Now that voters have spoken about charter schools will the new, independent public schools be an option at the beginning of the next academic year?

It seems unlikely.

Voters narrowly approved Initiative 1240 earlier this month, but opening charter schools by 2013 would require many things to happen quickly. And there's a strong possibility that the state's top education officer will sue to block them.

First the state Board of Education has to figure out the next steps. The board has until March 6 to adopt rules to govern most aspects of charter schools in Washington. Board spokesman Aaron Wyatt said that schedule is tight, so people shouldn't expect them to beat their deadline.