BUCKLAND — Both the Mohawk and the Hawlemont regional school district committees unanimously adopted a resolution opposing expansion of charter schools.
They specifically came out against ballot question No. 2 in the Nov. 8 general election, which seeks to raise the limit on how many charter schools can be registered in Massachusetts.
These school committee votes follow similar actions taken in the Greenfield and Frontier school systems. Mohawk/Hawlemont Superintendent Michael Buoniconti believes more local school districts may take similar actions before the election.
The resolution says state public school funding is “biased heavily in favor of charter schools and severely compromises funding to public schools.” This has resulted in a funding loss “that is undermining the ability of districts to provide all students with the educational services to which they are entitled.”
It goes on to say that charter schools don’t serve the same proportion of special needs students, low-income students or those who are learning to speak English. The resolution also claims that charter schools are widening the achievement gap by selectively serving students who are high-achievers.
“Charter schools have a disproportionate negative effect on rural school systems,” he said. This year, charter school enrollment of 52 secondary education students is expected to cost Mohawk $843,834.
According to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the state has 81 charter schools, serving at least 40,000 students from 240 cities and towns — about 4 percent of all public school students in the state. As of June, about 32,600 students were on charter school wait lists. The state’s current cap is set at 120 charter schools.
Although no new groups are seeking to open charter schools in Franklin County, the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley is seeking to almost double its kindergarten through Grade 12 enrollment by adding 560 seats. The Veritas Prep Charter School in Springfield wants to increase its Grade 5 to 8 enrollment from 324 to 540 seats. And the Hampden Charter School of Science in Chicopee wants to open an additional school to serve 560 students in Grades 6 to 12.
Also, the Collegiate Charter School of Pioneer Valley has been proposed for the Chicopee/Springfield area, to serve about 870 kindergarten-Grade 12 students.
Under current law, up to 9 percent of a district’s net school spending may be allocated to charter school tuition, except for the state’s lowest performing districts, in which the cap on charter tuitions is up to 18 percent.
Question 2 would enable the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve up 12 more charter schools each year or expand enrollment at existing schools — as long as total enrollment does not exceed 1 percent of the total statewide public school enrollment for that year.
It would give preference to charter applicants seeking to open or expand schools in districts that fall within the bottom 25 percent for performance on statewide standardized tests, where demand is greatest.
Also, new charter schools would be required to develop a recruitment and retention plan to ensure that special education students, English language learners, low-income students and students at-risk of dropping out of schools are enrolled in a proportion comparable to the sending districts. The schools would also be subject to annual performance reviews. If approved statewide, the law would take effect Jan. 1.