Who Opposes Initiative 1240 in Washington State? Who Supports It?

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1. Harlan Underhill says:

   October 22, 2012 at 3:14 am

   I’m deeply puzzled as to why, Diane, you oppose charters. Does that extend to private schools and home schooling too?

   Reply
   • dianerav says:

     October 22, 2012 at 8:35 am

     I do not oppose private education paid for with private funds nor do I question the right of parents to home-school their children. The issue is what government should pay for. I support public funding of public schools under democratic control, not by private boards or by for-profit corporations. Some charter schools are worthy of public support, such as those that seek out and educate children with high needs: charter schools for dropouts, charter schools for the autistic, charter schools for students who have difficulty learning in a public school. They should use their freedom to innovate and collaborate to strengthen public schools.

     Reply
   • DeeDee says:

     October 22, 2012 at 11:00 pm

     As someone who has worked in charters that were for-profit and non-profit(haha), please take my advice and tell everyone you know to block them at every turn. They are not providing a better innovative product. They have created clever ways to take public tax dollars and make money without any real accountability. The teacher turnover would make your head spin. Teachers do not get raises nor do they even have 401k. At present, they are awful. Why would you want to abdicate your power at the local level so some sleazebag in another state or city can make a profit off of your children? A total scam!! I’ve worked in a building where teachers did not have adequate supplies to teach, yet, the CEO and his family drove around very expensive cars, had a house in the most expensive suburb, and wore expensive suits. This is unacceptable.

     Reply
   • Puget Sound Parent says:

     November 5, 2012 at 5:42 am

     I’m very surprised why you, Harlan, would support privatization. Do you support the privatization of all social services or just education?

     Reply
2. Lehrer says:

   October 22, 2012 at 5:06 am

   This list says it all, doesn’t it?

   Reply
3. Michael Fiorillo says:

   October 22, 2012 at 6:45 am

   Follow the money and you’ll find where the stench emanates from.

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4. Kay says:

   October 22, 2012 at 7:28 am

   That is an impressive visual. So rotten.

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5. "2old2tch" says:

   October 22, 2012 at 9:58 am

   It would make a wonderful ad.

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6. seattleducation2011 says:

   October 22, 2012 at 2:45 pm

   There are more organizations and individuals listed at http://peopleforourpublicschools.org/endorsements.html.

   There are more groups that join daily.

   Dora

   Reply
7. pondoora says:

   October 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm

   With a net worth of $66 B, Bill Gates spending $3 M on this little project impacts his family’s overall finances to the same degree that an expense of $3.51 affects a family with a net worth of $77,300 (the U.S. average in 2010). It may seem unbelievable but it’s true.

   3,000,000 x 77,300 = 231,900,000,000 ÷ 66,000,000,000 = 3.51

   Reply
8. DeeDee says:

   October 22, 2012 at 11:02 pm

   I really hope the people of Washington defeat this proposal.

   Reply
9. K Quinn says:

   October 23, 2012 at 1:09 am

   I hope so too, DeeDee, but there are too many people out there who feel as Romney does about teacher’s unions, and see charters as the perfect way to get rid of the WEA without understanding that we teachers ARE the union. Plus the union decided to focus only on the governor’s race and not invest in 1240 until recently, so this means the rich people have been airing misleading ads just like their misleading signature gathering, and there has been no rebuttal. Plus our unfair and unbalanced newspaper – the Seattle Times – is only running pro-charter op-eds (the last one they ran on the “con” side was sometime last year), so there are a lot of misinformed and uninformed voters. The 2 groups opposing I-1240 are small and operating with considerably less funding, so it’s mostly websites, word of mouth, door-belling, and signs. I think our other good legislative stuff will pass (like R-74), but with this one I just don’t know. It’s kind of scary to think that at this time next year our public school system in WA could already be in shambles as our scarce resources have to be spread even thinner with the advent of 40 new schools, each demanding start-up cost $$ from the state and pulling student dollars out of existing schools, meaning the local districts will have to make that up. Plus with the nasty parent trigger language meaning a few parents could destroy a whole school community – who knows what will happen there? My district could lose a couple of schools, and where would all the displaced students and teachers go who opt not to stay in the conversion, or who are not allowed to stay in the conversion? Our buildings are already full and our classrooms are already crowded. This will only make things worse.

   Reply
10. Puget Sound Parent says:

    November 5, 2012 at 5:47 am

    If the privatizers purchase this election—which they might—FIRST we’re going to sue. Which won’t be hard to do. Anyone can see that I-1240 is completely unconstitutional.

    It’s vile. It’s a Big Lie. And we’re immediately going to put together a movement to REMOVE it, just One Year Later!

    Enjoy your Purchased “Victory”, privatizers; it won’t last forever.

    Reply
    • Lehrer says:

      November 5, 2012 at 6:02 am

      Let’s begin an Education Defense Fund on this blog! I am willing to send money to help the cause.

      Reply
11. Puget Sound Parent says:

    November 5, 2012 at 5:49 am

    The Ballot Initiative works two ways: We’re going to immediately strike back with our own initiative in 2013: One that will roll back this unconstitutional, school destroying law.

    Just wait. It’s coming. We parents promise.

    Reply

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