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Thursday, December 6, 2012

Politics / Election Hey... Where Are All Those Big Charter Schools and Two-Thirds-Supermajority-to-Raise-Taxes Celebrations?

Posted by Goldy on Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 11:07 AM

Last night was a bit of a party. At the same time hundreds of same-sex couples lined up outside the county administration building to be among the first in the state licensed to marry, marijuana legalization advocates were gathering beneath the Space Needle to celebrate its legal recreational use. These were two hard fought grassroots campaigns, and two well earned celebrations. Hooray for freedom!

But you know what we didn't see last night? Crowds gathering to celebrate the enactment of Initiatives 1240 and 1185, the charter schools and two-thirds supermajority initiatives. Because while both had plenty of money behind them, neither campaign ever had any grassroots support.

That's something lawmakers might want to keep in mind before they claim some sort of popular mandate for either.

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That's something lawmakers - and newspapers - might want to keep in mind before they claim some sort of popular mandate for either.

FTFY.

Posted by Knat on December 6, 2012 at 11:14 AM

Good call. You know, I would love to see the School Districts swoop in and take over the charter permits so that they can protect the teachers from downward pressure on their compensation

Posted by Why are there cars? on December 6, 2012 at 11:26 AM

64% of voters said yes to I-1185, making it the fifth time voters have supported the two-thirds requirement and the second time support reached such a high level. There's your grassroots support.

Posted by BobbyT on December 6, 2012 at 11:31 AM

I would love to file to re-charter a charter school to teach Evolution instead of Faith Based Education.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on December 6, 2012 at 11:41 AM

@ Goldy: Exactly.

Posted by gator bait on December 6, 2012 at 11:43 AM

The difference here is the nature of the initiatives, not necessarily the depth of support. People are celebrating because they were just granted two major and historic civil liberties.

Posted by blip on December 6, 2012 at 12:03 PM

@3 And the 5th time voters have voted for something unconstitutional.

"Let's make it so government can't take anymore of your hard earned money!" sounds terrific in theory.

It's like if we put the ability to remove all taxes forever up to the public vote. It would certainly pass with flying colors but of course would destroy our government.

Sometimes what's best for the people isn't what's popular.

As far as the story goes, meh how would they celebrate. I-502 and R74 achieved something tangible. Do they celebrate 1240 and 1184 by building a school or firing a government worker?

Posted by Pick1 on December 6, 2012 at 12:22 PM

agree with @6, even if there were grassroots support, how do you celebrate charter schooling or supermajoritarianism?

Posted by miked on December 6, 2012 at 1:59 PM

FYI, there is a "Charter Convention" coming up next Saturday, the 15th at UW Tacoma. Sounds like fun. https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/r…

Posted by westello on December 6, 2012 at 2:15 PM

You can't seriously compare the level of emotion associated with WEDDINGS and TRUE LOVE! SQUEE!!~~ and some dry legislation involving shuffling around funding. That's a hell of a false equivalency.

Posted by malwae on December 7, 2012 at 7:56 AM