The state must fulfill its duty

For more than a decade, Washington state families who are dissatisfied with the public schools have looked for ways to take tighter control over their children’s education.

Various concerns have motivated them – from a clash over values and curriculum, to concerns of instructional quality, to merely a feud with an individual principal, teacher or other parent. But the decision, whatever prompts it, does not alter two expectations that the law spells out:

“Kids have to go to school (whether in a public school, private school or an appropriate home setting) and parents must send them.

“The state has to provide them with access to a basic education. Many home-school families are happy to have the government largely out of their hair, but that doesn’t relieve the state of its responsibilities. Judging by a recent report from the state auditor, however, the state has dropped the ball.

State taxpayers contribute about $80 million a year to support education partnerships between families who predominantly instruct their children at home and the local school districts where those children are officially enrolled. Among other problems, the state paid out nearly $800,000 more than it should have because student hours were miscalculated under so-called Alternative Learning Experience programs, or ALEs, which are offered in 158 districts across Washington.

Families who merely home schooled their children often found themselves unable to provide the full array of experiences and materials that assure a well-rounded education. Many of them reached accommodations with the schools to overcome that problem. A parent could teach academic classes at home and send a child to school for music, art or P.E. The school might provide textbooks and other materials.

The collaboration that now occurs with ALEs allows parents to be in charge of instruction that conforms to their philosophy while relying on the school system to meet its constitutional duty by filling the gaps and providing funding support.

It’s a neglect of that duty, however, if the state merely hands over the funds and assumes without checking that they are spent appropriately. The auditor’s examination of 18 school districts raises doubts about the oversight that’s been done by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Not only were the above-noted overpayments observed, but many payments were made for questionable purposes such as religious materials, private gym memberships, ski lifts, amusement park admissions and movies. For the most part, parents in ALE programs are fulfilling their legal duty by having their children in school. Until state officials tighten up their oversight practices, they are not fulfilling theirs.