ON NOVEMBER 8, I will vote yes on Question 2, the referendum that would allow for controlled expansion of charter schools in Massachusetts. I have always embraced any social invention, including charter schools, which gets any child out of the educational wilderness of poor schooling. Thousands of students in the Commonwealth now languish in underperforming district public schools, which eliminates the possibility of them achieving their potential in life.
Nearly a half-century ago, my wife was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), a program through which 3,330 Boston and Springfield students of color attend schools in 35 suburban districts. At its founding, many opponents rallied against METCO, claiming that it would take the best students out of these urban schools and cripple improvements there. These charges proved to be false. Without this opportunity, thousands of METCO students would have never gone to college and thrived in professional careers.
The majority of public charter schools are located in our cities, focused on underserved neighborhoods and attracting almost exclusively low-income black and brown children. Not a single urban charter school is ranked by the state as underperforming. By contrast, about half of district public schools are underperforming. Expansion of the charter school option is simply a matter of social justice.
My yes vote does not diminish my enduring commitment to the improvement of district public schools. After all, the vast majority of students are served by district public schools. To abandon them would be foolhardy.
Through Higher Ground, Inc, a nonprofit service organization that I founded in 2010, we are fiercely engaged in working to transform three underperforming schools in Roxbury into effective schools. I am a strong advocate for universal pre-kindergarten education throughout the state, as a foundation for schooling, particularly in urban schools. I vigorous supported the 1993 Educational Reform Act, which pumped millions of dollars into our public schools in search of improvements. I will continue to fight for more funding for district public schools. In 1970, I played a pivotal role in the passage of Chapter 766, the special education law in Massachusetts, that guarantees that students with special needs receive mainstream education and are not marginalized in any school.
My commitment to district public school does not allow me to overlook the reality that too many urban district schools are broken systems. It will take years for many of them to repair themselves so their students receive the high quality education they deserve. We have ample data to prove that if an urban student is not achieving at grade level by sixth grade he or she is on a path to academic failure and will probably not graduate from high school. It is unconscionable for 10,000 Boston students – more than 30,000 students statewide – to languish on charter waiting lists when they could receive an education in an effective charter school.
We should remember that charter schools are publicly funded and held accountable for their performance by the State department of education. If they fail, their charters to operate are terminated. Let’s not get caught up in this district public school versus charter school war of specious accusations. Such polarization does not serve the interests of the children of the Commonwealth. Join me in voting yes on Question 2 on Tuesday.
Hubie Jones is dean emeritus of the Boston University School of Social Work and the founder of Massachusetts Advocates for Children.
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WGBH News has an article dated October 31, 2016, “Charter School Wait Lists May Not Be What They Seem.” It’s well worth reading. VOTE NO on Question 2.
How did the 1993 Educational Reform Act, which pumped millions of dollars into our public schools, come about? In 1978 a court case was brought on behalf of students in certain property-poor communities who alleged that the school finance system violated the education clause of the Massachusetts Constitution. The case took FIFTEEN YEARS to work its way through the court system…with one entire generation of Massachusetts school children attending underfunded public schools…the court finally AGREED in 1993 and the state legislature finally acted…that’s how the 1993 Education Reform Act came about setting education standards, authorizing 25 charter schools and establishing the Foundation Budget…the state’s mechanism distributing aid to local public school districts. Then it took seven years for the state to double its financial commitment to local public school districts from 1993 to 2000. So TWENTY-TWO YEARS after the court case was first filed…Massachusetts met its financial obligation to public education first identified in a 1978 court case and addressed in law in 1993. In 2010 the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education released a report, “School Funding Reality: A Bargain Not Kept How is the Foundation Budget Working?” finding “Over the 17 years since the Education Reform Act passed, there has been virtually no equalization in spending or state aid between rich districts and poor.” Last year the “Foundation Budget Review Commission Final Report” was released finding a massive shortfall in state aid to public education exceeding $1 billion in areas including English language learners, low income and special education. The conversation should be let’s adequately fund public education now…right now…right now! The charter school debate distracts from that conversation. VOTE NO on Question 2
So what are some of the ingredients to create an underperforming urban public school district? Let’s take a look at Lowell to get an idea on a few of them. The Sun reported some months ago the Lowell public schools welcomed around 900 students speaking 14 languages…none of which were English…over the most recent four or so years. Then consider the Foundation Budget…the state’s mechanism to distribute aid to public schools is underfunded by more than $1 billion and among the areas shortchanged are English Language Learners, low income and special education students. Add to that, the City did not meet its minimum, legal obligation to fund the public schools in 19 of the past 20 years. Then there’s the $17 million drained from the Lowell public schools to finance charter schools. Another loss of funding is thanks to the flawed and underfunded charter school reimbursement formula. That’s just what I know from reading The Sun. Most likely there’s more to it but it shows how things can converge on an urban public school district. The bottom line is the state needs to fully fund the Foundation Budget and provide universal access to high quality pre-school. VOTE NO on Question 2.
His was passed because the schools in urban areas were failig!!! It has been successful and today we have 32,000 students waiting for that opportunity
Vote yes on 2
The list might not be accurate but the number of families on waiting lists is close to 32,000 students in waiting lists!!! That is,a fact!
The charter schools waitlist has been thoroughly discredited. First by the State Auditor’s Office and then by WGBH News. Those are the real facts. VOTE NO on Question 2.
No, there are not 32,000 students on charter schools waitlists. That number is a figment of Great Schools Massachusetts’ imagination. VOTE NO on Question 2.
Just because Weston and Lexington can afford to add the cost of educating Metco students to their school budgets doesn’t mean that a typical suburban district can afford to do the same for a much LARGER number of students. METCO is a fairly small program… the charter program could soon involve 100 times as many students.
Also the racial aspects of Charters are troubling. In some school districts where a city abuts a white town the white students in the city will go to a charter in the white town while the students of color in the white town will opt for a charter in the adjacent city where the student population is mostly nonwhite.
In other words charters can increase racial separation, the opposite of what Metco has done.
the real facts are that the lists were said to be lower than 40,000. No one is suggesting there are not thousands on the waitlists – isn’t that enough to do something?
Vote Yes on Q2 for equity and fairness.