Lisa deFaria admits she knows nothing about the charter situation in Washington state. Reading her response to Cris Shardelman’s “My View” piece, that becomes apparent.

DeFaria seems to suffer under the illusion that we are a democracy. That is a misconception many in our nation suffer today, including many of our elected.

The United States was established as a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

What is the difference? A democracy is when people rule according to their passions, opinions and prejudices. James Madison spoke to the fallacy of democracy in Federalist No. 10. He wrote, “… Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives, as they have been violent in their deaths.”

A constitutional republic, however, is governed by rule of law. The Washington State Constitution, Article IX, is clear. The state Supreme Court relied on School District No. 20 v. Bryan, 51 Washington 498, 99 P. 28 (1909) in making its decision, stating, “Bryan has been the law in Washington for more than a hundred years and is repeatedly relied on as authority by Washington’s appellate courts. Intervenors offer no compelling reason to abandon Bryan.” (Decision, page 9, 10)

What does Bryan state? It states, “A common school, within Const., art 9, § 2, means one that is common to all children of proper age and capacity, free, and subject to, and under the control of the qualified voters of the district.”

I don’t know how much more clearly defined “common school” could be. Whether one is for or against charters is of little difference. Charters are not under the control of the qualified voters of the district; they do not meet the constitutional mandate.

Lynn M. Finney
Nine Mile Falls, WA