## Facts

- Washington voters approved Initiative 1240 (the Charter School Act), authorizing up to 40 charter schools and creating a statewide charter school commission as an authorizer, alongside optional district authorization.
- The Act treated charter schools as publicly funded schools exempt from many regulations governing other public schools, including in curriculum, personnel, and instructional requirements.
- Charter schools were operated by nonprofit entities under contracts with authorizers and were not governed by locally elected school district boards.
- The Act defined charter schools as “public, common school[s]” and directed they be funded under the same criteria as other public schools, including access to funding sources constitutionally dedicated to “common schools.”
- Plaintiffs challenged the Act, alleging charter schools were not “common schools” under the Washington Constitution because they lacked local voter control, and that the Act unconstitutionally diverted common school funds to non-common schools.
- The trial court held charter schools were not “common schools” and invalidated certain construction-fund provisions, but severed those provisions and otherwise upheld the Act.
- The Washington Supreme Court granted direct review.

## Issues

1. Whether charter schools created by Initiative 1240 qualify as “common schools” under Washington Constitution article IX, section 2, given their governance structure.
2. Whether provisions funding charter schools with moneys constitutionally dedicated exclusively to “common schools” violate article IX, section 2 and related funding restrictions.
3. If key funding and “common school” designation provisions are unconstitutional, whether they are severable such that the remainder of the Act may stand.

## Decision

- The court held that charter schools created by Initiative 1240 are not “common schools” because they are not under the control of local voters through elected school district boards.
- The court held unconstitutional and void the Act’s provisions that designated and treated charter schools as common schools and thereby permitted the use of funds reserved exclusively for common schools.
- The court held the unconstitutional designation and funding provisions were integral to the Act and not severable.
- The court invalidated Initiative 1240 in its entirety, reversing the trial court’s partial severance approach.

## Legal Principles

- Under Washington Constitution article IX and controlling precedent, a “common school” must be publicly funded and subject to local voter control through elected school district governance.
- Funds and revenue streams constitutionally dedicated “exclusively” to common schools may not be diverted to schools or programs that do not qualify as common schools.
- Unconstitutional provisions in a voter-enacted initiative are not severable when they are integral to the initiative’s purpose and operation; in that circumstance, the entire enactment must be struck.

## Conclusion

The Washington Supreme Court invalidated the Charter School Act because its charter schools were not “common schools” absent local voter control, yet the Act directed funding from constitutionally protected common school sources; those funding and designation provisions were integral and therefore not severable, requiring the Act’s complete invalidation.


League of Women Voters of Wash. v. State, 355 P.3d 1131 (Wash. 2015)