Washington state Senate passes charter school law fix

SEATTLE – The Washington Senate has voted to pass a fix to the state charter school law that lawmakers hope will pull the alternative public schools out of constitutional trouble.

The bill was passed in the House on Wednesday night and in the Senate on Thursday afternoon and now heads to the governor’s desk.

The measure was designed to answer a September ruling by the Washington Supreme Court that the charter school law adopted by voters in 2012 is unconstitutional.

The court took issue with the way the schools were funded and that they were managed by a non-elected school board. State lottery money would be used to support charter schools under this proposal, instead of dollars from the general fund. But it does not require elected school boards to manage them.

Senates had a long, passionate debate on the state’s educational responsibilities before the bill passed on a vote of 26-23.