Comment: Treat charter schools as public schools they are

By Chris Korsmo / For The Herald

High-quality public schools are inseparable from the fabric of an informed society.

Great public schools offer opportunities for students from all backgrounds without any financial, religious or academic barrier to entry. Following a statewide vote in 2012, charter public schools became a part of our larger public school system in Washington. Just like traditional public schools, charter public schools are free, non-sectarian and require no admissions test.

As political division separates communities from each other, we should refuse to accept that public schools — whether traditional public schools, tribal compact schools or charter public schools — must be divided from shared values for public education.

The reality is that all of Washington’s families deserve public schools that meet the needs of the students in their communities. Instead of approaching public education with cynicism, we should ask what it will take to make sure every student gets an education that includes core subjects and prepares them for life after graduation. The highest calling for elected leaders should include collaboration that supports future generations of Washingtonians.

We urge the state Legislature to accept this responsibility and fund all public schools.

Support for public education looks like funding that helps meet the needs of all Washington’s public school students. In Washington, there are currently only 17 charter public schools and none of them are in Snohomish County. That’s compared to about 2,370 traditional public schools statewide.

Recent reports on academic performance have found that charter public school students who are Black, multilingual-learners, Latino or students from lower income homes have out-performed their peers in traditional public schools in math and English language arts on statewide assessments. This is not a comparison meant to divide. What the data illustrates is that students who may have historically struggled in a traditional classroom setting are finding a public school option with charter schools that fits their needs.

For students who learn differently, charter public schools can offer individualized plans that suit their needs. This ability to customize curricula is granted in exchange for a higher degree of accountability by state agencies such as the Washington State Charter School Commission, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the state Auditor’s Office. Every charter public school also has an appointed local school board. Despite unique offerings, charter public schools can face the exact same challenges as traditional public schools regarding enrollment and academic performance. And because they are held to the requirements of contracts with their public authorizer — their charters — a charter public school that falls short of serving its students may be closed.

As we meet with lawmakers, we are focusing on how we can strengthen our state’s public schools for all students, for example through levy equalization that ensures that public school students receive equitable funding regardless of property values where they live. For charter public schools, we ask that temporary funding passed year after year become permanent so that long-term budget planning can be stabilized.

Our students deserve it. We also believe that there should be an opportunity for communities, like those in Snohomish County, to pursue opening a charter public school if they identify a need.

That’s why we are advocating that charter public school contracts that have been surrendered, revoked, or not renewed can be reassigned so potential qualified applicants could seek approval for a new public school in their community. As part of their mission, charter public schools serve a disproportionate amount of special education students. Funding for students with different abilities is critical to our collective future and state lawmakers should increase or remove the funding cap for serving students with varying needs.

We may be a country divided but we can agree that all of our kids should have access to the same foundational, high-quality public education. I hope our state can better align its promises with its investments and prove it stands by all of Washington’s public school kids.

Chris Korsmo serves as the executive director of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of charter public schools and their students. Korsmo has worked and volunteered as a public education advocate in our state for nearly 18 years.