Charter schools watching I-1240

SEATTLE – Some of the most successful charter school organizations in the nation say they would like to open schools in Washington if voters approve the charter initiative on the November ballot.

Rocketship Education, which runs some of the top-performing elementary schools in California’s low-income areas, would love to expand to Washington, said Kristoffer Haines, vice president of national development for the seven-school organization started in San Jose, Calif., in 2006.

“We’re certainly interested and excited,” Haines said.

He added, however, that the process to start a new school takes time. So even if Washington voters decide to allow up to 40 public charter schools to open during the next five years, the first Rocketship schools probably couldn’t open in the state until 2016 or 2017, after a thorough process, including approval by Washington authorities.

Haines, who lives in Corvallis, Ore., and was asked to look over Washington’s initiative before it was proposed for the ballot, said he has had his eye on the Seattle-Tacoma area for a long time.

Under the terms of Initiative 1240, any nonprofit organization could start a charter school in Washington if their plan is approved by either a new statewide commission or a local school board that has been authorized by the state school board to approve charter schools.

The schools would need to be free and open to all students just like traditional public schools. They would receive public funding based on student enrollment, just like other schools. But public charter schools would be exempt from some state regulations, including some of the rules regarding hiring and firing teachers.

The Washington initiative was based on a model law created by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said Todd Ziebarth, the advocacy organization’s vice president for state advocacy and support.

Charter schools usually supplement their budget with foundation dollars, and one of the biggest donors has been Seattle’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Aspire Public Schools, one of the largest charter management organizations with more than 30 schools and 12,000 students served, would also consider expansion into Washington if the new law set up funding formulas and access to facilities in a fair way, CEO James Wilcox said.

Aspire, which focuses on low-income students from its California base, has another requirement before moving to a new region: They want to partner with local school districts, not compete with them, Wilcox said.

“We’re not really interested in going and fighting with the local school system,” he said.

Wilcox mentioned the Los Angeles Unified School District as a good example of what districts can do to use charters as part of the mix to help make sure every kid has access to a great school.

The Washington initiative would make charter operators eligible for state matching funds for school construction, and they would have first dibs to rent or buy public school buildings that are not being used by the district in which the new school is located.

A conversion charter school, which is set up by a school district to take the place of an existing public school whose students have been failing to meet state education standards, would be able to use the school’s existing building without paying rent to the district, according to the initiative.

Ziebarth said Washington could have an opportunity to really make a difference with charters by opening schools designed to address the state’s unique challenges, such as programs that focus on closing the achievement gap for Native American kids.

“The initiative creates the space for people to come forward and offer up some new and innovative things.”