Desperate families losing education options in Washington state
By Jason Russell
Washington Examiner
September 21, 2015
“He was just getting angry and frustrated. Crying every day. Stomach aches. Chronically ill. Biting his fingernails until his fingers bled,” Deanne Hilburn told the Washington Examiner about her son Austin’s experience in a public school in Washington state. “He was very stressed.”
Then Austin got the opportunity to attend Excel Public Charter School, in Kent, Wash.
“Even though school is hard work, it’s fun. I never get bored, and my environment is relaxing,” Austin told his mom.
A remarkable transformation, made possible by a public charter school.
“My daughter is pretty well-off academically,” Jessica Garcia told the Washington Examiner about her daughter Isadora. “Because Isadora was ahead of most of the class, she ended up becoming a tutor because the teacher couldn’t advance learning.” Eventually, helping other students became the main focus of Isadora’s school day, meaning she couldn’t advance further on her own. “I feel for the general population, but my daughter needs an education now.”
Enter Destiny Charter Middle School, in Tacoma, Wash. The school opened in August, and now Isadora gets a customized education.
“Each kid is taught based on their personal academic level, so they’re constantly assessed, and their individual lessons are tailored to where they are academically,” Garcia said about life at Destiny. “It doesn’t matter where your kid is, they’re going to be brought to where they need to be, they’re going to be challenged to advance.”
Sadly, public charter schools in Washington state face an uncertain future. On Sept. 4, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the state’s charter law unconstitutional. The lawsuit, and the election of several state supreme court justices, was funded by the state’s largest teachers’ union. The court said the schools cannot receive state funding because they aren’t “common schools” with elected school boards, like traditional public schools.
Charter schools are scrambling to get the law fixed, but Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, says he won’t call a special legislative session to pass a new law. Instead, schools will have to seek legal options. Fortunately, both Excel and Destiny have enough private funding to remain open for the rest of the school year.
Traditional public schools weren’t right for their children, but the Hilburns and the Garcias don’t blame their students’ former teachers.
“Teachers were always wonderful, it was just we were at that cap point when we couldn’t open up another classroom to make the classes smaller,” Hilburn told the Examiner.
Garcia places some blame on the school district. “It’s not the teachers’ fault,” she said, “it’s just the way our districts are set up. They don’t leave room for innovation. They don’t leave room to have the freedom to hold students accountable.”
Hilburn and Garcia are very impressed with their children’s charter school teachers. “They treat each child like an individual. I was amazed the second day of school, the teachers were shaking the kids’ hands and greeting them by name. That, for me, was very touching,” Hilburn said of the teachers at Excel.
“One time I sent an email at 9 o’clock at night. I wasn’t expecting to get anything back, and I was responded to within 20 minutes. That’s the standard,” Garcia said about Isadora’s new charter school.
For some families, the benefits of charter schools reach into home life. “Our charter school has changed the dynamic of our family. Our home is filled with laughter and happiness again, and it’s all because of what our charter school has done for our son and many other children,” Hilburn said.
Garcia mentioned that she lost faith in public schools after her son Alex, who has autism, was regularly bullied starting in fourth grade. He suffered through 13 physical incidents and daily verbal abuse; at one point, the police had to get involved. Alex graduated this spring.
“Our entire family was severely affected by what happened to Alex. I mean, he was suicidal,” Garcia said. If the Garcias had had the charter school option at the time, his childhood might have been much better. Isadora was supposed to go to the same public middle school as Alex, until Destiny opened its doors.
Hilburn hopes Excel will find a way to stay open. “It’s beautiful we have an option, and parents have a choice, and even the children have a choice,” Hilburn said. “As far as what’s going to happen afterwards … I am very optimistic our children won’t be let down.”
Until they can be sure their schools will survive, Washington families will live in an uncertain world. “I want to know that my daughter’s guaranteed the education I want her to have after this year’s over,” Garcia said.
Without public charter schools, Washington state parents will have extremely limited school options, unless they can afford private schools. Every year, the Center for Education Reform grades states based on the power parents have to choose the best education for their children. Last year, Washington state was ranked 24th in the nation. Without charter school options, Washington may drop to among the worst 10 states for parent power, the center told the Examiner.
Charter schools are government-funded, but independently operated. They do not charge tuition and they are open to all students, but they often don’t have enough space to meet demand. They use a lottery system to determine admission when there aren’t enough seats. Compared to traditional public schools, charter schools have more independence in their operations and curriculum, which is why so many families find charter schools desirable.
