On the Friday before Labor Day weekend, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that charter schools were unconstitutional. Though deliberately handed down the day before a long holiday weekend, the court’s decision failed to fly under the radar as intended. In fact, the court’s decision has sent shockwaves across our nation, garnering highly critical responses from national news outlets.
The Wall Street Journal recently delivered a biting criticism of the court’s decision, calling it a “grim surprise” that is “as politically driven as it is overreaching and legally flawed.” The Wall Street Journal,
“The reality is that local school boards are responsible mainly to unions thanks to collective bargaining. Tenure protections all but guarantee incompetent teachers lifetime job security. Because charters are liberated from state tenure and collective-bargaining, they can dismiss lousy teachers.
“The liberal majority’s real concern is preserving the union monopoly. Thus the court bars charters from tapping $2 billion in funds that the state constitution specifically restricts to so-called common schools. But the intent of this constitutional provision was to prevent the legislature from siphoning off designated education funds for other programs. Charter schools are public schools too.”
The Seattle Times’ editorial board joined in on the cutting criticism of the ruling, calling it a “perplexing” decision with “serious” repercussions. The Times also demanded the court move to reconsider its ruling. The Seattle Times,
“The timing of the ruling — about 11 months after hearing arguments and after charter school classes commenced — was perplexing, but its repercussions are serious. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in the state’s nine charter schools, eight of which are starting their first year. In 2012, voters approved Initiative 1240 to authorize publicly funded charter schools that give higher priority to serving at-risk kids. Charters have greater flexibility to respond to students’ needs, something the traditional system does not provide or encourage enough of.”
The Times goes on to call for the state Legislature to “act to find a way to ensure Washington’s charter schools continue” failing a different outcome from the court. Unfortunately, Jay Inslee is standing in the way of just that happening.
Salon.com pointed out that Inslee did not support the 2012 charter school initiative—he was and remains indebted to the Washington Education Association (WEA), a union that put $1 million into electing him in 2012. That reality does not bode well for the chances of our green governor calling a special session to resolve the problem. Lisa Harper, deputy spokesperson for Inslee, as much as confirmed that Inslee will not move to act when she stated, “It is not practical to call a special session on a whim.”
Calling a historic—and all around shocking—ruling by our state’s Supreme Court that leaves thousands of students and parents in a cloud of uncertainty a “whim” reveals Inslee’s out-of-touch understanding of the decision’s consequences. That, or Inslee simply does not care. Rather, he is more concerned with pleasing the WEA—as he has proven in the past—than with placing children and education first.
Cutting criticism from national and local news outlets has not moved Inslee to act. But, perhaps a well-versed letter addressed to him by a middle school student will. A parent of a charter school student recently posted the following letter written by her son to Facebook. Check it out below.
Kai’s mother described the background to the letter:
Salon.com pointed out that Inslee did not support the 2012 charter school initiative…
The Governor is refusing to spend more effort on a failed policy he opposed! That’s some scandal, all right.
Rather than getting worked up into a lather about how liberal politicians won’t go out of their way to salvage conservative failures, how about placing some blame on the authors of I-1240, and the voters who enacted it? Washington state’s constitution is very clear on the points raised in court, and our courts have ruled consistently on these points for decades. When the supporters of I-1240 asked our Supreme Court to overturn a century of legal precedent, they were pretty much admitting defeat right there. Don’t blame our courts or governor because the authors of I-1240 didn’t do their legal homework before writing a law.
“The Governor is refusing to spend more effort on a failed policy he opposed!”
Yeah, Because that’s his job. To do what he wants, not what a majority of voters wanted. Yeesh, what a liberal fool.
To do what he wants, not what a majority of voters wanted.
So, if the legislature proposes revoking I-594, I’m sure you’ll very sternly lecture them with those very same words, no?
I thought you fancied yourself as some government scholar, Einstein. The legislature can revoke or amend any initiative after 2 years with a simple majority (immediately with a 2/3 majority) then let the chips fall where they may with voters. That’s their job. The governor doesn’t get to pick and choose which initiatives to enforce based on his personal feelings. A real Governor would lead with the will of the voters in mind. I remember the results of another initiative. I-1183 passed and a real statesman, the Attorney General, said while he didn’t agree with it, he would carry it out with the full force of his office. You’ll get none of that from the current dolt, his head is too full of thoughts of what he’s been paid off to think of, “carbon pollution”
The governor doesn’t get to pick and choose which initiatives to enforce based on his personal feelings.
No, he does not get to choose at all; he’s required to uphold our state’s Constitution, regardless of his personal feelings (or any other consideration). A majority of the voters enacted an unconstitutional law, and so Gov. Inslee should, per his Constitutionally-required duty, not enforce it. (He should also oppose any attempt to re-enact it — no matter how much whining he hears from people who themselves did a very poor job of drafting and vetting that law.)
The legislature can revoke or amend any initiative after 2 years with a simple majority (immediately with a 2/3 majority) then let the chips fall where they may with voters.
Of course, but your criticism of Gov. Inslee claimed his job is to do “what a majority of voters wanted.” That statement is blatantly false, and if you actually had knowledge of our Constitution sufficient to give you standing to criticize anyone else, you would have known this.
Big deal, a leftist-packed Supreme Court issues a union decision. In Washington we have 5 living current and former Attorneys General. A bi-partisan group who’ve served as the top attorney for the state. Almost 50 years experience as the #1 legal official of the state. The unanimous verdict (5 of 5) is the supreme court is WRONG.
“I think the minority opinion in that case is spot-on. But I’ve got to
tell you, even more surprising to me than the outcome of the case is the
timing of it. The case had sat before the court for some time, and then
it issues its opinion on the eve of when these students are going to go
to school, these parents are expecting their students to go to
school…The court just has to be aware of the implications of a decision
like this and what it means to the children and the families when they
have their children all scheduled to go to school and then are put on a
moment’s notice that ‘your kid has no place to go.” Christine Gregoire, former Governor and Attorney General.
That’s your gal, comrade. The one you just about wet your pants over when King County liberals “magically” found enough votes to put her over the top, lest we have a Governor Rossi.
In Washington we have 5 living current and former Attorneys General. A bi-partisan group who’ve served as the top attorney for the state. Almost 50 years experience as the #1 legal official of the state. The unanimous verdict (5 of 5) is the supreme court is WRONG.
It’s the job of our state’s Attorney General to defend our laws, including those made by Initiative, before our state’s Supreme Court. It’s not exactly surprising that the very same persons who would have had to defend I-1240 in court agreed with the defense of it. You may as well note that 5 out of 5 Seahawks’ fans think Super Bowl XL was poorly officiated.
…when King County liberals “magically” found enough votes to put her over the top,
*Yawn* Get back to us when you have actual evidence of wrongdoing.
Big deal, a leftist-packed Supreme Court issues a union decision. In Washington we have 5 living current and former Attorneys General. A bi-partisan group who’ve served as the top attorney for the state. Almost 50 years experience as the #1 legal official of the state. The unanimous verdict (5 of 5) is the supreme court is WRONG.
“I think the minority opinion in that case is spot-on. But I’ve got to
tell you, even more surprising to me than the outcome of the case is the
timing of it. The case had sat before the court for some time, and then
it issues its opinion on the eve of when these students are going to go
to school, these parents are expecting their students to go to
school…The court just has to be aware of the implications of a decision
like this and what it means to the children and the families when they
have their children all scheduled to go to school and then are put on a
moment’s notice that ‘your kid has no place to go.” Christine Gregoire, former Governor and Attorney General.
That’s your gal, comrade. The one you just about wet your pants over when King County liberals “magically” found enough votes to put her over the top, lest we have a Governor Rossi.
Meanwhile, SAT score fell by almost 20% last year and it appears that liberals are too beholden to the WEA which disregards this national test as credible. The whole agenda of squashing valuable Charter school is by manipulating the government. Inslee received contributions from the WEA as well as seven of the Supreme Court Justices. What a shame that indigent kids need to pay for their subservience.
Meanwhile, SAT score fell by almost 20% last year…
That statement is so wildly improbable, I won’t even bother with the always-empty exercise of asking you for any source citations.
But I’m sure the less than two thousand charter-school students would, all by themselves, reverse that trend right quick, wouldn’t they?
You probably won’t accept KOMO Radio as a credible source as they are sooooo conservative. They actual stat is 18%, so forgive me for rounding up. I am starting to think you are a Tea Party member here to irritate any logical discussion. Why?, because you appear to not care about homeless and low income students from having a fighting chance to escape their circumstance. That is the population served by Charter Schools, not children of means. Damn shame the liberals of this state are so entrenched with supporting labor. Considering Inslee has taken over $1 million in contributions from the WEA, and 7 out of 9 members of the Supreme Court did as well. Since when is it acceptable to not recuse yourself from making a decision that is a direct conflict of interest. I understand a Republican is submitting an initiative that would require a judge to recuse themselves if a member of a lawsuit made a political contribution to their election campaign. About time!
I am also entertained by the fact that Democrats were fine with the decision to pull funding from Charter Schools until they realized it also effects a number of already existing programs, like Running Start, a program all three of my kids benefitted from, and numerous other programs supported by the Democratic Party. Like watching frantic rats trying to escape flood waters.
You probably won’t accept KOMO Radio as a credible source as they are sooooo conservative. They actual stat is 18%…
Since you didn’t provide a link, I searched for a story at KOMO. Here’s the first story found:
For the ninth consecutive year, Washington students’ average score on the three major SAT exams (reading, writing and math) was the highest in the nation among states in which more than half of the eligible students took the tests, according to figures released by the College Board Wednesday.
That was in 2011. Did we really fall 18% after nine consecutive years of top performance? (Link this time, please.)
… because you appear to not care about homeless and low income students from having a fighting chance to escape their circumstance. That is the population served by Charter Schools, not children of means.
While you remain master of the cheap and groundless accusation, my opposition to charter schools was the unconstitutional funding mechanism. We can fix that. Which existing taxes would you raise, which new taxes would you implement, and/or which road, prison, (or other non-school) funds would you have us divert, to support charter schools?
Damn shame the liberals of this state are so entrenched with supporting labor, which only object to Charter Schools because they are independent of organized labor.
So, once the charter school is up and running, how will the school prevent the employees from forming unions? Fire anyone overheard talking about this legal activity?
“KOMO radio”. Not a lot to attach, but did hear it on the radio, a primitive way to gather the news, but still credible. Also the decision was based upon really old language that greatly precedes the changes of the day. To say that Charter Schools funding is unconstitutional also includes the following:
* Delta High, 400 students, governed by Columbia Basin Community College, WSU, the districts of Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, and private industry.
* TAF Academy, 280 students, governed by the Federal Way district and Technology Access Foundation, a private organization.
* Washington Youth Academy, 140 students, governed by the unelected National Guard, for high-risk students.
* Running Start, 20,000 students, governed by appointed boards of community colleges, technical colleges, four-year universities.
* College in the High School, 19,000 students, governed by appointed boards of community colleges, technical colleges, four-year universities.
* Running Start for the Trades, 2,000 students, governed by appointed boards of community colleges, technical colleges, four-year universities.
*Gateway to College, 579 students, governed by appointed boards of community and technical colleges.
* Tech Prep program, 24,000 students, governed by the unelected federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education.
* Career Link, 600 students, governed by the appointed board of South Seattle Community College.
* Advanced Placement courses, 71,000 students, designed and controlled by the College Board, a private company.
* Jobs for Graduates, governed by a private non-profit organization.
* Skill Centers, 7,000 students, governed by an unelected council of superintendents.
* Career and Technical Education (CTE), for middle and high school students, governed by private advisory boards.
* Online Education, 23,000 students, many courses are governed by private companies.
* Tribal Schools, 1,000 students, governed by unelected Tribal administrators.
Think liberals are paying attention yet?
Not a lot to attach, but did hear it on the radio, a primitive way to gather the news, but still credible.
So, some guy on the radio said something, so you believe it. Whatever.
…while I could find millions of dollars on useless entitlements and pork barrel issues to cut.
Lazy thinking produces nothing but cheap talk. Which programs would you cut?
Also the decision of the Supreme Court was based upon really old language that greatly precedes the changes of the day.
That “really old language” appears in a document called “The Constitution of Washington State,” and if you want to amend it, just say so.
Good to see you’re thinking about constitutionality, though. Had the authors of I-1240 done so, we could have charter schools operating today.
What you’re not mentioning is that charter schools can pick and chose what students they want or don’t want, public schools cannot.
What you’re not mentioning is that charter schools can pick and chose what students they want or don’t want, public schools cannot.
No, charter schools succeed because UNIONS BAD OOGA BOOGA. Facts which do not fit this predetermined conclusion will be ignored.
Seriously, the most amusing aspect of all this whining about the wonderful superiority of charter schools is how the most vocal supporters of charter schools continually demonstrate a total lack of critical thinking.
They serve the disadvantaged, and have limited capacity like every other school, public or private. Only an idiot would contend that charter schools are unfair when there are more students that room for them in the school is unfair. The need is great, yet Union lackies still care more about their bank account than the kids.
Ya we need to make sure the laws are written so that dirt bag lawyers can’t pull a trick out of their ass to circumvent the voters will.
We can pass another version, identical except for the funding, since diverting money from common schools to charter schools is clearly unconstitutional.
So, do we want to increase taxes, or divert money from roads, prisons, &c. to fund the charter schools? Discuss.
Charter Schools are State Schools tensor. No school district is the same as no school is the same as the next school so the argument that diverting money from “regular schools” to Charter Schools is stupid. You are a perfect example of the differences in learning. Progressives don’t understand logic and rational thinking like conservatives do. Progressives don’t care about facts. They use their opinion and feeling and cool aid drinking skills for their source of facts. See! We are different and we need schools that are different from the standard crap that’s out there.
Charter Schools are State Schools…
Repeating an argument which has already failed accomplishes nothing. Thanks for playing!
Those conservative failures haven’t done near as much damage to education in Washington as liberal successes have.
Those conservative failures haven’t done near as much damage to education in Washington as liberal successes have.
In part because the former have been proven in court to be unconstitutional, while the latter have given the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma area an unemployment rate of less than 4%. What a hideous failure that is, eh?
Several very strong and huge businesses are creating jobs despite a fascist city,county and state government. Don’t even try and place any businesses success in the lap of idiot progressive/communist government bureaucrats.
Several very strong and huge businesses are creating jobs despite a fascist city,county and state government.
Were you perhaps referring to Amazon?
Both Mayor Paul Schell and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, in letters to the federal Department of Health and Human Services in support of the lease, have named Amazon.com as the prospective new tenant. Schell spokeswoman Victoria Schoenburg said Pacific Medical officials have told the mayor’s office that the new tenant would be the Seattle-based Internet bookseller.
Local government’s timely assistance to Amazon kept the “internet bookseller” here in Seattle. (Those failed liberal policies…)
Don’t even try and place any businesses success in the lap of idiot progressive/communist government bureaucrats.
Commanding other people to ignore obvious external reality is the only hope your belief system has left, isn’t it?
What does the unemployment rate of Bellevue have to do with education? Thanks for proving my point.
Good dirt bag attornys can turn any statement or law into what they want to see so what’s the point. The damn SLAP law was a perfect example where attornys turned it to their benefit until the WSSC said it was unconstitutional.
In its 6-to-3 decision last week, the state’s Supreme Court struck down the law in its entirety, relying on a century-old precedent that defined “common schools,” or public schools, as those that are “common to all children of proper age and capacity, free, and subject to and under the control of the qualified voters of the school district.”
There is not a school in this state that is under the control of voters of the district, all we get at parent teacher meetings is, this is what the Dept of Education told us we will be doing and when some one complains you get an oh-well. Let’s just keep doing what we have always done, fail the children that need help the most. The WEA can go strait to hell!
You are correct.
Teacher union doesn’t like Charter schools. They paid money to get the Supreme court justices and they paid money to get Inslee elected. What other result would you expect in the Communist state of Washington. Seriously. We expect this crap for Progressive sh$% for brains.
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