And the initiatives just keep on coming!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : I-695 Thirty Dollar License Tab Initiative : One Thread

And the neat thing is that "the usual suspects," the labor unions and other Democrat allies, must devote their time, their political capital, and their treasure to trying to hold the populist uprising at bay. This robs them of the time, treasure, and political capital to push their own agenda in Olympia. The net result is that the public wins, even when the initiatives lose, because you have sapped the resources of the interest groups, and drained them some of their power to manipulate the system. Let's keep those initiatives coming.

Group files initiative to form charter schools Associated Press OLYMPIA -- As expected, a group of parents and teachers filed a ballot initiative Wednesday that would authorize up to 80 state-financed charter schools over four years.

Jim Spady, the Seattle businessman whose 1996 charter-school measure was rejected by voters, said he's more optimistic about this effort.

"This is a much more modest proposal," he said. Plus, Spady added, "I feel good about our ability to raise funds from the high-tech community."

Charter schools are independent public schools, usually created by parents and teachers, that are exempt from many state laws and regulations. Foes say such schools would drain limited resources from regular public schools.

Spady said he hopes the initiative will put more pressure on the Legislature, where a charter-schools bill has failed to make it out of either chamber this year. Thirty-six states, including Oregon and California, fund charter schools in some form.

Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, who has repeatedly helped block the issue in the Legislature, said the threat of another initiative won't change any minds.

Rich Wood, spokesman for the state teachers union, said the Washington Education Association has not yet taken a stand on Spady's proposal, though it has opposed charter-school bills in the past.

Initiatives must be signed by at least 179,000 voters by July 7 to qualify for the November ballot.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), March 06, 2000


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