washington business
A King County Superior Court judge ruled in December 2013 the public charter schools created by the initiative were not
“common schools” as defined in the state constitution and, therefore, could not receive state funding. That ruling was appealed
to the state Supreme Court, where the case sat waiting for a decision.
Relying on a definition of “common schools” from a 1909 state Supreme Court case, the nine justices issued a 6-3 ruling
Sept. 4 that found the charter school law unconstitutional. The majority
opinion reads in part, “We hold that the provisions of I-1240 that designate
and treat charter schools as common schools violate article IX, section 2 of
our state constitution and are void. This includes the Act’s funding provisions,
which attempt to tap into and shift a portion of moneys allocated for common
schools to the new charter schools authorized by the Act.”
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed an appeal of the ruling on Sept.
— Catherine Ahl, education chair, League of Women
24, saying in a press release, “Given the significant impacts of this ruling
Voters of Washington
on Washington students and their families, we are respectfully asking the
Supreme Court to take another look at its decision.”
In the midst of a rally Nov. 19 supporting charter schools, the Supreme Court
announced it would not reconsider its ruling.
Supporters are now faced with one difficult option to keep charter schools open: A
bipartisan fix to the law in the state Legislature in 2016.
“The court took a long time to come out
with its decision, but it shouldn't have
been a big surprise to anyone associated
with the charter school issue.”
the ruling a surprise? yes and no
If the lengthy Jan. 8, 2013 email memo from state Superintendent of Public Instruction
Randy Dorn to education leaders in the House and Senate is any indication, the court’s
ruling seemingly shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
In the memo, Dorn wrote, in part, “I-1240, however, creates a governance structure for
charter schools which I believe violates our state constitution, and is not accountable
to the people. …I am writing you to make my concerns clear, and to offer my assistance
in amending this new statute to remove this constitutional issue.”
Not one lawmaker, Dorn said, took him up on his offer of assistance to fix the law.
Catherine Ahl, education chair for the League of Women Voters of Washington and
initial party to the lawsuit challenging I-1240, believes backers of the charter school
law should have been prepared.
“The King County Superior Court judge ruled in 2013 that charter schools are not
‘common schools,’ and then the ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court,” Ahl
Rainier Prep students awaiting the start of class at
said. “The court took a long time to come out with its decision, but it shouldn’t have
the newly opened public charter school.
been a big surprise to anyone associated with the charter school issue.”
O’Sullivan doesn’t necessarily offer a hearty dissent. She said she assumed the ruling could potentially be negative for charter
schools, but believed the court would raise specific issues with the law that need to be corrected legislatively — not dismantle
the entire system.
As for the timing of the court’s ruling, the consensus is that it was extremely unfortunate.
“The timing was not good,” Dorn said. “It should have been earlier.”
closing the educational equity gap and, yes, mccleary
The state Supreme Court’s landmark 2012 McCleary education funding ruling has muddied the debate on the need for public
charter schools to close the educational equity gap by wrapping it around the pending matter of fully funding K-12 education.
For supporters of charters, like Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, the current public school model and growing achievement
gap in communities of color amount to a “crisis.”
“It’s a shame that there is an entity out there that says ‘we’ve been doing it the same way and it works for most of the kids
and we’re working on these other kids and we’ll get it done,’” said Pettigrew, who is the highest ranking African American in
the Legislature. “When you’re talking about kids, you can’t have the mentality that ‘we’re working on it.’”
48 association of washington business