Why Democrats Oppose Charter Schools

This is from the King County Democrats Legislative Action Newsletter dated November 11, 2011. Listen up Washington State PTA! Why Democrats Oppose Charter Schools The State and King County Democratic platforms oppose charter schools, because they are union-busting agreements that take taxpayer money and use it for private purposes, without elected taxpayer oversight by school boards. The State and King County Democratic platforms oppose charter schools, because they are union-busting agreements that take taxpayer money and use it for private purposes, without elected taxpayer oversight by school boards. Charter schools have been promoted as a panacea, but they are actually part of the “vast conspiracy” to privatize public institutions and undercut democratic (and Democratic) institutions. There is no clear evidence that charter schools produce better results than public schools, when fairly compared over several years. As Linda Clifton reminds us, “And they are not particularly effective. Only 17% of all charter schools do better than public schools, and over 30 % do worse than the public schools.” Charter schools cherry-pick their students. They leave special education students with disabilities behind (too expensive!). Charter schools may be for-profit or not-for-profit (or religious). The for-profit ones are using part of our tax money to line their pockets and are putting less money as a percentage of budget into educating kids. The religious ones are violating the “establishment clause,” the constitutional separation of church and state, which says that no tax moneys may support religious institutions. In Washington State, we have many successful public schools that are centers of innovation, such as International Baccalaureate high schools, schools of the arts, schools of science and technology and even a high school of flight. That is why I am shocked (shocked!) to see that the WA State PTA has embraced charter schools. Please be active in your PTA, if you have school-age kids, and please speak out against this erosion of one of our most basic and important democratic institutions, public schools. Quoting story from the right-wing Washington Policy Center: Washington State PTA Members Vote in Support of Charter Schools Earlier this month PTA members from around the state met and voted to recommend charter schools be part of the state’s education reform agenda. Participants in the meeting tell us PTA members used WPC’s research to make a case for charter schools. Liv Finne, WPC’s education director, wrote about the unprecedented move on October 19 . Liv’s outreach helped spur an Associated Press article that appeared in nearly every daily newspaper in Washington. When you see these articles, please take time to comment online. Your perspective matters! Sincerely,

Sarajane Siegfriedt King County Democrats Legislative Action Chair 206-440-5829