News > Washington

Seattle Times
The Allure of School Choice: Waiting List for District's Special Programs
November 26, 2004

Lake Washington School District has 11 choice schools, each designed around a different philosophy or theme, from the relationship between the environment and people to classical literature and historical themes.

For all their allure, the choice schools represent a real commitment for families. Some require dozens of hours of parent service. Some do not have access to sports on campus, which means parents must ferry their children back to their neighborhood schools to participate.

Still, the schools are so popular that there is a waiting list of about 450 people. Superintendent Don Saul said Lake Washington's choice program is one of the most attractive features of the district. The only problem, he said, is that there aren't enough schools to meet demand. So the district is accepting proposals for another school at the junior-high level.

Seattle Times
Seattle District Presents Five-Year Schools Plan
November 5, 2004

Seattle Public Schools staff yesterday unveiled a five-year plan that sets 2009-2010 as the deadline to eliminate the achievement gap in reading and math, but could also mean closing some schools and limiting bus service. The plan envisions spending at least $20 million on new programs next year. To come up with the cash, the district's managers say resources will have to be dramatically shifted soon. We have to downsize the number of facilities we have," said Superintendent Raj Manhas.

All the talk of closing the gap in student achievement between whites and minorities isn't new. Two years ago, the district said it would do so by 2005. And 18 years ago, the district's self-imposed deadline was 1990. But Manhas, who took the district's reins in June 2003, said yesterday that he believes Seattle schools can do it.

The Olympian
It's Back to the Drawing Board for Education Backers
November 4, 2004

Rejection of Initiative 884 could spell tough times ahead for educators now counting on Washington lawmakers to carve out more state money for public schools. But I-884 wasn't the only failed education measure on the ballot Tuesday.  Referendum 55 would have allowed the creation of 45 new charter schools statewide in the next six years.

The vote Tuesday marked the third time in a decade that Washington voters have rejected charter schools. But supporters say the measure's defeat doesn't mean voters necessarily have heard the last of the issue. "There could be another opportunity in the future if the regular system is not able to solve the dropout crisis," said Jim Spady, president of the Washington Charter School Resource Center.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Charter Schools, Education Tax Defeated
November 3, 2004

Voters last night soundly rejected measures that would have bailed out Washington's hard-pressed public education system and opened the door to charter schools.

Jim Spady, a longtime charter advocate, said that even though R-55 failed, the state's high school dropout rate of more than 30 percent can't be ignored. “We proposed charter public schools as a way to address this crisis,” he said. “If the voters decide that they don't want to address this problem with charter schools right now, the fact is the problem still needs to be addressed.”

The Seattle Times
Charter Schools Fail; State Law Is Overturned by Wide Margin
November 3, 2004

For the third time in eight years, Washington voters rejected an effort to allow charter schools in the state. If Referendum 55 had been approved, a law passed by the Legislature last spring would have remained in place. Returns last night indicate the law has been overturned by a wide margin.

Still, businessman Jim Spady, an avid charter-school advocate, promised that “we'll be back with cost-effective, innovative proposals as a way to help kids who fall through the cracks of the system.”

The referendum has drawn interest from outside the state because of a national debate over charter schools and school choice. Supporters argue that charter schools allow innovation because they are free from many regulations that constrain public schools. They also argue that charter schools are more accountable because if they don't perform well, parents will remove their children or districts will revoke the charters.

The Tacoma News Tribune
Voters Shoot Down Changes to Schools
November 3, 2004

Washington voters Tuesday appeared to reject Referendum 55, which would have launched a charter schools experiment in Washington

The measure would have authorized the creation of up to 45 charter schools over six years. It also would have allowed an unlimited number of “conversion” charters: existing public schools converted to charters if they failed to make adequate progress on test scores.

Jim Spady, a chief charter schools supporter, said that, if R-55 doesn’t pass, the state needs to find another way to help “tens of thousands of children falling through the cracks of the public school system.”

The Olympian
Charter Referendum Falls Short, New Primary Passes
November 3, 2004

For the third time in a decade, Washington voters were rejecting a measure that would have permitted charter schools. Referendum 55, a measure that gave voters a chance to decide the fate of a legislative bill passed in 2003 allowing charter schools, was failing by a large margin Tuesday night.

Proponents have said charter schools could make gains with students who haven't performed well in traditional classrooms, such as the 30 percent of Washington students who drop out of high school. “We intend to hold the current system accountable for solving the dropout crisis,” said Jim Spady, president of the Washington Charter School Resource Center. “If the regular system isn't able to solve it (the dropout rate), we'll be back.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paving Way for Black Students to Succeed in High School
October 27, 2004

SEI Academy is a public charter school and an outgrowth of Self Enhancement Inc., a non-profit that has pushed since 1981 to broaden opportunities for children, with a focus on Portland's African American population.

The SEI Academy enjoys advantages many fledgling charter schools do not. It's housed in the organization's Center for Self Enhancement, which boasts a gymnasium, a dance studio, a computer lab with a full-time instructor, a library with a full-time librarian, and a cafeteria.

SEI Academy’s goal is to prepare the students to succeed in high school, with an emphasis on character building. "With charter schools, there's this big push to be creative and innovative," said Natasha Butler, the academy's educational director, or principal. "Our focus point is to be effective."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A Good Curriculum, Teachers with Passion Add Up to Smart Kids
October 27, 2004

The M.I.T.C.H. Charter School in the Tigard-Tualatin school district is the creation of Debi Lorence, a former public and private school teacher who serves as the school's director. The acronym stands for Multi-sensory Instruction Teaching Children Hands-on.

M.I.T.C.H. students generally outdo their district peers on standardized state assessments. In both reading and math, every single M.I.T.C.H. third-grader met or exceeded standards in 03-04, a record unmatched by any of the district's nine other, bigger elementary schools. The charter school's fourth-graders registered a similar result in reading, while their 95 percent success rate in math trailed only one regular district school.

Asked why M.I.T.C.H. students fare so well, Lorence answered: "It's the curriculum. The curriculum is good because the teachers are passionate about it.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Voters Weigh Pros, Cons of Charter Schools in Battleground Washington
October 27, 2004

Washington is the battleground state for the charter school movement this year. Charter schools were approved by the Legislature and governor last spring, but the law was suspended when a petition drive, spearheaded by the state teachers' union, collected enough signatures to force a referendum.

Since the nation's first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, 3,000 more have followed, and they now enroll nearly 750,000 students. Idaho was the first state neighboring Washington to approve charter schools, and 13 of the schools operate there. Oregon approved charters in 1999, and under its more liberal law, 56 charter schools now enroll 6,000 students.

While for-profit companies such as Edison Schools Inc. operate charter schools in many states, the Washington law was drafted to exclude them. Non-profit groups from out of state could apply, and KIPP, for one, is interested. "We're committed to doing what it takes to open a charter school in Washington state because we think the need exists," KIPP spokesman Steve Mancini said. "There's clearly an achievement gap in public education across the nation and in Washington state, and we have a record of turning underachievers into high achievers."

The Washington Education Association (WEA), the teachers union, has contributed $350,000 to the effort to reject the law. Its parent group, the National Education Association, has put in $500,000, and labor interests, including the American Federation of Teachers and local in-state teachers' groups, have accounted for most of the $1.3 million on the "no" side. The WEA's critics say the union's opposition is simply a matter of self-interest. Because charter school teachers wouldn't have to join the WEA local, the union wouldn't collect dues from them and would lose clout, they say.

Washington Policy Center
Non-Partisan Analysis of Referendum 55 Available
October 14, 2004

Washington Policy Center, the state's premier public policy research and education organization, has completed non-partisan, objective analysis of all statewide propositions appearing on this year's ballot, including Referendum 55, which asks voters to decide if a limited experimental charter school law, which the Legislature passed earlier this year, should be passed.

"There are several important ballot propositions this year," said Washington Policy Center President Daniel Mead Smith. "The goal for Washington Policy Center is to educate voters on the benefits and detractions of each initiative or referendum before they cast their ballot."

The (Everett, WA) Herald
Charter Schools Back on Ballot
October 12, 2004

Washington's voters will decide Nov. 2 whether to allow charter schools. Referendum 55 gives voters a chance to either endorse or overturn a decision by the Legislature last spring to approve charter schools, which receive public funding but operate with a looser regulatory leash.

The Washington Roundtable, an organization made up of top executives from many of the state's largest companies, supports charter schools, arguing it's another means to help students, particularly low-income minorities, in an age of increasing expectations. "It's not a panacea," said Steve Mullin, co-chairman of the statewide Approve 55 campaign and president of the organization. "It's another tool in the tool box to provide districts with ways to help students meet (academic) standards."

Referendum backers include the Association of Washington Business, the state Seniors Coalition, United Indians of All Tribes, and El Centro de la Raza, a statewide Latino social services organization.

The Seattle Times
(Snohomish) County's Dropout Rates Charted
October 6, 2004

Compared with students statewide, a slightly smaller percentage of Snohomish County high-school students dropped out of school in 2002-2003, but a larger percentage failed to graduate in four years. At an annual rate of 6.6 percent, over four years 36 percent of students in the county dropped out or failed to graduate on time. The statewide annual rate was 6.7 percent, with a four-year cumulative rate of 34 percent.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has suggested a range of potential solutions to the high dropout rate, including increasing students' sense of belonging, establishing smaller learning environments, and adopting meaningful curricula. But all those solutions are expensive, said Ken Limón, the assistant superintendent for secondary education in the Edmonds School District. "A lot of these kids' problems are so individual. How does a school address each individual problem? It's a struggle for us as a district," Limón said.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Only Two-Thirds of State's Students Graduate on Time
September 14, 2004

More than a third of Washington students who entered public high school as freshmen in the class of 2003 failed to graduate on time in four years, a rate unchanged from 2002.

In Seattle, almost half of those freshmen failed to get a diploma in four years, a performance slightly worse than in Seattle's class of 2002.

Statewide, students of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage in the class of 2003 recorded the highest on-time graduation rate, 71 percent, trailed by white students at 69.7 percent. On the other side of the "achievement gap," Hispanic students graduated on time at a rate of 49.5 percent, black students at 48.3 percent and American Indian students at 41.8 percent.

The Seattle Times
Gates' Donation Supports Charter Schools
September 10, 2004

Bill Gates yesterday announced a $300,000 personal contribution to the campaign to approve Referendum 55, which seeks to uphold the charter-school law passed by the Legislature last spring.

In a statement, Gates said: "Approving R-55 will give Washington state parents and teachers an important tool to help improve our public schools and help students who are falling through the cracks."

Business Wire
California Charter Schools Showing Greater Student Achievement Gains
September 7, 2004

California's public charter schools are making greater student achievement gains compared to their non-charter counterparts. The average growth on student achievement for charter schools nearly doubled the growth for their non-charter school counterparts.

These gains were announced in a new school year that has 78 new public charter schools opening their doors for the first time, a 15 percent increase compared to last year. There are now 537 charter schools serving approximately 180,000 students in California.

"These positive student achievement results, coupled with the growing excitement of public school teachers who continue to open new charter schools, show that charter schools are tremendously benefiting California's system of public education. California's charter schools are raising the bar for student achievement and for public education," said Caprice Young, CEO of the California Charter Schools Association.

The Chicgo Sun-Times
Duncan Touts University-Run City Schools
September 3, 2004

Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan challenged each of the city's universities Thursday to run a Chicago public school, following a passionate defense of the new Renaissance 2010 plan to create 100 new schools in the next six years.

Duncan cited North Kenwood-Oakland Charter School, operated by the University of Chicago's Center for Urban School Improvement (CUSI), as one of the best charters in the city. It outperformed city averages on all state reading and math tests this year, and even beat the Illinois average in fifth-grade math.

Timothy Knowles of CUSI called Duncan's university challenge a "wonderful idea" and said the center is interested in opening another charter at the old Donoghue School. "If higher ed is willing to step up,'' Knowles said, "it's exactly the right direction."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
More Parents to Get School-Choice Option
40 Facilities in the State Failed to Meet All Federal Testing Standards
September 2, 2004

Although scores rose this year on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, the results mean parents at more public schools than ever before will be offered the chance to transfer their children to a better-performing school at district expense.

In the Seattle area, parents at nine schools will be offered the transfer option for the first time in 2004-2005, joining three other area schools already subject to the remedy from their identification as struggling schools under an earlier, less-far-reaching federal law.

Statewide, 40 federally aided schools were pushed into the "choice" category, joining 37 included under the earlier law. Statewide, 326 Washington schools did not clear the federal bar, down from 432 in 2003. A total of 1,530 schools met the standard.

The Seattle Times
Charter Schools Get $600,000
August 27, 2004

Supporters of charter schools received $600,000 last week from two wealthy individuals, Donald Fisher, co-founder and former chairman of the Gap, and John Walton of the family that founded Wal-Mart.

Fisher and Walton each contributed $300,000 to the effort to uphold a law passed in the spring that would allow a limited number of charter schools serving low-income students in Washington state.

The fight over charter schools has lasted more than a decade in Washington state, with year after year of legislation introduced in Olympia, and two initiatives on the ballot in 1996 and 2000.

The Seattle Times
Charter-School Study Sparks Debate
August 19, 2004

Charter-school opponents and supporters are both claiming the high ground after a controversial report by the American Federation of Teachers that said students at charter schools fare worse than students at traditional public schools.

After The New York Times highlighted the report on its front page Tuesday, three Harvard researchers picked it apart on yesterday's Wall Street Journal opinion page.

Charter-school supporters and some academics dispute the federation's interpretation of the test scores, saying it's impossible to reach a conclusion about the performance of charter schools from a single year.

"It was one of the most unsophisticated, low-level analyses I've ever seen," said Mary Beth Celio, a statistician at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Charter-school opponents say they fear the schools will drain public resources and benefit only wealthy children. But the study says charter schools are enrolling students who have not done well in public schools and are often years behind. Celio said they would be expected to score lower on tests than their public-school peers.

"All they can say is that charter schools do not skim in any sense of the word. The students they take in are the poorest, most educationally vulnerable kids in the country," she said

The Tacoma News Tribune
Lazy Days of Summer? Hardly.
July 27, 2004

Nearly half of Tacoma ninth-graders flunk at least one class during their freshman year of high school. Last fall semester in Tacoma, 46 percent of ninth-graders failed at least one class, according to a recent district analysis. When overall grades are tallied, 22 percent of ninth-graders earned a GPA of less than 1.0 - below a D average. In contrast, only 2 percent of Tacoma sixth-graders and 9 percent of 10th-graders had such low grades.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Former state school chief Billings to run for her old job
July 22, 2004

Judith Billings, the state school chief for eight years until 1996 when she announced she had HIV, announced Wednesday that she's challenging incumbent Terry Bergeson.

The candidate said she opposes charter schools because of the state's poor economic climate, even though she supported a charter-school initiative four years ago. Back then, she said, the initiative was "carefully crafted" for accountability and that the economic times were "plush."

Like Billings, Bergeson, too, has switched positions on charter schools.

In the past, she said, she helped kill "five years' worth" of charter-school bills that she didn't think had enough accountability or access for students.

She supported the recent charter-school legislation, however.

"I'm very much in favor of having a choice, and when done right, charter schools are one of those choices," she said.

The Seattle Times
Ballot Measures
July 03, 2004

Here's an update on the likely November 2004 ballot measures:

• I-892. That initand use taxes on the profits to lower property taxes. Sponsor Tim iative would allow electronic slot machines in nontribal venues Eyman got enough signatures to likely put an expansion of gambling on the Nov. 2 ballot.

• I-884: Backers of a one-penny-on-the-dollar sales-tax increase, to raise money for education, brought in about 320,000 signatures. That virtually guarantees a place on the ballot.

• I-872: The state Grange submitted an additional batch of 75,000 signatures for a "top two" state primary, bringing the total to more than 305,000 and assuring a ballot spot.

• I-297: A vote is guaranteed on this measure to try to stop the federal government from using the state as a radioactive-waste repository until old wastes have been cleaned up.

• Referendum 55: Foes of a new charter-school law earlier collected enough signatures to place a referendum on the ballot.

To get on the Nov. 2 ballot, Initiative sponsors need nearly 198,000 valid signatures, while Referendum sponsors needed 99,000 valid signatures.

The Bremerton Patriot
Parents Group Begins Charter School Campaign
June 25, 2004

A group of parents dissatisfied with the school district have begun a campaign to open a charter school in Bremerton as early as 2006.

Although the Washington Legislature recently passed a law allowing charter schools, it has met with fierce opposition from the teachers’ union, which successfully petitioned for the law to go to a vote Nov. 2.

Nonetheless, the Bremerton parents remain optimistic. They point out that, in the November 2000 election, 48 percent of voters approved of charter schools. Now they hope to educate voters on the virtues of charter schools. “If people understood what charter schools were about they would embrace them,” said Jackie McVay, one of the organizers of the campaign.

She and other Olympic View parents began exploring the idea of starting a charter school when they learned the district was going to shut down their school.

The Tacoma News Tribune
Measure Puts Charter School Plans on Hold
June 22, 2004

Proposals for charter schools in Eatonville and Federal Way apparently are on hold until voters decide the fate of Referendum 55 in November.

Referendum 55 will ask voters to decide whether the charter schools bill approved this year should become law. A "yes" vote would permit charter schools in Washington, while a "no" vote would overturn the law and put an end to charters before they begin.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Charter School Plans to File in Federal Way
June 11, 2004

The operators of a charter school in California plan to file an application next week to open a school in Federal Way under Washington's suspended charter school law. Informational packets have also been mailed to the Highline, Kent and Renton school districts.

Meanwhile, Shelley Flippen filed an application with the Eatonville School District to expand her Montessori preschool to grades K-3 as a charter school. The Desert Sands charter school opened in Los Angeles County in 2001 with financial backing from two area businessmen. It targets students from ninth grade to age 21 who have dropped out and seeks to get them back on track to a diploma.

The school's 1,100 students make appointments to meet with teachers one-on-one, and they independently study one subject at a time until they complete the required curriculum. Student performance as measured on standardized tests has improved about 5 percent a year since the school opened, D'Avignon said.

"We're open to any suggestions for kids who are already out of school, or considering dropping out, to keep them in” said Federal Way School Board President Ed Bailey.

Skagit Valley Herald
Mount Vernon Gets First Charter School Request
June 10, 2004

The Mount Vernon School District has its first charter school request. A group calling itself the Mount Vernon Charter School Corporation has proposed running a school for 80 to 100 students in kindergarten through third-grade.

King County Journal
Charter schools delay is likely
June 9, 2004

Rogelio Riojas is the executive director of Sea Mar Community Health Center, a nonprofit agency that provides health services to low-income Latinos around King County. Riojas is interested in starting a charter school in the Highline School District in south King County for a small group of children who are primarily Spanish-speaking.

Sea Mar runs a state program for preschoolers, but Riojas finds that once those children enter kindergarten, it's not long before they are having trouble with their school work, largely due to language barriers.

"We believe they fall behind from day one and never catch up,'' Riojas said.

He hopes to create a charter elementary school that will use both Spanish and English to better prepare students for junior high and high school, thus giving them a better chance of getting a high school diploma.

The Seattle Times
Charter-school network seeks a foothold in Washington
June 7, 2004

KIPP plans to submit an application in the next few weeks to open one of Washington state's first charter schools.

Levin, a co-founder of KIPP, started this school in 1995 in a tough South Bronx neighborhood with a reputation for poverty, drugs and crime. For the past six years, KIPP was the highest-scoring middle school in the entire Bronx in reading and math, and last year among the top 10 percent in New York City. In contrast, the middle school that operates in the same building as KIPP has test scores that rank among the area's lowest.

KIPP has talked with the Federal Way School District, and is looking at other districts, too, including Seattle, although the school board there has expressed strong opposition to charter schools.