Media Coverage
The achievement gap wins one
The Boston Globe Editorial
March 10, 2008
"The top priority for state education officials in 2008 is to close the academic achievement gap between white and minority students. But given a chance to do so last month, the state Board of Education retreated.
The Feb. 26 meeting of the nine-member board was a litmus test on charter schools. Charter supporters feared that the Patrick administration might shy away from approving additional charters, which operate independently of local school boards and teachers' unions.
Local superintendents complained bitterly about the loss of funding when their students decamped. Charter school backers held their breath. They exhaled only when the board voted to approve three of four applications.
But it was a hollow victory. The one school that got shot down -- the International Charter School of Southeastern Massachusetts -- was the largest and boldest. Its rejection raises thorny questions about just how hard the Patrick administration is willing to push to achieve equity in education. This is an immediate challenge for the new secretary of education and the three new board appointees whom Patrick is expected to name soon."
Click here to read the full editorial
Make charter schools a priority
The Boston Globe Editorial
February 22, 2008
"The Patrick administration's education priorities should come into focus with the spring release of its 10-year strategic plan -- the so-called Readiness Project -- for classroom improvements. Until then, one reliable way to judge the administration's commitment to innovation is to track its willingness to expand charter schools.
Acting Commissioner of Education Jeff Nellhaus has recommended that the state Board of Education approve four new charter schools at its Tuesday meeting. Like the existing 61 charter schools in the state, these newcomers would have the ability to get ahead through flexible scheduling, budgeting, curriculum building, teacher hiring, and a longer school day...
Charter schools, which operate free of restrictive union work rules and central-office meddling, consistently outperform their district counterparts on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam. The all-important longer school day is routine in charter schools. In traditional districts, parents and students would be lucky to find one of the extended-day pilot programs. School superintendents and teacher union officials express deep fear for the future when watching students and the per capita costs for educating them depart for charter schools. But they aren't worried enough, it seems, to quicken the pace of reform. And some are so busy mounting lobby days against the state's high-stakes MCAS test that they don't even notice the 19,000 students on charter school waiting lists whose goal is to ace the exam, not duck it."
Click here to read the full editorial
No delays, please on new charters
The Boston Herald Editorial
February 23, 2008
"The Patrick administration and the state Board of Education could find a million excuses to postpone action on four new charter school applications, which are set for a vote Tuesday.
There's a new chairman of the board, the board is about to be overhauled, the governor is still waiting for a report from his "Readiness" committee, the dog ate my homework...you get the idea.
But if the board and its new chairman, Paul Reville, decide to choose to delay over action, it will deal a blow not only to these schools and families in the communities they'll serve -- but to the charter school movement itself...
The board of education made a solid choice recently in choosing a new commissioner who supports charter schools. Since then, Gov. Deval Patrick has won the power to remake the board in his image. He can signal his support for these precious educational lifelines by encouraging approval of the four schools -- and by rejecting future assaults on their very existence."
To read the full editorial click here
Take the brakes off the charter movement
Op-ed by Joe Williams, Democrats for Education Reform
The Boston Globe
January 21, 2008
"The Commonwealth's education reform effort was founded on a trade-off: enhanced accountability and expanded parental choice in return for new state funding. Student assessment testing was established, along with new curriculum standards. Charter public schools were created to expand parental choice and introduce competition.
Since then, Bay State schools have risen to become some of the best in the country. In 2005, Massachusetts became the first state to place first in all four categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known s the nation's report card. Last year, the Commonwealth did it again.
One of the keys to this success has been the state's charter school program. Charter public schools in Massachusetts have transformed urban education, not only giving poor and forgotten children a chance at a quality education and a bright future, but also prompting reforms in district schools, such as the creation of pilot schools in Boston.
Many urban charters -- with predominantly minority and poor students -- are outsourcing wealthy suburban school districts on statewide assessment tests.
These accomplishments have led many states and cities to emulate the Commonwealth's formula of accountability and choice...."
Click here to read the full op-ed
A new leader for better schools
The Boston Globe Editorial
December 22, 2007
"Selecting a new state education commissioner might prove easier if the Board of Education could wait until spring, when the Patrick administration is scheduled to unveil a 10-year strategic plan to improve education. But Governor Patrick wants a permanent commissioner appointed in January. Now the board's challenge is to identify the state's educational priorities and decide which of the three finalists is the closest match -- and the best equipped to build upon past reforms...
School superintendents across the state spend inordinate time and effort trying to protect their budgets by undermining the state's effective charter school movement. Massachusetts needs a commissioner who recognizes the need for more charter schools or in-district alternatives where student achievement trumps union work rules. Much of the state's progress, especially in poorer school districts, is linked to the MCAS graduation requirement test. The next commissioner needs the courage to persevere on MCAS regardless of complaints from short-sighted school boards or educators...."
Click here to read the full editorial
Don't cheat charter schools
Boston Globe Editorial
September 27, 2007
"EACH YEAR opponents of state-supervised charter schools in Massachusetts perform the same tired dance steps on Beacon Hill in an effort to stamp out these distinctive examples of education reform. It's a cynical exercise and an insult to the families of roughly 19,000 young people waiting for an opportunity to join the already 25,000 students attending charter schools in the state."
Click here to read the full editorial
Boosting charters
State's top business leaders lending their support
Worchester Telegram & Gazette
Editorial
September 27, 2007
"Charter schools in Massachusetts will get a most welcome boost today as a group of some of the state's top business leaders join together to lobby in support of the expansion of charter public schools across the state.
The Massachusetts Business Leaders for Charter Public Schools, which includes such well-known members as former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy; Charles D. Baker, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and Paul Guzzi, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, properly see charter schools as a vital part of the state's public education system, which is responsible for supplying businesses the well-educated, well-skilled work force upon which Massachusetts' knowledge-based economy is dependent."
Click here to read the full editorial
Expand, Don't Limit Charter Schools
Boston Herald\
Editorial
September 27, 2007
"It's that time of year again, when charter school advocates must fend off the would-be forces of their destruction. On Beacon Hill, lawmakers will grapple once more with attempts to starve charter schools out of existence - or to kill them outright.
At a hearing today, the Joint Committee on Education will hear familiar tales of woe from superintendents who say charter schools wreak havoc on school budgets; from unions who would force them to operate under restrictive rules; and from lawmakers doing the bidding of both."
Click here to read the full editorial
New biz group seeks more charter schools
Boston Herald
September 27, 2007
By Jerry Kronenberg Tuesday, September 25, 2007
"Akamai Technologies chief Paul Sagan is giving some Massachusetts schools bad grades when it comes to preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“Particularly in urban areas, we're cheating kids because they don't get the education they need,” said Sagan, one of a group of businesspeople who will today call for increased funding for Massachusetts charter schools."
Click here to read the full story
Supporters speak up for charter schools
By Lindsey Parietti/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Wed Sep 26, 2007, 12:58 AM EDT
"Charter schools are working, at least for the students who are enrolled in them.
That's the message hundreds of parents reaffirmed at a State House hearing yesterday when legislators questioned the fairness and accountability of charter school spending and discussed freezing new charters until the problem could be studied."
Click here for the full story
Legislators want more scrutiny of charter schools, especially funding
Lawrence Eagle Tribune/ Salem News
By Edward Mason , Staff writer
BOSTON - "Alida Jenkins enrolled her son Jonathan at Lawrence Community Day Public Charter School when he was 4 years old.
She said the transformation in her boy within his first six months away from the city's public schools was "inexplicable."
"He could tell me how lightning is created; where hurricanes come from," Jenkins said. "In public school, they're still working on their ABCs and 1-2-3s. You're looking to better your child's education, and this reinforced the choice I made."
Click here for the full story
City schools can learn a lesson from Sabis
Springfield Republican Editorial
July 6, 2007
"With 2,440 students on the waiting list to attend Sabis International Charter School during the 2005-2006 school year, it was clear that the school's formula for success is getting noticed by Springfield's educational consumers.
That's why the state was wise to approve the K-12 public school's plan to make room for additional students, despite the opposition of Springfield school district officials who argued that allowing Sabis to grow by 200 to 1,574 would lead to a $1.8 million revenue loss for the city -- and an additional $200,000 in busing costs.
Sabis has earned the right to expand to full capacity allowed by the state. While all charter schools are not a panacea, the school is a shining example of what the charter model can achieve.
All Sabis seniors in the class of 2007 were admitted to higher learning institutions as were 100 percent of the class of 2006, according to the school's annual report. Of 93 Sabis 10th graders who took the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests last year, only 1 percent fell into the warning/failing category in English and just 2 percent in math. That's lower than the statewide failing rates of 7 to 12.
Charter schools are self-governing public schools, free to offer longer school days and flexibility in scheduling. Struggling public schools should borrow a page from successful charter schools such as Sabis..."
Click here to read the full editorial
For schools, a plain dealer
The Boston Globe editorial
June 21, 2007
"...Few public school superintendents would ever be caught in front of television cameras expressing support for independent charter schools, which compete with local school systems for students and funding. But Johnson said she supports charter schools and other alternative models that expand educational opportunity. More than 4,000 Boston students now attend state charter schools, which operate free of central office interference and union regulations. The city is better off for it, especially because the public school system responded to the charter challenge by creating in-district pilot schools that offer similar flexibility around curriculum and scheduling. Johnson was right to place a higher value on competition and student achievement than on appeasing organized labor or marching in lockstep with the mayor, a critic of independent charters...."
Click here to read the full editorial
"Charter schools bridging the gap"
The Boston Herald
May 15, 2007
"As Gov. Deval Patrick works behind the scenes to reform the way public schools are governed and financed, he'd be well serviced to read through the latest analysis of performance by charter schools kids. A group that promotes charter schools has analyzed MCAS data from 2006 and found that minority students in charter schools are managing, in pretty impressive numbers, to bridge the achievement gap....
The analysis comes at a critical moment for commonwealth charter schools, which for more than a decade have served as an alternative for families in struggling school districts.
Patrick has been lukewarm at best on support for these alternative public schools -- which operate independent of a local school board and free of many union rules -- and far too willing to toe the line for teachers' unions.
In addition to a new funding proposal, the governor is also considering a major shakeup of the appointed boards that oversee public education, in which case he may well decline to reappoint members who back charters.
Finally, it will fall to Patrick to name a new education commissioner when David Driscoll, a strong charter school proponent, retires this summer.
Within weeks, we will know much of what we need to know about how far this governor will go to support those parents who see charters as the only way out for their kids.
Reports like this one should inform every decision he makes."
Click here for the full story
Editorial: The next debate on charter schools
The MetroWest Daily News
May 16, 2007
"The debate over charter schools in Massachusetts has been largely focused on the cap and the funding formula. The Legislature must decide whether the cap on new charters should be lifted, especially in urban districts like Boston, where charter school expansion has been stopped. The funding formula, under which funding follows students from district schools to charters, has been divisive for communities and damaging to district school budgets.
Gov. Deval Patrick has promised to solve these issues together, fixing the funding before lifting the cap, and we wish him luck.
But there's a lot more to education than school budgets, and these stuides should prompt a larger debate about what Massachusetts wants from charter schools. Do we want them to share the district schools' mission of providing a uniform curriculum to a broad range of students? Or should then be 'niche schools,' serving a particular type of student, whether especially gifted or especially challenged? Is the charter movement about innovation, choice or both?
It's up to Patrick to lead the next charter school debate. This page has long considered charter schools an education reform success. Now it's time to get beyond caps and funding: time to figure out where charters go from here."
Click here for the full story
Study: Charter schools outpace counterparts in closing achievement gap
State House News Service
May 13, 2007
"Citing an analysis employing MCAS scores from 2006, charter public school advocates say students at the schools are outpacing their public school district counterparts when it comes to closing the achievement gap among minority and low-income students.
The study comes as Gov. Deval Patrick and his advisors are planning a sweeping reform of the state's education superstructure, a plan that will likely feature education financing changes...
'What it's showing is charter schools overall are outperforming sending districts,' said Marc Kenen, executive director of Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.
'Charter schools create cultures in their schools that focus on leaving no child behind by providing support systems for every student, making sure every student is known in the school.' Kenen said.
Low income and special education students also fare better, according to the analysis, scoring in the top two categories in English at a 44.8 percent clip versus 34 percent in the district and 26.7 percent against 15.7 percent in the district, respectively."
Cap on charters shortchanges kids
Editorial
Boston Herald
March 9, 2007
"The charter school cap serves as nothing but an artificial barrier to opportunity for kids whose families are every bit as invested in their education as their suburban counterparts -- but whose options are tragically limited. It's time to lift the cap, and Gov. Patrick should be leading the charge."
Click here for the full story
"Charter School Debate Reignites"
WBUR
March 9, 2007
"Charter schools in Boston held their annual lotteries this week. Fourteen of the schools did it on the same day to highlight the demand.
This year, about five thousand children registered for the lottery, hoping to win one of the thousand seats in Boston's publicly funded charter schools. It was the highest demand ever.
But not everyone agrees the state should increase the supply of charters. And, with the change of leadership on Beacon Hill, the debate over these schools is heating up again. WBUR"s Monica Brady-Myerov reports."
Click here to listen to or read the full story
Editorial: At-risk students need alternatives
Daily News Tribune
March 9, 2007
"It's also unfortunate that most students at risk of dropping off don't have the option of switching to a school more suited to them. Their parents can't afford to send them to a private school. Public charter schools, which don't charge tuition, aren't available in many districts. Some charter schools have hundreds of students on waiting lists...
It also makes sense to raise the cap on new charter schools, at least in districts with high drop-out rates, to provide more options for at-risk students.
The time has come to raise the drop-out age. But holding students prisoner in schools that aren't working for them is not the answer, and in fact would create a host of other problems for schools, including increased truancy and disruptive behaivor.
Alternative education is the key that will improve the drop-out rates, not just in Massachusetts, but nationwide."
Click here to read the full story
Lotteries show charter schools' continued popularity
Editorial
Worcester Telegram and Gazette
March 2, 2007
"Years after the state's Education Reform Act of 1993 allowed for the establishment of state-chartered public schools, independent of the district public school system, charter schools no longer are a novelty. While funding issues have placed charter and district schools in a regrettable adversarial position, the flood of applications demonstrates the charter school option is still strongly embraced by parents...
The continuing flow of applications to public charter schools across the state shows that their reputation for innovation and accountability and the educational options they offer stood the test of time."
Click here to read the full story
Some friendly advice for the governor-elect
Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe columnist
November 21, 2006
"When it comes to education, as I look at your transition team, I see more defenders of the status quo or, at best, incrementalists, than I do impatient reformers.
One bright spot is Gloria Larson, the co-chair. As someone involved with the Great Schools Campaign, she's keenly aware of the important issues at play.
But there's just not much urgency apparent in the educators you've selected. There's Wayne Burton, president of North Shore Community College, who recently balked at MassINC's notion that those two-year institutions need to boost their students' program graduation rates above the abysmal 17 percent (over three years, no less) we are currently seeing.
And there's James Caradonio, superintendent of schools from Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray's Worcester. He's OK on the MCAS, but like Murray, he's a foe of charter schools. Why, the Romney administration had barely finished reworking the charter-school funding formula back in 2004 -- reworking it very much along the lines Caradonio himself advocated -- when he and other superintendents were back seeking still more changes. Caradonio has also been a regular critic of the Department of Education's accountability efforts.
And there's Kathy Kelley, former president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. The eminently likable Kelley is popular on Beacon Hill, but the fact remains that she hails from a constituency that is both anti-MCAS and anti-charter school.
Where are the likes of, say, the Boston Foundation's Paul Grogan or the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy's Paul Reville -- that is, people who have been regular, insistent prods for change, accountability, and competition?"
Charter school revels in great MCAS scores
The Boston Herald
September 27, 2006
"Lut Celestin wants to make one thing clear: Going to MATCH Charter Public High School was not her idea. It was her mother's. But, after more than two years at the Brighton school, she can't complain.
Out of a possible 280 points on her 10th-grade MCAS exams, she scored 260 in English and 264 in mathematics -- 74 points above what she scored in math in middle school -- placing her in the "advanced," or top, level in both subjects."
'At first I didn't like the fact that we had more work here. They challenge you constantly,' said Celestin, now a 16-year-old junior from Hyde Park. 'I always wanted to go to college. I think this place has just made me work harder to get there.'"
Click here for the full story
Making their final case
Scot Lehigh
The Boston Globe
September 15, 2006
"Another issue where Gabrieli scored was charter schools, the independent public schools that operate outside traditional public school governance. Gabrieli has long championed those innovative schools, which Reilly also backs. Patrick purports to favor them as well, but given his various caveats, that supposed support might aptly be labeled opposition to further charter-school expansion.
That's unfortunate, the more so since a new state-sponsored study has just documented the promise of charters, particularly when it comes to boosting academic performance by minority and low-income students.
Still, it's no suprise: It's awfully hard to make yourself the favorite of the educational establishment and remain independent enough to be a real catalyst for educational change. Gabrieli did an effective job of making that weakness clear. 'You are wrong to refuse these kids the choices' more charters would allow, he said.
When Patrick said he wanted a different financing formula -- his website call for 'funding mechanisms that do not disadvantage district schools' -- Gabrieli pointed out the district schools receive some funding for students for three years after they have departed for charters, to help those schools adjust.
Click here to read the full story
Boston Globe's Michael Jonas on on Deval Patrick and charter schools
Deval Patrick's school choice
The Boston Globe Political Trail
by Michael Jonas
September 10, 2006
"Patrick, who has been endorsed by the state's biggest foes of charters, the Boston Teachers Union and the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, is the only Democratic candidate who opposes lifting the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. He has cited the main argument of charter school opponents -- that charter schools drain money from district schools -- in explaining his stand against raising the charter school cap.
In his rags-to-riches biography, Patrick makes much of the doors that were opened when a scholarship to prestigious Milton Academy gave him a ticket out of Chicago's dreary public school system. For many urban dwellers, particularly black and Hispanic famillies, charter schools are the Milton Academy for the masses, alternatives to dead-end public schools that are much more widely available than the hit-the-lottery type of luck through which a tiny handful of kids in poorly performing districts get the kind of break that Patrick himself enjoyed.
Even with the growth of charter schools in Massachusetts, however, thousands of minority families in Boston and other cities have their children on waiting lists for charter schools, a clear vote-wth-their-feet cry that they are desperate for choices beyond the local district public schools.
What does Patrick, whose campaign has been built on the theme of hope, say to them?"
Click here to read the full story
Where charters succeed
The Boston Globe Editorial
September 6, 2006
"LOCAL CHARTER schools just got a good report card. Students in these independent schools tend to score higher on the MCAS than peers in the district public schools, according to a study from the state's Department of Education
It's a victory for the Commonwealth, and a contrast to last month's federal study showing that nationally charter schools lag behind public schools on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test. The next step is to identify the factors that promote student success and see if they can be replicated.......
Charter Schools have been demonized for siphoning money and students from traditional public schools. But the state report shows that many should be seen not as thieves but as pioneers, cutting new roads to academic success."
Click here to read the full story
For all kids, school choice is smart choice
Opinion Editorial By Michael Goldstein
The Boston Herald
September 6, 2006
"If BPS allows more predominantly African-American students to end up in pilots, METCO and charters, it's win-win-win.
Teachers get more choices of the school types that most appeal to them (including some which are not designed for the lifers).
Minority parents and kids get off waiting lists and into the programs they want.
The district would need hire a few hundred new teachers per year during the transition period. A choosier BPS gets better teachers, kids learn more, morale improves, teacher attrition declines -- which lead to an even more selective hiring process.
Sound pie in the sky? Philadelphia and New York -- cities where superintendents and mayors most encourage charters and other choice -- have seen the biggest gains of all large U.S. cities among students who remain behind in the traditional schools.
Public school choice benefits children of all races. But it most helps the families who've been worst off. Instead of black families fighting for access to good schools, how about good schools fighting to enroll black families?
That's a civil rights vision worth fighting for."
Click here to read the full story
Charter school facts in
The Boston Herald editorial
September 1, 2006
"What has been obvious all along about charter schools is that parents like them and trust them to do a good job. The waiting lists of students begging to get in are ample testament to that. But that isn't enough to justify the expenditure of public money.
'Too often the question of whether or not charter schools are successful becomes a politically charged debate,' Driscoll said.
Now the facts are in -- and splendid facts they are. They mean the time is right to lift the cap on charter schools and allow more parents and students the right to choose."
Click here to read the full story
Charter schools score
Metrowest Daily News editorial
September 1, 2006
"The study underscores the argument for lifting the cap on charter schools, at least in cities like Boston, where charter school expansion has been halted by the legislative restriction. Students need these schools, parents want them, and they are getting the job done.
The differences in school performance also underscore one of the great disappointments in Massachusetts' charter school experiment. The innovations being pioneered at charter schools are not finding their way into district schools, partly because of the hostility toward charter schools in the public education establishment."
Click here to read the full story
On exam, charter schools get edge:
MCAS scores buck a national trend
The Boston Globe
August 31, 2006
"Massachusetts charter school students are performing as well as, or better than, their counterparts in regular public schools, in contrast to a recent national study, according to a state report released yesterday.
About 60 percent of the charter school students fared about the same as their peers in regular schools on state MCAS exams in
English and math, while 30 percent performed 'significantly higher,' according to the study commissioned by the state Department of Education. About 10 percent of the charter schools fared worse."
Click here to read the full story
Study: MCAS results good at charters
The Springfield Republican
August 31, 2006
"A new study shows that 90 percent of the state's charter schools performed the same or better on the MCAS test during the last five years when compared with the home districts of the majority of their students.
Ten percent of charter schools performed worse.
Mark Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, said the independent study confirms what he has known for years.
'This is a validation of what we've been saying for quite a while. Charter schools are very successful and particularly with the most challenging populations like African-American students, Hispanic students, low-income students and special education students,' he said."
Click here to read the full story
Study: Third of charter schools beat counterparts on MCAS
Associated Press
August 30, 2006
"Nearly a third of state charter schools score higher on the MCAS exam than schools in the districts their students come from, according to a study commissioned by the state Department of Education.....
Jeff Wulfson, who oversees the charter school office at the Department of Education, said the report showed significant numbers of hard-to-educate students in charter schools, and also offered a rebuttal to those who say charter schools aren't working.
'Certainly, this shows many charter schools are being very effective,' he said."
Click here to read the full story
Catching Dropouts
The Boston Globe
July 12, 2006
"What few sparks flew during a recent debate among the Democratic candidates for governor focused on levels of support for independent charter schools that operate free of the union and central office rules that often stifle innovation. Candidate Chris Gabrieli is the strongest proponent of charter schools and Deval Patrick is the weakest. But Attorney General Thomas Reilly, who favors lifting the cap on charter schools in struggling school districts, may have staked out the fertile ground in the middle. The next governor should give priority to charter schools that specialize in closing the achievement gap between minority and white students or educating special-needs students, non-native English speakers, and other students at risk of dropping out. That strategy carries the added benefit of soothing district officials who complain that they lose both funding and a disproportionate share of regular education students to charter schools."
Click here to read the full story
Graduating the Best
Scot Lehigh
The Boston Globe
June 20, 2006
"Here's another eye-catching success. All of the 2006 graduates or soon-to-be graduates of the five Boston Commonwealth charter high schools have been accepted at, and plan to attend, college -- most at four-year institutions. That means 41 students from City on a Hill, 21 from the Academy of the Pacific Rim, 17 from Codman Academy, 16 from Boston Collegiate and 15 from the Media and Technology Charter High School are all college-bound.
As an overall snapshot, almost 60 percent of the Boston charter high school population is composed of low-income students; three-quarters are black or Hispanic.
At City on a Hill, where this year's valedictorian is Smith-bound on a scholarship, high school is all about college.
``We are pretty focused from the time they start freshman year on preparing them for college success," says executive director Michael Duffy.
In pursuit of the college objective, students there have a longer day than most of their traditional public school counterparts, starting at 8 and taking classes until 3. Then, from 3 to 5, students work with a tutor or a teacher on their skills.
At Codman Academy, where the student body is 100 percent minority, a 9-to-5 school day, Saturday morning classes, and a strong connection to students' families are part of the prescription for success, says Meg Campbell, the head of the school.
Come fall, Codman's 17 graduates will be off to places like Brandeis, Holy Cross, Boston College, Northeastern, UMass-Amherst, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Kentucky State University.
MATCH, meanwhile, is sending two graduates off to Smith, one to Duke, another to Denison, and others to well-regarded public universities or small colleges.
As with Somerville High School's, those are public school successes to celebrate.
Congratulations, graduates!"
Click here to read the full story
Enter Horace Mann
The Boston Globe
April 24, 2006
"THE ANNUAL assault on Massachusetts charter schools is underway with a proposed amendment to the House budget that could jeopardize funding for students attending the 49 autonomous schools. Having failed in an earlier attempt to impose a moratorium on charter schools, opponents now seek to suppress the movement by capping the payments that charter schools receive from school districts at $5,000 per student.
School officials bristle when their students and a goodly portion of the per capita costs for educating them depart for charter schools. It's chastening, and it was meant to be. The crafters of the state's 1993 education reform law hoped that school districts would respond to the challenge by adopting the charter movement's flexible approach to teacher hiring, scheduling, budgeting, curriculum, and length of school day. Instead, much of that energy has been spent lobbying the Legislature to weaken funding for charter schools."
Click here to read the full story
Foes chip away at charter schools
The Boston Herald
Monday, April 17, 2006
"Charter schools have been under attack from teachers' unions and their toadies in the Legislature since before the first one ever opened its doors. So we aren't at all surprised that opponents in the House are once again taking aim at charter schools through the state budget, trying to starve them out of existence."
Click here to read the full story
Afterschool specialists
These tutors give a boost to students' grades, and to themselves
The Boston Globe
April 17, 2006
"A similar idealism and sense of mission seems to animate the 41 other tutors at work in the Media and Technology Charter High School, housed in a building that was the longtime home of Ellis the Rim Man auto parts store...Drawn primarily from the ranks of recent college graduates, the tutors receive three weeks of training and are then plunged into the challenge of working closely with mostly low-income Boston students. Many of the students need that kind of individual academic attention, because they have floundered or not been sufficiently challenged in the Boston public schools...For MATCH students facing the stiffest academic demands they've ever confronted, the tutors are a kind of lifeline."
Click here to read the full story
Candidates on charter schools
Scot Lehigh
The Boston Globe
April 11, 2006
"For well-to-do families, it's easy to opt out of underperforming public schools. But for those of moderate means, other choices are harder to come by. The state's 49 commonwealth charters, whose students are chosen by lottery, have become one popular alternative for some 19,000 Massachusetts students, while thousands more are on waiting lists. With innovative approaches that often feature a longer school day, and sometimes a longer year as well, charters also inject healthy competition into the public system. But as charters have grown in number, so has the opposition to them, particularly among the teachers' unions, whose dollars and organizational clout can prove valuable electoral assets for favored candidates...So how does the gubernatorial field stack up on the issue of charter schools?"
Click here to read the full story
CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Latest Survey Finds 67 Percent Of Residents Support Independent Public Schools
BOSTON, April 11, 2006 - More than 10 years after charter public schools began as an experimental part of public education reform, Massachusetts residents strongly support their work and favor additional spending on such schools in the lowest performing school districts, according to a new statewide survey.
The poll, conducted by KRC/Communications Research and the State House News Service, revealed that by a 67 percent to 28 percent margin Bay State residents back charter public schools, with 5 percent having no opinion. The poll was conducted from March 15 to 17 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percent.
"Respondents strongly support the potential for innovation that charter schools provide, especially for the lowest performing school districts," said Gerry Chervinsky, president of KRC. "Massachusetts residents believe it's worth the additional public funding if it leads to increased educational achievement"
By a margin of 54 percent to 37 percent the survey of 400 residents also revealed support for raising the spending cap on new charters in low ranking school districts. Currently no more than 9 percent of a district's net school spending can be transferred to charters in any given year. A bill pending in the Legislature would raise the cap on district spending from 9 percent to 20 percent in districts that fall within the bottom 10 percent in state performance on MCAS exams.
A majority of both men and women support the legislation. Support was strongest among young adults aged 18-39 (61%-37%). Support was strong across the state and was strongest in Suffolk County (67%-21%)
Among political parties, support was strongest among Republicans - 68%-30%. Independents support the legislation by a 51% to 40% margin. Democrats support the legislation 47%-40%.
Urban areas in particular would benefit from measure. Public school districts in Boston, Chelsea, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence and Lowell, among others, have all reached their spending limit on charter public schools. But none of those districts had more than 40 percent of their students score "advanced" or "proficient" in recent MCAS testing.
The poll also found that the policy of funding charter schools has little impact on opinions toward charter schools. About 45 percent of respondents said it has "no impact," 27 percent said it actually makes them "favor" charter schools, and only 25 percent it makes them oppose charter schools. Charters receive their funding by taking a portion of a district's total education spending and reallocating it to charters based on how many children leave the district school system.
This, too, is significant since the most vocal opponents to charter public schools - district school superintendents and teachers unions - have accused charters schools of "draining" money from the district public schools. The poll suggests that the public recognizes that charter schools are public schools and taxpayer dollars are still being used to educate their children.
"This is a clear endorsement of charter public schools across the state," said Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. "Our critics have continually tried to derail our growth. But the public is seeing the benefits and they want us to continue."
The 67 percent show of overall support for charter public schools continues an upward trend of favorable scores in independent surveys. Support for charter public schools has climbed from 41 percent of residents in a 2003 Mass Insight Education survey, to 56 percent in a Boston Globe survey in January of 2005, to the strong State House News Service poll. Opposition has remained flat.
"This tells us that the more people hear about us, the more they like us," said Kenen. "In spite of the political static that taints the debate about us, all the movement has been in a positive direction over the past few years."
Kenen also noted that overall support for charter schools was strong across the state. Charter public schools were supported by a 2-1 margin in every geographic region. The greatest strength was in Suffolk County, where charters are backed by a 75 percent to 16 percent margin.
Support is equally strong among men and women with two-thirds supporting charters and is strongest among adults aged 18-39 (78%-17%).
Support is also strong among all political parties. Republicans support charter schools by a 77%-21% margin. Independents support charter schools by a 69%-27% margin. Democrats support charter schools by a 60%-34% margin.
More than 20,000 children are enrolled in the state's 59 charter public schools and another 15,000 are waiting lists to get in. In Boston 5,000 children are enrolled in charters, but more than 6,100 others are waiting for open spots.
Kenen said that proponents of charter public schools, along with the teachers and administrators, are celebrating the results of the new survey, but will continue to stay focused on their mission.
"The steady increase in support is the result of the hard work that has been done in our schools and in our communities," he said. "That effort has meant expanded educational opportunities for low and middle-income families across the state."
Charter schools blasted on Web site
By Charlie Breitrose / Metrowest Daily News Staff
Friday, March 25, 2005
A Web site accusing charter schools of being "gravy sucking pigs" has riled supporters of the independent public schools, but members of the anti-charter group, including two Framingham residents, stand behind the message.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers for Accountable Spending put up the Web site that calls for reform of the charter school funding formula in Massachusetts and also includes a comparison of charters to swine.
The creator of the anti-charter Web site is Paul Schlictman, chairman of the Arlington School Committee, who founded MTAS along with Framingham School Committee member Phil Dinsky, Framingham parent Susan Tsantes and former-Framingham resident Rene Mandel, among others.
MTAS members complain that money for traditional public schools has dropped for about two-thirds of the school districts in the state since Gov. Mitt Romney took office in 2002, and close to half lost at least 20 percent of their state aid. Meanwhile, payments to charter schools that districts are mandated to pay have increased almost 40 percent.
This was not the first time hearing "gravy sucking pigs" coming from Schlictman, said Rob Kaufman, executive director of the Christa McAuliffe Regional Public Charter School in Framingham. He heard Schlictman use the phrase at a legislative conference last year.
"At the time, I called it hate speech," Kaufman said.
The negative tactics have not furthered the debate over charter schools, Kaufman said.
"There has been no attention paid to the content of the discussion or what is best to the kids," Kaufman said. "Attention has been paid to the poor behavior of Schlictman and those who support them."
News of the Web site spread among charter school supporters, who did not appreciate being compared to pigs.
"I was offended, and then when I found out the position of this guy...I was disappointed and dismayed that this guy is an educator," said Rosa Menard, whose son, Andrew, attends the McAuliffe charter school.
Fellow charter parent Nancy Donchin of Framingham said she believes the Web site will damage the charter opponents' efforts.
"They have their data and examples, but I think it takes away from their arguments," Donchin said.
The MTAS Web site is childish, said Julia Sigalovsky, executive director of the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, a grade 6-12 charter school opening this fall in Marlborough.
"It is not appropriate for civilized people to do that," Sigalovsky said. "You can disagree on many things but it should be on a civilized level."
Sigalovsky said she and others at the AMSACS would not "lower ourselves to their level."
Dinsky, who has served on the Framingham School Committee for a dozen years, said focusing on the pigs reference misses the point.
"The real issues are not the metaphor he used," Dinsky said. "The real issue is the accountability."
He said, however, that Schlictman's tactics certainly grabbed people's attention.
"I don't think very many people would have seen the Web site (without the reference)," Dinsky said. "It contains a good list of what issues are in terms of funding.
Framingham's Tsantes said she let Schlictman use her name because she has long sought a change in the way charter schools are funded.
Charters are public schools but are not controlled by the district in which they are located. Money that would have been spent on town schools is transferred to the charter school based on how many students from the town enroll.
Aside from the funding, Tsantes said she does not like how the state Board of Education can award a charter school to a community when residents oppose it.
"When we were discussing (building a new McAuliffe Branch) library, the pros and cons, the minutia was discussed by Town Meeting and then was voted on," Tsantes said. "When they decided to spend millions on a charter school no one spoke. We weren't able to discuss it or vote on it."
One thing that bothered charter school supporters was that Schlictman bought a Web address very similar to the site run by the main charter school support group in the state, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.
The only difference is ".org" at the end of the pro-charter group and the ".com" used by MTAS.
The MTAS Web site can also be reached by going to www.gravysuckingpigs.org. Schlictman also created an anti-Green Party Web site when Green candidate Jill Stein was running for governor in 2002.
Charter opponents sink to new low
Monday, March 21, 2005
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Numbers don't lie but charter school opponents do. The ploy by a leader of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to hijack the Web site name of an organization supporting charter schools to spread misinformation to unsuspecting Web surfers is despicable.
It is also a sign of desperation.
Arlington School Committee Chairman Paul Schlictman should be ashamed of himself for including such degrading nonsense as the anti-charter slogan ``Gravy Sucking Pigs'' on the site, too, a smarmy phrase making the rounds of public school protectionists nationwide.
At a minimum the site should be shut down. But Arlington parents and school committee leaders statewide should also condemn Schlictman and his supporters for sinking to this new low.
``Our students deserve better than to have adults act this way,'' Education Commissioner David Driscoll said.
Meanwhile, more evidence is in that the anti-charter troglodytes continue to lose ground. Applications for seats in Boston's charter schools are again through the roof. As of last week, there were 3,598 students for fewer than 700 slots.
Or looked at another way, thousands of students are being denied their taxpayer-funded education choice because of the selfishness of the likes of Schlictman and teachers' unions.
Efforts are under way, again, to lift the caps on charter schools, at least in underperforming districts where parents have no choice but to continue to send their children to failing traditional public schools.
Eventually, the effort will succeed and that's what the education establishment is afraid of.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Boston Globe
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Boston Globe
Sunday, January 9, 2005
Boston Globe |
