PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School Board has formally voted to oppose a state initiative that would allow charter schools in Washington, and it encourages voters to vote against I-1240.
At Monday’s regular School Board meeting, the board voted unanimously to oppose the measure, which would allow statewide up to 40 new charter schools — independently managed public schools operated by nonprofit organizations — over a five-year period.
The charter schools would be overseen by an authorizer approved by the state Board of Education or an independent Washington Charter School Commission.
The initiative adds “another layer of bureaucracy for charter schools anywhere in the state regardless of local district agreement, and would be allowed to subcontract to a private entity,” the Port Angeles resolution said.
There is no evidence that charter schools can educate students better than public schools, Barry Burnett, a fourth-grade teacher at Franklin Elementary School and president of the Port Angeles Education Association, told the School Board at a meeting Monday.
Under Initiative 1240, it appears that the charter schools would not be held accountable to the same standards as public schools, board member Steve Baxter said.
Baxter said that as a businessman, he has no problem with competition in general but opposes the initiative.
“There can only be competition on a level playing field,” Baxter said.
I-1240 is on the ballot currently distributed to voters in the all-mail election that ends at 8 p.m. Nov. 6.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
