There have been some interesting developments at First Place charter school, the first charter school in Seattle. The Charter Commission has put it on probation.
From KOMO news:
State’s first charter school placed on probation
The Washington State Charter School Commission informed First Place Scholars in Seattle of a list of requirements it must fulfill.
Problems identified at the school included not keeping the commission informed of school board actions, not properly providing special education and not giving proof that every staff member had completed a criminal background check.
Oops
If you have been reading my posts regularly, you are aware of the Seattle Office of Education deciding it’s OK to give taxpayer levy dollars to First Place Charter school. See The Seattle Office for Education has decided it’s OK to use taxpayer levy dollars for charter schools and Mum’s the word on levy money for First Place charter school.
I requested information from the Office of Education and the City Attorney’s Office regarding the decision for the third time recently and received nothing but a list of redacted email. Do you think something is going on that they don’t want the public to know about? I’m getting the sense they are. Now I’m really curious so I will continue to find an answer to my first, and I thought at the time, innocent question, “How did you decide it was OK to provide levy dollars to a charter school?” Simple question but no answer.
Now it looks like First Place charter school is already in trouble with the Charter School Commission.
I emailed Holly Miller with the Seattle Office for Education about a week ago when the news first came out and asked her if the Office for Education will now still consider providing tax dollars to First Place charter school.
Her reply…crickets.
I press on.
Dora
Seattle Education 
Thank you Dora. Best wishes,Carol
Can we sue the Seattle Office for Education?
The city promised voters that these dollars would be “meticulously” managed, and the city has held very tight strings on the distribution of these dollars.
And yet, it’s difficult to find documentation on the actual dollar amounts that have been paid out to individuals and organizations.
The Oversight Committee is really now overseeing the distribution of levy money.
Dora
These Family and Education Levy dollars were voter approved BEFORE I 1240 passed by a margin of less than 1%. As I recall, ONLY levy dollars approved AFTER I 1240 could be transferred to charter schools.
FOIA documents are redacted and we have no way of knowing whether or not the city’s attorney advised AGAINST giving these dollars to charter schools.
Ultimately we will find out because it is taxpayers’ money.
Dora