Charter Schools Ruled Unconstitutional in Washington State

I know a lot of people who went into Air Traffic Control but they were ex-military, whith many of their FAA certifications already under their belt. Regardless, it can be a very "high stress/high responsibility" job and most people burn out quickly. It's probably best your friend went into something else.

Ah, okay.

I agree that shit needs to stop, then.

This is another flaw in charter school education. The teachers have no authority and aren't well compensated. Those who are any good leave for better jobs in public systems. Charters are overwhelmingly staffed by passionate but inexperienced teachers and lack more experienced staff to mentor those new to the profession.

http://www.alternet.org/education/striking-teacher-churn-charter-schools

Except that quite a few charter schools have unionized:

http://www.uft.org/issues/charter-schools
http://www.chicagoacts.org/charter-news/267-urban-prep-victory
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/education/27charter.html?_r=0
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/three-more-ohio-charter-schools-unionize-1.608690

You're using the classic union tactic of describing anything that makes it harder to force people into unions as if it's "banning" them.

I specifically said it is not impossible just really, really hard. As reflected in the rate of failed unionization drives.

Could it be that failed unionization drives result from employees not wanting to unionize?

For years, union leaders have been drinking so much of their own Kool-Aid that they find the idea of somebody not wanting to be in a union virtually inconceivable. But it's actually extremely common.

We can consider that AFTER they stop firing everyone who tries to unionize. Until then I am inclined to believe the obvious, Occum's razor and all.

Would Occam's Razor also suggest that charter school teachers might be unlikely to want to join groups that have spent years ridiculing and attacking the schools where they choose to work?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/view/

No, not really as that is entirely a strawman argument. Certainly the exception and not the rule as unions rarely attack their members.

Teachers' unions have spent years attacking charter schools at every opportunity. If I were a person who chose to make my career teaching at one, why would I trust that union to represent me?

That assumes teachers prefer to work at charter schools. I haven't seen any evidence of this, but the high turnover rates (see link above) makes me think that they aren't all that crazy about the work environment.

Like private schools, I imagine there's a mix: People who want to work as teachers and don't particularly care where, and thus, all other things being equal, will go to the places with the highest pay (and there's nothing wrong with that) ... and people who are drawn to the school itself because they like its culture, its methodology, or its philosophy.

Okay, you convinced me. Mass has a shitty charter school law.

However the topic here is Washington's law. And all the negatives both you and Dinner have brought up so far are specifically covered by Washington's law.

You bring up the work around for the non-profit requirement of other states. Operations and management can't be contracted out to a for-profit institution.

20. Can a charter school board contract with a for-profit organization for management and operation of the school?

No. RCW 28A.710.030 provides that contracts for “management operation” of the charter school may only be with nonprofit organizations. A charter school board may enter into contracts with any public or private entity for the provision of goods and services to the same extent as other, noncharter public schools.

http://www.sbe.wa.gov/faq/charters.php

So the judge cited precedent from a previous case that may or not have need a correct decision, but not the actual State Constitution? What exactly is unconstitutional about it in Washington's Constititution? Also, you claim that these schools aren't accountable to anyone, but they are. If the teacher underperforms, he/ she is fired. The parents also hold the school accountable.

Go back and re-read what I wrote. Does the Washington law prohibit buying supplies, curricula, and non-management services from for profits? I doubt very much that it does. Does it prevent charter schools from self-selecting student populations through attritive mechanisms? I doubt very much that it does. The bottom line is that charters divert resources from public schools in the name of a problem identified mainly by the same forces that benefit from the diversion. If there is a problem in the public schools, fix the public schools. Even the best charter law makes this harder to achieve.

I did. I didn't notice a single instance in which you provided evidence that other state's with the problems you describe have similar protections in their laws. Did I miss the part where you were quoting code?

Notice how I didn't just claim that Washington's law covered the issues that you and Dinner have highlighted, I actually proved it linking to the State's Board of Education site on charters and linked to Revised Code of Washington to back it up.

We spent a lot of time studying other states and trying to get it right. One of the benefits of being the 42nd state to enact charters is that we had 25 years of other state's experience to go off of.

Now thanks to this ruling, kids can go back to shitty public schools with bullshit standards and I'm assuming government mandated common core. The best part about it is that nobody can actually say why it's unconstitutional, they can only point to a 100 year old judgement that's likely outdated. True legislation from the bench.

Try looking at the actual ruling. They didn't just go dig up some 100-year-old ruling that nobody had ever heard of; they used a legal precedent that began with a 1909 ruling, but that has been affirmed over and over since then.

I am glad charter schools in WA have avoided most of the Republican created pitfalls common in other states. I remain doubtful it is as completely free of pitfalls as Anc is making out. I think it is good that the judge has reigned the practice in and made it more accountable to the people.

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/08/the...d_privatizers_have_bled_pennsylvania_schools/

That is how charter schools have fucked up the system in PN.