Public education should be funded equally

In recent weeks, paid signature gatherers — many from out of state — have started appearing at store entrances, asking citizens to sign a petition to put Initiative 1240, a charter-schools initiative, on November’s ballot.

These signature gatherers are being paid $4 per signature, courtesy of Billionaire Boys Club members Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Nick Hanauer and members of the Bezos family. Collectively, these wealthy gentlemen have donated over $700,000 to the initiative campaign.

What this initiative is really about is privatizing education for a select few while making equal education for all a thing of the past. Apparently Gates, Allen, Hanauer et al don’t believe the voice of the voters that have voted down charter schools three times in Washington, nor do they understand that there is plenty of innovation happening in public schools today.

Charter schools discriminate [“Fewer disabled students found in charter schools, study finds,” news, June 20]; special-needs children are grossly underserved in charters, with families being counseled to take their special-needs children to schools “that have greater resources.”

Charter schools siphon money away from existing public schools. Public education should be funded equally, not for a chosen few.

Educate yourself. Decline to sign 1240!

— Martha de Carbonel Patterson, Silverdale