Last week Senator Hasegawa (D-Beacon Hill) sponsored Hanaan Ali, age 16, a student at Kent’s Excel Public Charter School, to be a page in the Senate, as reported here. “It was a pleasure to host Hanaan at the Capitol,” Hasegawa said. “I hope she enjoyed her week with the Legislature and learned plenty.” Back in 2016, Senator Hasegawa voted against the charter school funding bill, so it’s great to see him supporting charter school students today.

The legislative page program gives students classes in budget writing and how a bill becomes a law. The week culminates in a mock court setting, where pages can even write their own bills. What they don’t learn, however, is that Washington state discriminates against Hanaan and other students by not allowing local funding for her public charter school.  

The State and the Kent school district denies Excel Charter its share of education funding approved by local taxpayers, cutting the school’s funding by about $2,500 per student each year.

Statewide, Washington now has 12 active public charter schools, serving some 3,500 students, the majority of which are in the state’s most under-served neighborhoods.  About 60 percent of public charter students come from low-income, minority families, whose children are often assigned by administrators to attend underperforming traditional schools.

One way to fix funding inequities is for lawmakers to repeal the unfair ban that denies local education funding to charter schools.  A proviso added to the 2019-21 state budget could end discrimination against charter school families now, and a long-term change in state law could ensure equal access to education resources for all families living in the state.

Ending unfairness is especially important when local taxpayers show they are willing to pay a little more to help fund local schools, on the understanding that all school children in the community will benefit.

In the meantime, it’s great to see lawmakers like Senator Hasegawa who were former opponents stepping forward to open doors for charter school students, by providing them with valuable insights and experience in how our state government works.