State representative and education leader Chad Magendanz (R – Issaquah) stands up for children today in a guest op-ed in The Seattle Times. He notes that recently six justices on the state supreme court, in an opinion handed down by Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, said all charter schools in the state must close, throwing 1,300 families into confusion. The case was filed and funded by the powerful WEA union, which strongly opposes allowing any child to attend any charter school.
Charter schools operate without controversy in 41 states, but the six justices, citing a case from 1909, decided our voter-approved charter public schools may not receive public funding. The flawed thinking behind the ruling puts at risk funding for other alternative public schools, like tribal schools, technical schools, the School for the Deaf, the Running Start program and unique high-quality high schools like Aviation High.
Parents say they strongly support charters. Charter schools are popular. They help struggling kids learn. They rescue children who otherwise would be blindly assigned to a failing school based on zip code. Charter schools are not a threat, they are an enhancement. They offer families one choice within our larger public education system.
Rep. Chad Magendanz is standing up for children, while others in our state, like Justice Madsen, WEA union president Kim Mead and U.W. professor Wayne Au, want to shut them down.
Rep. Magendanz, the ranking Republican on the House Education Committee, says he plans to take a bipartisan approach to finding a balanced solution for our public charter schools. He’s on the right track. When the legislature meets in January, lawmakers of both parties should work collaboratively to pass a bill, like the one supported by Governor Gary Locke, to clearly authorize and fund charter schools in Washington state.
Rep. Magendanz’s op-ed can be found here.
This report is part of WPC's Charter School Follow-Up Project