Teachers union wants to help challenge charter school law

The state’s largest teachers union is exploring how it might help challenge the charter-school law that narrowly passed last November. The union’s board of directors has committed to help fund a lawsuit, although it is not yet clear who would file it, when it would be filed, or exactly what form the challenge would take.

Rich Wood, the union’s spokesman, said the union is talking to potential allies, which include many of the groups that campaigned against Initiative 1240 this fall, and is also looking at possible legal strategies.

Along with the union, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn has talked about challenging the initiative on constitutional grounds, and a new parent group, called Protect Our Public Schools, has also formed to support any legal action.

As approved by the voters, Initiative 1240 will allow up to 40 charter schools to open in Washington in the next five years. Charter schools, which exist in most other states, are privately run but publicly funded schools that do not have to follow most of the rules and regulations that govern other public schools.

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Comments | More in Charter schools, Politics Northwest, Superintendent of Public Instruction | Topics: charter schools, Protect Our Public Schools, Randy Dorn

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Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.

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