Where our notions of public, charter schools come from

Last month, the Washington state Supreme Court determined that charter schools are ineligible to receive public school funds under the 1889 state constitution.
Upholding precedent from a century ago, the court determined that because charter schools “are run by an appointed board or nonprofit organization and thus are not subject to local voter control, they cannot qualify as ‘common schools.'” This decision reflects a conversation, ongoing since the early years of the republic, about the relationship between public authority and education, with implications for educational philanthropy.