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Collaborating to Create High Quality Public Charter Schools in Washington State
BY DAVID BLEY This post originally ran on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Impatient Optimists blog Collaboration. It is a concept we instill in our children as early as possible, from sharing toys with siblings to being a team player at...
Introducing the Washington State Charter Schools Association
Welcome to the Washington State Charter Schools Association website. The Association is a new statewide nonprofit that will support the start-up of high-quality public charter schools, with a focus on serving at-risk populations and students...
New study on how charter schools serve students with disabilities
A recent report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) sheds new light on the findings on a June 2012 Government Accountability Office study that found that nationally charter schools serve fewer students with disabilities than...
Steps Toward Charter Schools
This blog originally appeared in Seattle's Child Last November, Washington voters approved an initiative that allows the creation of up to 40 public charter schools over five years. The first public charter schools in Washington will...
Washington State Charter School Commission elects leadership
The newly formed Washington State Charter School Commission charged with authorizing charter schools and holding them accountable met this week and elected their leadership. Steve Sundquist, former President of the Seattle School Board, was chosen...
Washington Charter School Commission elects leaders
Washington's new Charter School Commission elected a former Seattle School Board president as its chairman. The group also has started to solidify its plans for hiring a staff and choosing the state's first charter schools. The group held its...
A student’s perspective on charter schools
Macy Olivas is a student at Whitman University in Washington, and a graduate of Preuss Charter School in San Diego, CA. In this video, recorded when she was advocating for Washington to adopt charter school legislation in January 2012, Macy...
Port Townsend educator gives Charter School 101
Charter schools can improve education but not if they offer the same curriculum as what is now available, a Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce audience was told Monday. “In order for a school district to approve a charter school, it would need a...
Op-ed: Charter schools should ignite change for the better
This op-ed piece, written by Lyle Quasim, appeared in The News Tribune on April 14, 2013. I applaud the Tacoma School Board for signaling an interest in becoming a public charter school authorizer. It’s time that our community learned more about...