OLYMPIA – Voters will get to decide whether Washington state should have charter schools.
Referendum 55 qualified Thursday for the November ballot, Secretary of State Sam Reed said. Supporters turned in 153,000 signatures, well over the roughly 100,000 valid voter signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot.
Referendum 55 is backed by the Washington Education Association, the 76,000-member state teachers union, which hopes voters will reject a charter school law that was passed by the Legislature this year.
The new law would allow 45 new charter schools over the next six years. It would also let school districts convert failing public schools into charter schools. The law was due to take effect earlier this month, but it’s on hold until the voters decide in November.
Washington voters have twice rejected charter school initiatives, most recently in 2000, when the measure failed with 48 percent of the vote despite a campaign bankrolled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
“We’re confident that given the opportunity, voters will again say no to charters,” WEA President Charles Hasse said Thursday. “Instead of investing precious time and money on charters, we should invest in proven steps to improve the quality of public schools.”
Longtime charter school supporter Jim Spady said he believes voters will back charter schools once they learn more about them. He said the teachers’ union opposition stems from fear that charter schools won’t be unionized.
“I’d like voters to know that charter schools ARE public schools, charter schools are good for kids and parents, and that the reason the union opposes charter schools is strictly money,” Spady said.
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