WASHINGTON — In a 6-3 decision on Friday, the Washington Supreme Court found "significant portions" of voter-approved Initiative 1240, the Charter School Act, unconstitutional.
The high court said that charter schools do not qualify as "common" schools and cannot receive public funding.
In the lead opinion, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen said the case wasn't about the merits of charter schools, simply whether they were eligible. Citing state Supreme Court precedent from 1909, she said they are not, because they are not under the control of local voters.
A coalition of groups, including the state teachers union, a group of Washington school administrators and the League of Women Voters, sued the state in 2013 to stop the new charter system, adopted by voters in 2012.
Last year, Washington state had one charter school. This fall, nine charter schools are scheduled to open their doors across the state KIRO 7 News has calls into schools to learn what this means for them.
On Saturday, it was advised that every public charter school planned to be open on Tuesday, September 8.
Washington Charters released this Saturday statement:
"Until we know more, every public charter school plans to be open on Tuesday, September 8, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that there is no disruption for the students currently enrolled in Washington's public charter schools."
Washington Charters released this Friday statement:
"Today, the Washington Supreme Court issued its ruling on public charter schools in our state. Legal experts are carefully reviewing the decision to determine how it will be applied, and we will have a full statement as soon as we have more details.
Washington state’s voter-approved public charter school law was crafted to be one of the strongest in the country, in order to ensure that students have access to an excellent education in any public school. WA Charters stands with the many respected educators, advocates, community leaders and parents—as well as the approved charter school leaders—who have defended the voter-approved public charter school law."
"The Supreme Court has affirmed what we’ve said all along – charter schools steal money from our existing classrooms, and voters have no say in how these charter schools spend taxpayer funding," said president of the Washington Education Association Kim Mead in a statement.
Mead said the court ruling is "another reminder of the state Legislature’s failure to fully fund basic education as required by the state Constitution."
The Supreme Court is currently fining the Legislature $100,000 a day for failing to develop a plan for fully funding K-12 education as required by the court's McCleary decision.
"Instead of diverting taxpayer dollars to unaccountable charter schools, it’s time for the Legislature to fully fund K-12 public schools so that all of Washington’s children get the quality education the Constitution guarantees them."
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