Dive Brief:
- Washington state's first and only charter school, First Place Scholars Charter School in Seattle, has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to address three of the state's concerns about educational shortcomings.
- The state has complained about the school, which focuses on teaching students who have experienced trauma, saying it has an inadequate academic plan, a $280,000 budget shortfall and not enough emphasis on teaching English Language Learners.
- First Place Scholars Charter School had only six months to create an educational plan before opening its doors; however the eight new charters slated to open next September are not expected to run into the same issues since the charter application process has since changed.
Dive Insight:
No matter how the school responds Tuesday, it will continue under the oversight of the state for the remainder of the year. Of course Washington state, specifically the Seattle School Board which shares students with First Place, has mixed feelings about charter schools so any failings are going to likely color perception of the charter movement. It wasn't until 2012 that voters in the state decided to allow charter schools and even that was a narrow choice with the Seattle School Board vocal in its opposition.
Last week the board voted to forgo the opportunity to authorize charter schools within its district, saying the responsibility would be too much and should therefore continue under the state's watch.
Making sure charter schools are adequately monitored is a challenge many states have not met, so it's good Washington state is making those moves, and setting a tone, early. Last summer Michigan's State Superintendent announced that he was putting 11 charter school authorizers on notice for academic shortcomings. Unfortunately, while State Superintendent Mike Flanagan threatened to suspend any authorizer that did not address his concerns within two months, over a month after he was supposed to announce how the authorizers performed he decided to hold off on making any decisions.
