Senator Brownsberger, I would like to understand more about your thoughts on charter schools.
A bill to lift the cap on enrollment in charter schools for students in the lowest 10% of districts in the state will be debated next week. It is my understanding that this legislation would make it easier for more charter schools to open in the areas (primarily urban) where schools need the most support. It is also my understanding that charter organizations that currently out-perform the districts their students come from and that have been recognized for helping students to gain additional months and even years of education within one school year would be able to apply to create new schools or to enlarge their enrollment at their current schools.
Are you in favor of having more charter schools in these communities? Do you support this bill?
Thank you,
-Matt Clements
For more information, I would like to direct your attention to this article from the MCPSA: http://www.masscharterschools.org/media/news/lift-cap-urban-charters
Thank you. There are a lot of flavors of this legislation and the details do matter, but I do support expansion as necessary to meet the demand for charter alternatives in Boston.
Senator, I applaud your support for expanding charter schools in Massachusetts. – William Messenger
I am disappointed to hear that you support lifting the cap on urban charter schools, but I am glad to hear that you recognize that details are important. I am a public school parent and I work in a public school, but I have also worked in charter schools. I know from personal experience that all of the negatives that you hear about charter schools are true. In my charter school experience, I saw poorly paid and treated staff, high turnover of staff and children with even mild special needs counseled out. While there certainly are excellent charter schools as well as excellent public schools, there is not a convincing body of data that shows that charter schools outperform public schools overall.
I would hope that you would fight to make sure that charter schools in Massachusetts are NOT FOR PROFIT and that they are required to be every bit as accountable and transparent to the public as our public schools are required to be. I hope that you support measures to ensure that when a charter returns a child to the public school system, the public money that followed that child to the charter is returned to the city. I hope that you will support requiring charters to have a well-trained, licensed teaching staff that have the proper facilities and materials required to do their jobs. And let’s have some accurate reporting of things like attrition (student and staff), wait lists and salaries of staff and administration. Charter schools are funded with public money. We deserve to know how our money is being spent.
Massachusetts has always been known for its excellent public schools. Why are we considering measures that would jeopardize them? I’d prefer that our efforts be spent on our public schools. Dr. Johnson is leaving the BPS better than it was when she joined it. Let’s not undo her good work.
Update: See this later post for my position on the charter school options considered in 2014.