In response to my previous post Ten Reasons to Say No to Charter Schools, Kristine McLane, librarian and parent, offered this:
The parent/teacher trigger is one of the most troubling parts of this
flawed legislation. If 1240 passes, then any school in the state could
become a charter school by petition of either parents or teachers. In
this scenario, all local control over that school AND the building its
housed in is gone. An approved charter operator could start to circulate
a petition among, let's say, Shorewood High School teachers asking them
to approve the conversion of the high school that my property taxes
will be paying off for the next 20 years, and if 50 percent plus 1 of
them sign the petition to convert, then Shoreline voters will have zero
say in the operation of the new high school still under construction.
Shoreline parents and taxpayers would have no say in any of the
curriculum decisions, policy decisions, or building use decisions. On
top of
that, the district taxpayers would be obligated to pay for all
maintenance, utilities, etc., and to fork over any share of future
levies that are approved.
This initiative has very little to do
with improving the educational opportunities for underserved or special
needs kids and is simply a power and money grab by individuals and
companies who see public education as a way to line their pockets. All
of the organizations that support the initiative are funded by Bill
Gates and a few other wealthy individuals who stand to profit immensely
if this initiative passes. Rupert Murdoch has invested millions in
companies that provide standardized testing services to schools. We
don't need to guess what side the WSJ comes down on when it comes to
"holding teachers accountable" by looking at how well their student test
scores improve. If 1240 passes, you can bet money that the non-profit
charter operators that are approved by
Washington state will soon be signing multi-million dollar contracts
with companies owned by Murdoch, Nick Hanauer, Gates, Allen, Broad,
Walton, etc...
Please Vote NO on 1240 and preserve locally controlled public education in Washington State.
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