Ashe Preparatory Academy charter school closes after funding cuts
In late August, Ashe Preparatory Academy Charter School, a promising new public charter school, opened its doors to students for the first time. Most of its students were low-income, with 75% black, 20% multiracial, 1% Latino, 1% white, and 3% other. Then, on October 4th, only six weeks later, Ashe Prep was forced to close its doors. Ashe Prep’s experience illustrates the inequity and unfairness of Washington’s policy of funding discrimination against public charter schools.
Here is how Washington discriminated against Ashe Prep:
- Because state funding is not provided to schools until October, Ashe Prep, a public school, did not receive any public funding, and was forced to raise private funds for all start-up costs, including salaries;
- Ashe Prep did not get funding for building shelter, so it was forced to pay rent with these limited funds;
- Ashe Prep did not get local levy funding, about $3000 per student, or 16 percent of total funding, which would have helped Ashe Prep fix the problems common to any start-up venture, particularly a school.
Every time a charter school closes, the disappointment and loss falls hardest on low-income, minority families. These mothers and fathers have chosen a public charter school as their best hope for obtaining a quality education for their children.
Dr. Debra Sullivan is the brains and talent behind the now-closed Ashe Prep. Years ago she began work on a plan to offer a program for children in the Skyway/West Hill area of south Seattle. She promised the Ashe Prep program would be “more rigorous, more culturally responsive, relevant to today and to the future.” On June 21, 2018, the Washington State Charter School Commission unanimously approved, 9-0, Ashe Prep’s application to open a charter school.
Ashe Prep attracted strong support from its community, including the Skyway Youth Network Collaborative, the Black Child Development Institute, the Black Education Strategy Roundtable, and many other community groups.
Ashe Prep also attracted parents eager to enroll their children. Ashe Prep parents may have heard charter schools are getting better academic learning results than union-run district schools, and the design and the leadership of the school appealed to them.
Ashe Prep planned to open this year with 140 students, serving Kindergarten, first grade and 6th grade, with plans to expand every year until serving 450 students in Kindergarten through Eighth grade.
Then the school ran into Washington’s funding discrimination policy against public charter schools.
Ashe Prep spent many months looking for a building in Skyway/West Hill neighborhood, but was unable to find a facility with affordable rent. Instead, it was forced to open many miles south in Kent. Ashe Prep, a public school, faced problems common to any new school, yet was offered no public funding support.
Low-income, minority children are paying the price. They are being denied the opportunity to attend schools like Ashe Prep, a school lovingly and carefully designed to meet their learning needs, a school their parents wanted them to attend.
Legislators have the power to correct this inequitable policy. They should make it their first order of business for the 2020 Legislative Session.