GREENFIELD — Town council has come out against lifting the current cap on charter schools.
The council passed a resolution Wednesday night against state ballot Question 2 that would allow expansion of new charter schools in Massachusetts. After hearing from a number of residents and educators — many of whom were carrying yellow “No on 2” signs — about the harm they believe lifting the cap would have on public schools, the council voted to pass the resolution, which was introduced by Council Treasurer Karen “Rudy” Renaud.
Before the vote, there was discussion about what the council’s role in the resolution process is, with some councilors saying they felt uncomfortable telling residents how to vote.
“I think it’s not our role to tell people how to vote on a ballot question; it’s our role to hear what they have to say about that,” Council Vice President Isaac Mass said, adding proponents of charter schools did not get a chance to voice their opinion to the council.
At-Large Councilor Mark Maloni said he, too, was apprehensive when the resolution was first put before the Appointments and Ordinance Committee, but his perception has shifted over the last several weeks.
“I don’t think that the point of this resolution is to tell John Citizen or Jane Citizen how to vote on 2,” he said. “I think the point of this is to send a strong message to our governor.”
The resolution states that the state’s charter school system is creating separate and unequal opportunities for success, as charter schools often fail to serve the same proportion of special needs students, low-income students and English language learners as the districts from which they receive students, and often use high suspension rates to drive out students they don’t want to serve.
It also states that Greenfield is losing more than $1 million per year to charter schools, and public school districts across the state are losing more than $450 million this year alone, and charter schools are often approved over the objections of a majority of community residents and their elected officials and are not accountable to local elected officials once they are approved.
Lifting the current cap on charter schools, the resolution states, “would greatly worsen the problems listed above and lead to a costly and divisive two-track school system.”
During Wednesday’s Town Council meeting, the resolution was amended to include that the council strongly supports collaboration between existing charter schools and public districts, and recognizes the valuable contributions that Greenfield’s Four Rivers Charter Public School has made in the community, and encourages other charter schools to follow its lead.
“This is not about whether or not you support charter schools, this is about whether you support the caps on them,” Maloni said.
You can reach Aviva Luttrell at: aluttrell@recorder.com
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On Twitter: @AvivaLuttrell