CHARTER SCHOOL OPPONENTS ARE LOUD BUT FEW
Jim & Fawn Spady, May 6, 2000

        Mainstream political leaders from across America and across our state support charter public schools.

WHO SUPPORTS CHARTER SCHOOLS

        At the national level, supporters of charter public schools include:

Vice President Al Gore (Democrat)
Texas Governor George W. Bush (Republican)

Senator John McCain (Republican)
Former Senator Bill Bradley (Democrat)

President Bill Clinton (Democrat)
First Lady Hillary Clinton (Democrat)
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (Republican)

Most Members of Congress (in both parties)

Every Republican Governor
Most Democratic Governors

        In Washington state, supporters of charter public schools include:

Gary Locke (our Governor and the leader of our state's Democratic Party)
John Carlson (the leading Republican candidate for Governor)

Frank Chopp (Co-Speaker of the House; Democrat)
Clyde Ballard (Co-Speaker of the House; Republican)

Dave Quall (Co-Chair of the House Education Committee; Democrat)
Gigi Talcott (Co-Chair of the House Education Committee; Republican)

Senator Jim West (minority leader; Senate Republicans)
Senator Steve Johnson (minority floor leader; Senate Republicans)
Senator Bill Finkbeiner (ranking minority member; Senate Education Committee)
Senator Julia Patterson, Democrat.

The majority of House Republicans
The majority of House Democrats
The majority of Senate Republicans

WHO OPPOSES CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

        The opposition to charter public schools comes from politicians who are out of the mainstream. The opposition is an odd coalition of the far left and the far right. Although they have very different visions of what is best for you and your children, they do agree on one thing: THEY DON'T TRUST YOU.

--They don't trust you (parents) to choose a school that works well for your child.

--They don't trust you (educators) to choose the union (or no union) that best serves your needs.

        Democratic Senator Al Bauer, for example, is afraid that if parents can choose charter public schools, then other public schools will have fewer students and thus less tax money.

        Republican Senator Joseph Zarelli, on the other hand, is afraid that if parents can choose charter public schools, religious private schools and home schools will have fewer students, and thus less private money.

        Neither Senator Bauer nor Senator Zarelli seems to care that the parents who choose charter public schools do so because they believe it is a better choice for their children. Neither seems to care that parents would be free to move their children back to their previous school at any time, whether it was a non-charter public school, a religious private school, a non-religious private school, or a home school.

        Don't be afraid of the far left or the far right! They are loud, but they are few in number.

        The widespread support for charter public schools at the Presidential level, the Congressional level, the State level (36 states have already authorized charter public schools), and the "top of the ticket" in our state's Gubernatorial race, all suggest that the I-729 campaign to bring charter public schools to Washington state is going to succeed. All we have to do is work hard and, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "keep our eye on the prize!"

###

Jim & Fawn Spady are co-directors of the Education Excellence Coalition, a Political Action Committee working to enact strong charter school legislation in Washington state. For more information on the current charter school ballot initiative, visit www.wacharterschools.org.

CER Home Page The Education Forum Charter Schools E-Mail CER CER Publications