The Recorder fails to grasp the fact the charter schools are public schools, and the public education dollars funding them are still being used to educate children in public schools.
Here are some facts about charter schools:
They are non-profit public schools that operate independent of local districts and are not bound by local teachers union contracts. Their students are public schoolchildren; their teachers are public school teachers.
There is no loss of public education funding. Communities actually see an increase, because the state provides more state aid to communities where charters are located. When parents choose to send their children to charters, they are deciding where they want their public education dollars spent.
Charters are open to all students, recruit and retain students from all backgrounds and abilities and hold random lotteries to determine which students ultimately enroll.
New charters are proposed by teachers, school leaders, parents, nonprofit organizations or other members of the community. They must go through an approval process ranked as the toughest in the nation. This ensures only high-quality applications are approved.
Charters are approved and overseen by the public state Board of Education and are managed by public boards of trustees that must follow all public information and Open Meeting laws and whose members are unpaid volunteers, subject to state conflict of interest laws.
Charters are given more flexibility to organize around a core mission, curriculum, theme or teaching method; they are allowed to control their own budgets and hire and fire teachers and staff. In return for this freedom, they must demonstrate good results within five years or risk losing their charters.
Massachusetts has the third largest achievement gap in the country in both urban and rural communities. Charters have been successful at closing this gap and providing high-quality alternatives to district schools.
More than 32,000 children are stranded on public charter school waiting lists, mostly in communities where access to high-quality schools is lacking.
A “Yes” vote on Question 2 of this year’s state ballot would allow the state to approve additional charters in these low-performing districts in a measured and strategic way, allowing for charters to grow where they are most needed and ensuring fair access to high-quality public schools.
Marc Kenen is the executive director of Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, located in Boston.