Dear Liv: Yes, A Loss for ALEC and the Privatizers Makes Me Happy
The following is a response to Liv Finne who is a Director at the Washington Policy Center in our state and a member of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, published a piece after the Washington State Supreme Court brought down their decision that charter schools are not “Common Schools” per our state constitution and therefore cannot receive public funding.
Ms. Finne wrote an editorial that became a personal attack on Waye Au, one of the plaintiffs in the State Supreme Court case.
To follow is his response.
Dear Liv: Yes, A Loss for ALEC and the Privatizers Makes Me Happy
By Wayne Au
Wayne Au likes to close schools. The U.W.-Bothell associate professor writes …that September 4, 2015, the day six state supreme court justices voted to defund charter schools in communities across the state, “was a good day for me.”
Saying it “felt like a personal victory,” Au proudly announces himself as “a very vocal opponent” of voter-approved Initiative 1240 and of allowing children to attend a public charter school. His unrestrained glee almost jumps off the page. – Liv Finne, “Charter opponent expresses joy at school closures.”
On September 4, 2015, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that charter schools here in Washington were unconstitutional because they received public monies but were not subject to publicly elected governance. I had been deeply involved in the struggles against charter schools in Washington State, and expressed my happiness about the ruling in a piece published in the Washington Post. My essay was subsequentlyrepublished under a different title at CommonDreams, and then republished under yet another title in the newsletter of the Washington State Labor Council newsletter, The Stand. Then, on September 17, 2015, Liv Finne and the Washington Policy Center attacked me personally, citing The Stand, for my response to the charter school ruling.
What Liv Finne and the Washington Policy Center wrote about me was rambling, off Dear Liv: Yes, A Loss for ALEC and the Privatizers Makes Me Happy | Seattle Education: