Gov. Jay Inslee has decided to let the Legislature's charter school fix become law without his signature.
Inslee's decision announced Friday afternoon is the first time a Washington governor has let a bill become law without his signature since 1981.
The measure is a response to the Washington Supreme Court decision in September that the state's charter school law adopted by voters in 2012 is unconstitutional. The court took issue with the way the schools were funded and managed.
In a letter to Secretary of State Kym Wyman, Inslee said he remains "deeply concerned about the public accountability and oversight provisions of this bill."
"At its foundation, our public school system relies upon locally elected boards to oversee the expenditures of taxpayer money. This bill provides an option for similar oversight, but would ultimately allow unelected boards to make decisions about how to spend public money. I can think of no other situation where the Legislature or the people would condone that, especially when we are fighting to meet the needs of the almost one million children in our public schools," Inslee said.
Charter school supporters were hopeful the governor would sign the bill, but said their top priority was keeping Washington's eight charter schools open and allowing the new public school system to continue to grow.
On Friday, parents and students at the eight charter schools across the state were celebrating.
"It's totally a relief," said Natalie Hester Johnson.
Her child is a ninth grader at Summit Sierra Charter School in Seattle.
"I mean, we've been in this fight since September, I've been to Olympia myself, asking for legislators to do the right thing," she said. "It's been kind of a rollercoaster, but it's a great day today."
The Washington Education Association, the union that represents public school teachers, had a very different reaction.
"Instead of attempting to fix a flawed and unconstitutional charter school law for 1,000 students, the legislators who voted for this bill should have focused on their constitutional Paramount Duty, which is to fully fund the public schools for all of our state's 1.1 million students," WEA spokesperson Rich Wood said in a statement.
Wood said that at this point, no decisions have been made about whether the union might challenge the law.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
