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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ULY 11, 2012 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXIV, N O .28 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW No Child Law Not Applied KIDDIE PARADE Feds weaken Bush Era policy after Congress’ inaction By Donna Gordon Blankinship The Associated Press PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED The Electronetts Drill Team joined half a dozen other drill teams and hundreds of children at the annual Wallingford Kiddie Parade. The parade, which is all about the kids, has been held every summer for over 60 years. Charter Schools on the Ballot Dorn opposes what he calls ‘alternative state schools system’ By Donna Gordon Blankinship The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Support- ers of charter schools submitted more than enough signatures Friday in their efforts to put the initiative on the November bal- lot, shifting the work to per- suading Washington voters it will be good for students. Using paid and volunteer sig- nature gatherers, backers col- lected about 350,000 signatures for Initiative 1240 in about three weeks. A ballot initiative needs about 242,000 valid signatures to qualify, and must be approved by the Secretary of State’s office. State voters previously reject- ed charter schools in 1996, 2000 and 2004. The campuses offer options for parents frustrated with regu- lar public schools. Some research have found these inde- pendent public schools are espe- cially good at helping minority and low-income students improve their learning, close the INDEX News ...........................3 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................4 A&E ..........................2,5 Bids/Classifieds.........6,7 achievement gap and head to college. The state’s largest teachers union says the privately run, publicly funded schools take money from traditional public schools and have not been shown to do a better job at improving student achievement. Other opponents, including Gov. Chris Gregoire, many law- makers and gubernatorial candi- date Jay Inslee, say Washington has lots of innovative schools and welcomes more creativity in the classroom. Supporters say parents should decide and the state should take what was learned elsewhere by offering only types of charter schools that have shown to improve achievement, making sure the oversight is excellent, and quickly shutting down the schools that aren’t working. The coalition of education reform groups bringing charter schools back to the ballot say the initiative was written with those ideas in mind. See CHARTER on page 3 SEATTLE (AP) — The Obama adminis- tration said Friday that two more states, Washington and Wisconsin, will be exempt- ed from many requirements of the federal ``No Child Left Behind’’ education law. The decision brings to 26 the number of states granted waivers as Congress remains at a stalemate regarding an overhaul to for- mer President George W. Bush’s signature accomplishment. With more than half of the states now free from many of the law’s requirements, there are questions about the future of No Child Left Behind. The Education Department began granti- ng the waivers in February in exchange for promises from states to improve how they prepare and evaluate students. The execu- tive action by Obama is part of an ongoing effort to act on his own when Congress is rebuffing him. The administration says the waivers are a temporary measure while Education Secre- tary Arne Duncan continues to work with Congress to rewrite the law, which is for- mally known as the Elementary and Sec- ondary Education Act. ``A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in educa- tion reform, but as 26 states have now demonstrated, our kids can’t wait any longer for Congress to act,’’ Duncan said in a state- ment released Friday. The 10-year-old federal No Child Left Behind law requires all students to achieve proficient math and reading scores by 2014, a goal that many educators say is impossi- ble. Members of both parties say the No Child Left Behind law is broken but have been unable to agree on how to fix it. While it has been praised for focusing on the perform- ance of minorities, low-income students, English language learners and special edu- See NCLB on page 3 Crowded Field for Secretary of State State has had only two people in the office over the past 30 years By Chris Grygiel The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A rarity in Washing- ton state politics — an open race to be Washington’s top election official — has attracted a crowded field of high-profile candidates. Among those running for secretary of state are Greg Nickels, a former Seattle mayor who gained a national profile for his environmental activism; Jim Kastama, a conservative Democratic state senator who was a key swing vote in state budget nego- tiations; Kim Wyman, Thurston County’s auditor; and Kathleen Drew, a former state senator and former aide to Gov. Chris Gre- goire. Washington state has had only two secre- taries of state since 1980, Ralph Munro and the incumbent, Sam Reed, who is not seek- ing re-election. The secretary of state, who oversees state and local elections and regis- ters and licenses private corporations, is tra- ditionally not as visible a job as governor or attorney general. However in recent years the office has been more in the spotlight, as tens of millions of dollars pour into initia- See RACE on page 7
