Off to Olympia (with this story in my brain)
I was interviewed last Friday for a KUOW story by Ann Dornfeld on the legislative efforts to save the (former) charter schools. It played today. Astonishing.
It explained the two current bills in play. One is SB 6163 by Senator Andy Billig and Senator Michael Baumgartner of Spokane; the other bill is from Senator Steve Litzow, Mullet, Fain and Hobbs, SB 6194. (House companion bill is HB 2367.)
SB 6163 would basically make school BOARDs (not districts, boards), the only authorizers for charter schools. In the old law, school districts and the Charter Commission could both be authorizers (once a district had applied and been approved.) In this law, the Charter Commission? Gone.
And, under the old law, there wasn't exactly a gold rush of districts who even applied to be charter authorizers. There ended up being just one.
But, it solve both problems with the old law - elected oversight that leads to access to state education funding. (But you can imagine how polarizing this could make school board elections.)
SB 6163 is vague and kinda incoherent. They still have a conversion clause but the mystery now is how it works. There is no explanation that I can find. It expands a charter contract from five years (old law) to seven years (this bill.) No and no.
Litzow's bill would only work on the funding issue.
State Sen. Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, is co-sponsoring a bill with a different source: lottery money. The change would affect not only charters but other non-traditional public schools, such as tribal schools and the state schools for the deaf and blind.This is always a big question that gets asked - doesn't lottery money go to Seattle Schools Community Forum: Off to Olympia (with this story in my brain):
“We are funding them out of the Opportunity Pathways, which is the account funded by the lottery," Litzow said.
Big Education Ape: Second Charter School Fix is also a Framework for Fraud http://bit.ly/1l33Pmr