State Supreme Court Will Not Reconsider Ruling That Ends State Funding For

Washington’s nine charter schools have continued to operate with state dollars as the Supreme Court discusses whether to grant a request for reconsideration or allow a delay in enforcing that ruling.

The court had been asked by several parties, including the state charter school association, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a bipartisan group of 10 legislators and four former state attorneys general, to reconsider its decision.

The Washington state Supreme Court has said it will not reconsider its September ruling that charter schools are unconstitutional.

While we are disappointed in the court’s decision, this does not change our promise to keep our doors open and continue to provide a free, high quality, personalized high school experience that prepares every student for college.

Nine charter schools opened while the state’s charter school law was in legal limbo.

Hundreds of charter school students, parents and educators were in Olympia on Thursday to hold a rally outside the state Capitol and testify before a joint meeting of the Senate Education and Senate Ways & Means committees to encourage lawmakers to find a way to save their schools. Without that designation, charter schools weren’t eligible for the funding they expected to get, and the court reasoned that voters would never have approved the creation of charter schools in a 2012 ballot initiative if there was no money to pay for them. We are hopeful the legislature will make this right for our kids. The hearing ended before the Supreme Court decision was issued. What will happen on the funding front is still to be determined, said Cynara Lilly, spokeswoman for the newly formed Act Now for Washington Students, which backs charters.

Hill said the Supreme Court didn’t “say charter schools are good or bad, they said the way you’re paying for them is unconstitutional”.

But others said the Supreme Court was correct to stand by its September ruling.

The state’s teachers union praised the Supreme Court for upholding its charter-school ruling and called on the Legislature to focus on complying with the court’s separate, 2012 McCleary school-funding decision.

Staffers at the Washington State Charter School Commission had no immediate comment on the ruling. “If this is a choice that the parents and the students have made and to deny them from that… were not taking money away from public schools.