Politico Education reports that legislation is moving in Washington State to fund the state’s charter schools. A few months ago, the high court of the state ruled that charter schools are NOT public schools, are not accountable to an elected school board, are under private management, and therefore not eligible for public funding. Since then, the charter industry has tried various stratagems to try to get public funding and to reverse the court’s decision by political muscle and money. Since Washington State is home to Bill Gates, and since Bill Gates poured millions into passing a referendum on charters, the pressure to divert public funds to these nonpublic schools have been intense. As usual, charter advocates are fighting for the 1,000 or fewer children in charter schools, but not for the nearly 1 million children in public schools. They never take “no” for an answer when they lose the chance to drain resources from the schools that serve the vast majority of children.
WASHINGTON STATE CLOSES IN ON CHARTER SAVE: Charter advocates nationwide applauded Washington state House lawmakers on Wednesday night after they passed a measure to keep the state’s charter schools open. The save, which would use lottery money to pay for the schools, comes at the last minute – the legislature is slated to adjourn today. The schools and more than 1,000 students have been in limbo since the state Supreme Court ruled the state’s charter school law unconstitutional late last year. After heated debate the bill passed on a 58-39 vote. “We celebrate the parents who led this charge, and the school and movement leaders who refused to take no for an answer,” said National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees. “Their amazing efforts on behalf of Washington’s students has led to one of the most remarkable victories in the history of this movement.” The legislation heads back to the state Senate, which has already approved a similar proposal. The Associated Press has more: http://bit.ly/1TNcIjK.
Nina Rees, quoted here, formerly was education advisor to Vice President Richard Cheney and then worked for Michael Milken in his education business.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
Bill needs to get his checkbook out and take care of the problem.
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CROSS POSTED AT http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Study-Privatizing-governm-in-General_News-Contracts_Employees_Government-Insanity_Government-Secrecy-160310-548.html#comment587276
WITH 2 comment linking back to this site.
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Milken! The selfsame felon who founded K12.com, yes?
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The case in Washington is actually still in the court system, and the so-called fix does not change the rationale for declaring charters unconstitutional. One of the amendments requires charters to disclose the legal status to prospective parents and students. We are hoping the governor has the courage to veto the bill, but money has talked on this issue. Rep. Sells noted in his speech on the floor that there were 22 lobbyists and another rep asked when do these charter students, who have been omnipresent in Olympia, ever go to class.
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Quite a few supposed Democrats voted in favor of this bill. One of them I’ve phone banked for several times. Never again. She just lost the support of the majority of teachers I know. Hope those charter lobbyists pay well.
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Wouldn’t it be something if all the feeders at the charter trough felt so strongly about saving public schools, the same schools from which they drain funding and scholars? They are so quick to pat themselves on the back. All the scheming and frauding that goes on in the reformer circles is sickening. They aren’t happy unless the public schools lose and they win. Amazing how they rally around 1000 students, while the rest of them in public schools can just rot, in rotting buildings, with less and less and less. Up is down, wrong is right.
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The charter supporters up here just want their cake, but don’t care if the rest of us starve. It’s not their problem, as long as they got theirs. Sadly, they are unable to see an issue with that selfish mentality.
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It is also known as a zero-sum game, with majority enrollments in public schools the losers and the smaller enrollments in charters the winners.
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BUT privatizing education is just one part of the corporate take-over that is the aim of the global cartel. Here is a post that explains how privatization is not as it is touted… that it does not save any money. See my comment at the end where I relate the privatization of education to this push to end EVERYTHING we knew!
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Study-Privatizing-governm-in-General_News-Contracts_Employees_Government-Insanity_Government-Secrecy-160310-548.html#comment587272
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There is two ways for oligarchs to win at this game. Privatization doesn’t have to save money if the money it costs goes to them (see Blackwater, and the entire military-industrial complex). It is a nice bennie if it also helps by lowering taxes, but often the increase in remuneration caused by having taxpayer dollars flowing into your bank account far offsets any tax savings (and besides, there is always Ireland, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands if you need to avoid paying corporate taxes), and various tax sheltering schemes for personal taxes.
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AND THERE IS THIS TODAY IN THE NY TIMES
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Seattle WA is like a classic WWE Smackdown: richest man in U.S., who targets US public schools as a market for hw & sw programs that will prove their demise & push them into cheap charter-consumers of those products– whose riches depend on a continual labor pool of the gifted & innovative– vs those very employees & other local dependents on that industry– all of whom are smart enough to see that his corporate goals are actually BAD for their kids’ education.
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Well said.
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They’re getting it through by outright buying politicians–my rep. is one of them, also takes money from payday lenders.
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They just extortionist in thousand dollar suits and who knows what their real educational levels are. They’re the ignorant or conning fools leading and fleecing the desperate in the con of educating of their victims children.
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Diane,
It is just terrible to see what is happening in Washington state. For starters, the Supreme Court declared I 1240 unconstitutional on September 4. Charter schools had plenty of time to transition students into public schools, but they refused to close their doors.
With the support of the Washington Charter Association and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for $2.1M- charter schools remained opened- and they did so by having the state’s superintendent of public instruction corrupt Alternative Learning Rules.
In January, Steve and Connie Ballmer contributed $250K to a charter PAC. These dollars are being used to fund TV ads, polls, robo calls etc.
http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CommitteeData/contributions?param=V0FTSEMgIDExMQ====&year=2016&type=continuing
Students were constantly getting bussed to the state’s capital and charter supporters literally camped within the state’s capital. We’ve been told 22 lobbyists filled the halls of the state building.
SB 6194 got passed out of the R. controlled senate. The House had compelling testimony and would not allow the bill out of committee.
Title-only bills got passed out of committee. These bills have NO text and are intended to support charter schools and do an end-run around the state’s constitution.
Larry Springer drafted different legislation, and , less than 24 hours later the bill was on the House floor for a vote. The House holds a slim majority and, with the support of 9 Democrats, SB 6194 got passed out of committee. Here are the turn-coat Dems:
1. Judy Clibborn: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/judy-clibborn/
2. Christopher Hurst: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/christopher-hurst/
3. Ruth Kagi: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/ruth-kagi/
4. Kristine Lytton: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/kristine-lytton/
5. Jeff Morris: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/jeff-morris/
6. Eric Pettigrew: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/eric-pettigrew/
7. David Sawyer: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/david-sawyer/
8. Tana Senn: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/tana-senn/
9. Larry Springer: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/larry-springer/
10. Pat Sullivan: http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/legislators/pat-sullivan
The bill will not satisfy the Supreme Court. Legislators know this and don’t care. Chad Magendanz made a speech and called for 2000 charter school students to protest next year.
I’m confident the charter “fix” will not pass constitutional muster. Here is what Paul Laurence (attorney that argued and won I 1240):
“But attorney Paul Lawrence, who represented those who filed the lawsuit challenging charters, said switching to lottery funds is just an accounting trick.
“That doesn’t strike me as any different from paying it out of the general fund,” Lawrence said. “I don’t really see that that accomplishes a fix.”
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/house-approves-bill-to-keep-charter-schools-open-clearing-way-for-passage/
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Here is the list of turn-coat Dems that voted for SB 6194.
http://washingtonvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=728392
Legislators know full well that SB 6194 is heading back into court. The issues are 1- funding 2- Role of the state’s superintendent of public education and 3- the lack of a local and elected school board.
Rep. Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah, ranking member of the House Education Committee, called it a “simple and elegant solution” to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
But attorney Paul Lawrence, who represented those who filed the lawsuit challenging charters, said switching to lottery funds is just an accounting trick.
“That doesn’t strike me as any different from paying it out of the general fund,” Lawrence said. “I don’t really see that that accomplishes a fix.”
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/house-approves-bill-to-keep-charter-schools-open-clearing-way-for-passage/
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Peter Greene on Charter “Health”
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/03/charter-health-checkup.html
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It is true that lottery money is used to fund part of the operations of the Opportunity Pathways account, but it is not at all plain that any category fixed in the Pathways account can include charter public school funding. It is more likely a simple cynical device useful to provide a sound bite for needy Tea Party candidates in the upcoming campaign when Governor Inslee vetoes the bill.
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