Charter opponents in Washington celebrated a court ruling that charter schools are not “common schools” and may not be funded as such.
Charter advocates celebrated that the judge upheld the rest of the initiative.
So the law may be implemented without public funding.
Or something.
Appeal on the way.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If charters are not eligible for funding open only to public schools, then what is the inference with regard to how charters get funded in Washington state?
This questions seems unanswered.
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Washington State – and the Seattle area in particular – has a plethora of independent schools. If charter proponents think they are going to set up a bunch of privately-funded charter schools, they’re going to have a lot of competition. And honestly, I don’t care what they do as long as my tax dollars aren’t lining their pockets and they’re not taking over public buildings for their profit.
DFER, LEV, TFA, TeachersUnited, the billionaire boys club – I’m sure they’ll be whining and will be suddenly interested in upholding the “will of the voters” even though they bought and paid for that initiative with their (lying) paid signature gatherers, their deceptive advertising, and the social pressure/high society donation gatherings. They really don’t give a rat’s patoot about the common people – neither the voters nor the kids.
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Just like the Boston tea party, no taxation without representation. I’m sure a lot of people have issue with school administrators making six figure salaries. If the taxpayers have no control over how money is distributed to charter schools and what salaries are being paid with public funds, there is a big problem. The spirit of the state constitution is being violated, as is the bedrock of American principle born out of the Boston tea party.
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If the charter schools declare that they are “open to all” (even if there is a lottery, and perhaps even an entrance exam) perhaps then they could qualify as a “common school.” Or the judge’s narrow ruling may be over turned.
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Another view of the Washington state situation from the Seattle Times:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/12/judge-upholds-most-of-state-charter-school-law/ utm_content=buffer1d3fd&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
The judge apparently ruled that charters are not eligible for construction funds because they are not controlled by a local board. But for many years, Washington State has had a “Running Start” program allowing 11th and 12th graders to take courses on college campus, with state funds paying their tuition. That’s part of public education in Washington, but the participating colleges are not controlled by a local board.
Many states have examples of statewide public schools that are not controlled by a locally elected school board.
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