This just in from the Washington State Secretary of State:
November 06, 2012 General Election Results
Initiative Measure No. 1240 Concerns creation of a public charter school system
Last updated on 11/06/2012 11:26 PM
| Initiative Measure No. 1240 Concerns creation of a public charter school system | ||
| Candidate | Vote | Vote % |
|---|---|---|
|
Yes
|
952,279 | 51.24% |
|
No
|
906,101 | 48.76% |
| Total Votes | 1,858,380 | 100% |
I renew the Bill Gates Challenge.
Bill knows that charter schools do not get better results than public schools. He knows that they are often more segregated than public schools.
Yet he and his friends spent $10 million to push them in his home state.
Bill, now that you have won, over the opposition of almost every parent and educator group in the state, I challenge you to enroll your own children in a charter school.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
it’s actually a vote-by-mail election, so we won’t know the final results for a few days- I’m still holding out hope!
Updated results won’t be in until after 5pm PST for the two largest counties (Pierce and King). Go to http://vote.wa.gov/results/20121106/Turnout.html. In the first line it explains that there are 618,300 ballots still to be counted and the next update will be 4pm today PST. The total number of ballots on hand to be counted may still not be correct because our ballots only had to be postmarked by yesterday and it may be a day or two before all the ballots are received.
Almost half a million votes yet to be counted, many in King Co. where measure is failing.