Good day, CharterFolk.
Let’s start at the state level, where things are more positive.
In New Jersey …
… sure, a Ciattarelli win would have put even more support behind charter schools, but Mikie Sherrill overcame a $40M investment from the New Jersey Education Association to advance their own president through the primary.
And throughout the rest of the campaign, she was unequivocal about her support for the expansion of charter schools in the state.
In comparison to Murphy?
A definite step up.
Virginia, meanwhile?
Meh.
How can you take a step down from the bottom-most rung?
Virginia looks destined to remain a de facto non-charter state for many more years to come.
At the city level, results are more sobering.
The NYC outcome we could see coming. The question now, on the education front, is how forcefully status quo interests will run their anti-charter school agenda. This morning the Times ran their editorial giving their suggestions for how Mamdani can write New York’s “next chapter” on a range of policy matters including public education.
No mention of charter schools.
Note to the Times editorial board:
It’s not possible to write public education’s next chapter anywhere, much less in NYC, without boldly and repeatedly using the words “charter school.”
In Albuquerque, as in NYC, far left enthusiasm has allowed status quo interests to regain control …
In Denver, it’s allowed them to retain control.
I don’t chalk much of this up to specific sentiment on charter schools, but just a protest vote generally.
But we’re still going to have to live with the aftermath.
This week, the Washington Post did a decent job of showing how the past 30 years in public education have essentially been a chapter driven by the emergence of charter schools.
Now it waits to be seen who writes the next chapter.
In Boston, the Globe calls for charter schools to retain their public-ness and salutes Tim and the team at the Massachusetts association for being on the right side of the issue.
I’ll end in California.
Prop 50 passed by wide margins, bolstering Newsom’s positioning nationally.
What his administration has done to charter schools Mike Kirst called “a tragedy” during Andy’s and my WonkyFolk conversation with him.
The part that many aren’t paying much attention to yet?
How all this redistricting across the United States is going to create more open state legislative seats than we’ve seen in a very long time. The National Conference of State Legislatures updated their primer on this issue earlier this week.
It means very large numbers of races will be at stake for the charter school movement in 2026.
That’s on top of the huge number of governor elections that Governor Engler directed our attention to earlier this year.
It’s shaping up to be another election about other matters, but where we will have to live with the aftermath.
Engler’s words ring even truer today.
Time to get our acts together.