Join Charter Families and Supporters in Advocating for Schools

Charter schools are making a strong showing in the Washington State Legislature this month, but they need a continued show of public support to see legislation passed to save charters.

Tania de Sa Campos of Democrats for Education Reform published a post on the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network blog yesterday detailing the current state of affairs for charter schools and ways to get involved:

Advocates of public charter schools are now in high gear pressing on policy makers to pass a new charter law in the short 60-day legislative session that began on January 11th. Without a legislative fix, these promising, innovative public schools will have to close their doors. The campaign is working: an increasing number of legislators do not want to shut students out of their new schools.

A bi-partisan and bi-cameral group of legislative champions have introduced a bill that keeps the schools open and honors the will of voters. On the second day of the legislative session, charter school students and parents offered compelling testimony in the Senate education committee hearing, the first of many steps.

Act Now for WA Students will keep up the pressure until Governor Jay Inslee signs a new public charter school bill. The campaign is active on Facebook and Twitter, and is engaging thousands of supporters through an online petition. Editorial boards and the media are responding positively to our campaign messages, which are being reinforced with television ads and mail in targeted legislative districts. “Jerald” and “Sydney” – featuring the first-person stories of local students, ran on TV in the Seattle-Tacoma region in December and January.