Seattle, 259 other districts oppose charter schools - Local - MyNorthwest.com

Seattle, 259 other districts oppose charter schools - Local - MyNorthwest.com:

Seattle, 259 other districts oppose charter schools

BY JOSH KERNS  on November 2, 2012 @ 6:00 am (Updated: 7:30 am - 11/2/12 )

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Seattle Schools Superintendent Jose Banda is one of several hundred education leaders signing a letter released Thursday urging defeat of I-1240. (Seattle School District image)

With just days before the election, education leaders, teachers and parents from 260 of the state's 295 school districts are making a last ditch effort to defeat I-1240, the measure that would permit charter schools.

In a letter released Thursday, the opponents warned charter schools would siphon millions of dollars from public schools without improving education.

Seattle Schools Superintendent Jose Banda expressed his concern on the same day the district announced it has fallen short of meeting the ambitious academic goals of its five-year plan.

Banda and the Seattle School Board argue charter schools would further hurt efforts to improve, The Seattle Times reports.

"The open letter shows that opposition to I-1240 is not bound by geography or income," said Michael DeBell, Seattle School Board