Dive Brief:
- On Friday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson called on the state Supreme Court to reconsider its charter school ruling, which deemed funding the schools with state money unconstitutional.
- In a letter to the court, the attorney general’s office said the ruling called into question the legality of other long-standing educational programs that are not operated by publicly-elected boards.
- The letter called out, in particular, Running Start, a 25-year-old program that offers high school students credit in college courses. The letter questioned whether the program could continue to receive state funds under the court ruling.
Dive Insight:
Before the court's ruling, Washington was one of 43 states plus the District of Columbia that allowed charter schools. The ruling was the first instance of a court striking down an entire state charter law, essentially jeopardizing the future of such schools in Washington. The direct effects of the ruling are unlikely to spread outside the state, but within, the ruling has raised a host of questions about the schools’ future and what power the legislature has to fund them following the ruling.
As is the case with Running Start, there are also questions about whether the state will still be able to fund other programs external to schools. “There’s a general sense of confusion about how far-reaching is this decision,” Nathan Olson, spokesman for the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, told the Yakima Herald.