the bill, saying it would usurp the power of local school boards, weaken collective bargaining rights for charter employees, and sap dollars from existing schools. "There's no question that charter schools will educate some of the children, but we're concerned about all those other students who will be left behind," said Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds.
Current public schools, she said, will be left with "caviar standards on a peanut-butter-and-jelly budget."
"I'm very proud of what we have in our existing educational system," said Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds.
"It works, and it works well."
But it doesn't, especially for minorities, charter schools proponents said.
"What's happened today is we've circled the wagons in protection of a system that has not performed to the expectations of many parents in this state," McDonald said.
"If we have anything to fear, it's our current system," said Rep. Rodney Tom, R-Medina.
The House bill is "a measured experiment" that allows a small number of the schools under a rigorous approval process, said Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina.
The House bill, a modified version of HB2295, would allow 45 charter schools over the next six years.
Partly to allay concerns that the schools would become enclaves of affluent suburbanites, the bill approved by the House Wednesday also says they must primarily target "educationally disadvantaged" students, such as students with limited English skills and low-income students.
"I've had a lot of people that say `Why are you, as a Democrat, supporting charter schools?"' said longtime charters proponent Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon. "I'm supporting children and opportunity."
In a controversial twist, the bill also allows charter supporters to end-run a local school board that won't allow a charter school.
Such a refusal can be appealed to the local Educational Service District -- a group of area school districts -- and to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. Charter foes said that usurps local voters' control over their own schools.
Allies of organized labor also bristled at a clause that creates a five-year window before teachers in some charter schools could affiliate with the local school district's bargaining unit. Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, said the schools might "stack the staff with non-union people or anti-union people."
But such flexibility is critical, supporters argued, because it allows administrators the freedom to negotiate additional hours that charter schools often require.
Some critics maintain that charter schools violate the state constitutional requirement for "uniform education."
Backers said similar lawsuits have failed in other states.
"The question is: What are we going to do to close the achievement gap (for minority students)?" said Rep. Phil Rockefeller, D-Silverdale.
"Our kids deserve a chance to succeed."
•Richard Roesler can be reached at (360) 664-2598 or by e-mail at richr@spokanenews.net.
