Middle School in Tacoma. PRIDE Prep in Spokane. Spokane International Academy in Spokane.

Another resource is our study, “Opening New Doors: A look at Washington’s first public charter schools.”

This report is part of WPC’s Charter School Follow-Up Project