Fighting for public education: Washington Charters’ vision for students and families | Opinion
We may be three thousand miles away from the White House but there is no distance great enough when it comes to threats to public education here at home.
There is nothing partisan about wanting students to receive a public school education centered on core subjects like math, reading and science and that also provides life skills that prepare them for life after graduation. From the kitchen table to the classroom to our state capitol, all of us have a stake in student success, no matter what boxes we check when we vote.
A sense of shared urgency for the future of Washington’s kids is the driving catalyst for me in my work at the Washington State Charter Schools Association (WA Charters). Let there be no confusion about what WA Charters stands for and who influences our advocacy. If you are a person who believes in the promise of public education, it’s you. If you are a teacher who knows all too well the challenges of meeting the vast diversity of student needs, it’s you. If you are a public official who prioritizes supporting public school families, it’s you. If you are a parent trying to find the right fit for your student in a public school, then rest assured that with every action we take, it’s you.
As a new administration settles in the White House, there will be anxiety about how new policies will affect public school students. There are some in our state who support proposals that would provide public funding for private schools through vouchers and/or tax-credit scholarships.
Not us.
At WA Charters, we stand with public schools and will fight attempts to undermine them. During last year’s election, the blueprint laid out in the so-called Project 2025 included taking resources away from public schools. The only projects that WA Charters supports are those that seek to expand access to public education, invest in public schools and teachers, give parents new options for tuition-free, non-sectarian public schools, and that prepare Washington’s students for the diversity of the world and its people.
In Washington state, charter public schools are free, are open to everyone, and are non-sectarian public schools operated by nonprofit organizations. Washington’s charter public schools serve students under a system of oversight that is widely acknowledged as one of the strictest in the nation.
Washington’s charter public schools each have a local board of directors, are authorized by and evaluated annually by the state’s Charter School Commission or a local school district and are also accountable to the State Auditor and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The Commission itself is comprised of qualified individuals who are appointed by elected officials from both sides of the aisle, from the State Superintendent’s office, and from the State Board of Education.
Charter public schools – by law – are public schools, never private, never religious, never exclusive, and always tuition-free. Washington’s charter public school teachers must meet the same state certification requirements as all other public schools and must abide by the same state laws regarding open meetings, public disclosure and expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
The primary distinction between Washington’s charter public schools and its traditional public schools is that in exchange for additional layers of oversight, charter public schools can customize individual learning opportunities for the students they serve.
As we enter the uncertainty caused by a new federal administration, it is important to clarify confusion about what WA Charters does, and for whom. Alongside public education allies that include the League of Education Voters, Stand for Children WA, the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition and the Black Education Strategies Roundtable, WA Charters is committed to bipartisan solutions to equitable funding for all public school students, including charter public school students, and to ensuring that every Washington family has access to public schools that provide the best fit for their child.
As traditional public schools close statewide, families have fewer public options than ever. We cannot afford to be misled by misinformation that undermines public education by creating doubt about those of us who are fighting for all public school students.
The solutions we seek on behalf of kids will originate from within our state’s communities. We are lost if we fall victim to the interests of a faraway elite few. Here at home, we stand with all those fighting for a public education that benefits all Washington’s students, and their future, and for you.