School Reform Plans Beat State Deadline; Validation Expected
Two initiatives aimed at shaking up Washington’s public school system were submitted to the secretary of state Thursday, apparently the only citizen-drafted measures to beat the deadline this year.
Both a charter-school proposal and a plan to give parents education vouchers were submitted by sponsors who used paid signature-solicitors. Sponsors defended the practice, but Secretary of State Ralph Munro called it a disturbing trend.
Backers of both measures submitted roughly 240,000 signatures, meaning they are all but certain to be validated. It takes 181,667 valid signatures to pass muster, and election officials suggest at least 220,000 to provide a cushion against duplicate or false signatures.
Munro said none of the 10 other initiatives, including two anti-gay rights measures, requested an appointment to submit signatures by today’s 5 p.m. deadline.
Hands Off Washington, the group opposing the anti-gay rights initiatives, scheduled a Capitol news conference today to celebrate.
Assuming the signatures on the two education initiatives are adequate, the measures will be delivered to the Legislature in January. Lawmakers may adopt one or both initiatives, pass legislative alternatives to accompany the original plan or plans to the November 1996 ballot, or simply allow a public vote.
Most observers figure the latter course will apply. The Democraticcontrolled Senate is not expected to approve either plan, particularly with heavy opposition from the Washington Education Association.
House Education Chairman Bill Brumsickle, R-Centralia, said in a recent interview that both measures have considerable support in the GOP-dominated House. The initiatives will get a House hearing, but a formal House vote is not certain, given the Senate’s opposition, he said.
Senate Education Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, did not return a message left at her home Thursday.
Initiative 177 would allow school district voters to authorize non-profit groups to form independent public schools, using either surplus schoolhouses or other facilities and hand-picked faculty.
“This is the end of the monopoly school system,” said sponsor Jim Spady, a Seattle lawyer and restaurant executive.
“The key to improved education is to bring in competition,” he said, adding, “People are frustrated, unhappy and want change. People are tired of monopolies. … Our initiative does not force anyone to do anything,” but makes dramatic change possible.
He said large urban districts, particularly in the Seattle and Tacoma areas, probably would be the first to authorize so-called “charter” schools. The new schools would survive only if they provided a product good enough to attract parents and students, he said.
He said 20 states have approved at least limited numbers of charter schools.
“This only creates options,” said Fawn Spady, co-chairwoman. “Your school stays exactly the same if you like your school.”
Jim Sawantzki, an English and history teacher at Bethel High School in Spanaway, said he sees the new schools as “an opportunity for teachers to be true professionals, not just factory workers.”
He said his union, the WEA, is dead wrong in opposing an initiative that would actually empower teachers.
The WEA headquarters was unstaffed Thursday and a telephoned message was not returned. WEA spokeswoman Teresa Moore previously said the union strongly supports school improvements, but that the initiatives undermine the basic financial support for the public school system.
Backers of the second measure began their celebration with a rally on the Capitol steps. Ron Taber, a candidate for state school superintendent and the prime sponsor of Initiative 173, thanked God for the success of the signature campaign.
His plan would phase in a voucher system, allowing parents to use an annual check of about $3,400 for private, non-religious school. Currently, parents must pay the full tab if they take their children out of public school.
The program would be phased in over 10 years, beginning in 1997 with kindergarten through second grade being eligible. Taber, an Olympia businessman who once ran for state Republican chairman, said backers project that 36,000 students would take part in the first year, with about 16,000 more families added each succeeding year.
He said the state should save money, since about half of the perpupil cost would be borne by the independent schools.
xxxx INITIATIVE 177 It would allow school district voters to authorize non-profit groups to form independent public schools, using either surplus schoolhouses or other INITIATIVE 173 It would phase in a voucher system, allowing parents to use an annual check of about $3,400 for private, non-religious school. facilities.