Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Are Charter Schools Unconstitutional?

So, while one group of teachers are trying to figure how to boil water and calculate the amount of pasta to prepare for a smallish group of people, another is apparently wondering if in the long run, they will even have jobs.

Perhaps this charming group at "F" school Windsor Prep, and their other money maker  school, East Windsor Middle Academy should worry too.

In Washington, possibly the most progressive, and liberal state in our union, the state Supreme Court has ruled that Charter Schools are unconstitutional. 
http://www.seattletimes.com

"   In the ruling, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that charter schools aren’t “common schools” because they’re governed by appointed rather than elected boards. Therefore, “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools,” Madsen wrote.
   Justice Mary E. Fairhurst agreed with the majority that charter schools aren’t common schools, but argued in a partial dissenting opinion that the state “can constitutionally support charter schools through the general fund.”
She was joined by Justices Steven C. González and Sheryl Gordon McCloud.
   The ruling is a victory for the coalition that filed the suit in July 2013, asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional for “improperly diverting public-school funds to private organizations that are not subject to local voter control.”
   The Washington Education Association was joined by the League of Women Voters of Washington, El Centro de la Raza, the Washington Association of School Administrators and several individual plaintiffs.
   “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 Kim Mead, president of the Washington Education Association..."
Here is a link to the actual ruling: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/897140.pdf

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