The Washington Education Association (teachers union) is filing a ballot initiative to overturn a new state law allowing public charter schools, stressing that students are cash cows that help pay for overhead.

WEA spokesman Rich Wood said charter schools will siphon money from existing public schools. For instance, if a student from an existing grade school transferred to a charter school, an estimated $5,000 to $6,000 in state funding would follow the student to the new school.

The student's former school would still have the same overhead, but it would receive $5,000 to $6,000 less money for each student who transfers to the charter school, Wood said.

Note the plain admission that some students in existing public schools would indeed leave for charters. This is because charter schools typically have less bureaucracy, more discipline and stronger academics.

The WEA is living in the old Soviet block. They want us all to have freedom from more choice in public education, not more freedom of choice.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 10, 2004 11:34 AM

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