Massachusetts Charter Public School Association

Latest Developments

03/31/05

Fact Sheet Regarding “The Charter School Dust-Up”

A new book due out this week calls into question the academic performance of charter public schools nationally.

The book’s credibility is suspect. The book is published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington think tank whose board of directors reads like a “Who’s Who” of American union leaders, including Edward McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) (see www.epinet.org/content.cfm/board.) In spite of what The Boston Globe wrote today (Derrick Z. Jackson, “Charter Schools troubled waters”), this organization is anything but non-partisan.

The book’s authors conclude that charter public school students have the same or lower test scores when compared to other public school students in nearly every demographic category. The authors also allege that charter public schools operate with little accountability.

The truth in Massachusetts is quite the opposite.

Massachusetts Charter Public Schools outperform their sending districts in low-income, African-American, Hispanic and Students with Special Needs demographic subgroups
Among all students, Massachusetts Charter Public Schools outperform their sending districts in statewide comparisons

Academic Achievement: Demographic Categories

Charter public school students are outperforming district students in various demographic subgroups on every test, according to federal and state data. Based on federal proficiency ratings 8% more poor children, 12.3% more African American children, 12% more Hispanic children and 8.5% more special education students are proficient in math and English compared to district public school students in those same demographic subgroups. Three-quarters of the charter public schools had higher proficiency ratings than their districts.

Several recent studies have confirmed this data:

A study conducted by Harvard University and the National Bureau of Economic Research – released last August – showed that a far higher percentage of African American, Hispanic, special education and poor students are considered proficient in math and English compared with the same demographic groups in district schools. The spread between charter and district students was wider in Massachusetts than almost anywhere else in the country.
A recent study, conducted by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, showed that 60% of charter public schools in underperforming school districts – where the need is greatest and the minority population the highest – outperformed their host districts. In addition, the study showed that several urban charter public schools ranked among the state's highest performers even when compared to the best suburban districts.

Academic Achievement Among All Students

Among all students, regardless of demographics, charter public schools are succeeding academically, setting and meeting higher standards with higher test scores.

In 2004, a higher percentage of students in charter public schools scored proficient or advanced on nine out of ten MCAS tests compared to district averages.
Nearly two-thirds of charter public schools placed a higher percentage of students in proficient or advanced categories compared to their districts.
10.6 percent more charter public school students scored proficient or advanced compared to their districts on English exams, 7.7 percent more on math exams and 6.7 percent more on science exams.
All 16 charter public high schools had higher passing rates in English and 14 out of 16 had higher passing rates in math. In six of the 16 charter public high schools, every student passed both English and math.
Many of the charter public schools that have been in existence the longest – Community Day Charter School in Lawrence, Academy of the Pacific Rim in Boston, South Boston Harbor Academy, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, are among the highest performing public schools in the state. In some cases, 40-50-60 percent more students in these charter public schools scored proficient or advanced on MCAS tests than their district averages

Urban Success

In the state’s urban areas, charter public schools are succeeding where district schools have not. A recent Boston Globe study showed that charter public schools “in the state’s largest and most troubled school systems score higher than students in (district) public schools on the vast majority of standardized math and English tests.” At charter public schools in Lawrence, Springfield and Boston, more students are scoring proficient or advanced compared to their districts.

Boston: An average of 20 percent more students who took the English MCAS and 9 percent who took the math MCAS scored proficient or advanced compared to the district average.
Excluding Boston’s prestigious exam schools that have strict admissions policies, all five of the city’s charter public high schools and four of the six charter public middle schools ranked in the top ten citywide.
Springfield: 27 percent more students who took the English MCAS and 14 percent who took the math MCAS scored proficient or advanced compared to the district average.
Lawrence: An average of 25 percent more students who took the English MCAS and 27 percent who took the math MCAS scored proficient or advanced compared to the district average.
Community Day Charter School ranked 1st in the district on every test.

Accountability

Massachusetts charter program works extremely well. National studies have pointed to us as a model program not only in terms of our academic achievement but also in terms of accountability. No state in the country applies more rigid standards of accountability than Massachusetts. To open a charter public school, applicants must submit to a rigorous, multi-step application process. Only strong, viable applications are approved. The charter renewal process is equally stringent. Charter public schools must reapply for certification every five years and are subject to annual inspections by the state. Charter public schools that don’t succeed can be shut down. In a 2003 study of 23 states and the District of Columbia, Massachusetts earned the highest rating for charter approval, oversight and accountability.

We are proud of our program and the work being done at our schools.

02/09/05

The Legislature has finished appointing members to their various committees. Below is the membership of the Joint K-12 Education Committee for the 2005-2006 Legislative session and how they voted on the charter school moratorium last spring.

REPRESENTATIVES

Democrats
Rep. Patricia Haddad of Somerset, Co-Chair (voted for the moratorium)
Rep. Geraldine Creedon of Brockton, Vice Chair (voted for the moratorium)
Rep. Douglas Petersen of Marblehead (voted for the moratorium)
Rep. Paul Kujawski of Webster (voted against the moratorium)
Rep. Stephen LeDuc of Marlborough (voted for the moratorium)
Rep. Alice Wolf of Cambridge (voted for the moratoriuim)
Rep. Robert Nyman of Hanover (voted against the moratorium)
Rep. Matthew Patrick of Falmouth (voted for the moratorium)
Rep. Martha Walz of Boston (newly elected, did not vote)
Republicans
Rep. Jeffrey Perry of Sandwich (voted against the moratorium)
Rep. Richard J. Ross (newly elected)

SENATORS

Democrats
Sen. Robert Antonioni of Worcester and Middlsex, Co-Chair (voted against the moratorium)
Sen. Edward Augustus of Worcester, Vice Chair (newly elected, did not vote)
Sen. Pamela Resor of Middlesex/Worcester (voted for the moratorium)
Sen. Karen Spilka of Framingham (voted for the moratorium as a House member)
Sen. Diane Wilkerson of Boston (voted for the moratorium)

Republicans
Senator Scott Brown of Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex (voted against the moratorium)

01/31/05

Summary of Proposed 2005-2006 Charter School legislation

Below is a summary of the 25 pieces of legislation concerning charter schools filed for the upcoming session. These bills will now go to the Joint Education Committee for consideration. As we’ve explained previously, very few bills get passed by the Legislature as stand-alone bills. Most legislation is incorporated into the budget process. So, while most of these bills will not pass as stand-alone bills, many will be proposed as amendments to the budget.

The bills encompass a number of areas: Expansion, Moratorium, Funding formula, and Application process. Here are some highlights from each area:

Expansion: As you know, the MCPSA organized 12 sponsors for a initiative to raise the cap where the need is the greatest

Raising the cap in underperforming districts: Rep. O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea) and Senator Hart (D-Boston) both filed legislation that would increase the district spending cap from 9% to 20% in districts that fall within the bottom 10% in state performance on MCAS.

Moratorium: A number of bills have been filed that call for a moratorium on new charter schools and the expansion of existing ones. These bills include the following:

Indefinite Moratorium: Rep. Smizik (D-Brookline) and 14 sponsors call for an indefinite moratorium while a special commission studies charter school achievement, enrollment and funding matters.

3-Year Moratorium: Sen. Pacheco (D-Taunton) calls for a 3 year moratorium on the granting of new charters retroactive to January 1, 2005 while charter school enrollment and performance and the adequacy of DOE oversight are studied.

Funding Formula: A host of bills have been filed that would reduce charter school funding. Here are a sampling:

Remove charter school capital component from the funding formula: four different bills filed would create a line-item subject to appropriation for the charter school capital payment. The lead bill on this issue was filed by Rep. Blumer (D-Framingham) with 7 co-sponsors.

75% and $5,000 per pupil cap: Rep. Blumer (D-Framingham) and 11 co-sponsors filed legislation that would cap the per pupil tuition payment at 75% of the actual cost with a $5,000 limit.

Any surplus above 5% returned to the state: Rep. Blumer has also filed legislation with 9 co-sponsors that would require any charter school surplus at the end of the year above 5% be returned to the state.

Application Process: At least 8 bills have been filed that would limit charter school autonomy. Here are some of the highlights:

Horace Mann first: Rep Leduc (D-Marlborough) filed legislation with 8 co-sponsors that, among other things requires new charter school applicants to first be considered as Horace Mann applicants and presented to the local School Committee for approval.

Defining Innovation: Senator Barrios (D-Boston) and Rep. Bosely (D-North Adams) filed legislation that, among other things, requires new applicants to conduct activities not already implemented or in the process of being implemented in a sending district in order to be granted a charter.

01/26/05

This afternoon Governor Romney released his proposal for the FY 2006 state budget which begins July 1, 2005. This is referred to as "House 1". Please note that this is only a proposal, it now goes to the legislature where they will craft their own version. But the Governor's proposal begins the debate.

There are four major items in his proposal that are of particular interest to us:

1.      Charter school cap: the Governor has adopted most of the language from the bill filed on our behalf by a group of legislators in December that calls for the raising of the 9% cap in the bottom 10% performing districts. However, while our bill sets the cap at 20% in these districts, the Governor proposes having no cap at all in these districts.

2. Reimbursement to Districts for Charter students (100/60/40): the Governor proposes to fund this at nearly full funding ($50 million). HOWEVER, he links $12.4 million of that to the passage of #1(charter school cap).

3.      Reimbursement to Districts for Charter Facilities: the Governor proposes fully funding this reimbursement to districts for the capital component of the charter school formula. The DOE estimates the cost of this for FY 2006 at $14.5 million. The Governor proposes state funding of $13.8 million, however there is surplus in that account for this year which is proposed to make up the difference. I'm not sure how much a surplus there is and if this $700,000 would use all the surplus or there would be additional money to provide another year of "hold harmless" money for those schools losing money under the new formula.

4.    Charter School facilities grants: this is the program that has awarded every school a small (approx. $129 per student this year) grant for facilities. The Governor proposes funding it at the same level at this year: $2.3 million. However, since there will be additional charter students next year, this level of appropriation would mean a decrease in the amount per pupil each school received.

Again, this is only the first step in a very very long process that needs to wind its way through the House Ways and Means, full House, Senate Ways and Means, full Senate, Conference Committee between the two branches, before heading back to the Governor. All of this will likely look much different by that time (June or July).

07/21/04

VICTORY! House Votes to Sustain Governor Romney’s Veto!

Great news! Last night, a majority of 78 House members voted to sustain Governor Romney’s veto of the charter school moratorium. As a result, the Kipp Academy in Lynn, the Salem Academy Charter School in Salem, and the Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter School in Adams will all open, as scheduled, this fall.
Thank you all so much for your grassroots letters, emails, and calls to legislators! Your advocacy made the difference. Not only did we convince legislators to vote against the override motion, we actually convinced a majority of House members that the moratorium was simply unfair.

While we have defeated the charter school moratorium, work still needs to be done on the state’s charter school funding formula. Over the coming months, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association will be working closely with key legislators and the governor’s office to ensure a fair and adequate funding formula for our charter schools.

Once again, thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

06/16/04

The Conference Committee has reported its decisions on the State Budget. Here are the major decisions concerning charters:

1. As we hoped for, the language in the Senate version changing the formula is not adopted.
2. As hoped for, the House version of the District Charter School Tuition was adopted ($38 million versus Senate version of $13 million)
3. As we expected, the moratorium/formula study was adopted (full text below). However they did use the House language which includes the words "whichever is sooner" in defining when the moratorium would expire.

The language is below.

The Reimbursement and the Moratorium/formula study now go to the Governor for signature, amendment or veto. He has ten days from when it reaches his desk later this week. We are in intensive discussions with the Governor's office and our supporters in the Legislature about next steps. We will keep you informed as events unfold.

Moratorium/study language

SECTION 312. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority of the board of education to grant commonwealth charters to an applicant pursuant to section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws shall be suspended until July 31, 2005 or until such time as a new tuition formula consistent with the recommendations of the house and senate working group authorized in this section has become law, whichever is sooner. During the period of suspension, the board shall not authorize additional enrollment, beyond that approved by the board before January 1, 2004, in any existing or previously authorized commonwealth charter school. Further, the approval of the commonwealth charters by the name of the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, Community Charter School of Cambridge, KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School and the Salem Academy Charter School made before the effective date of this section shall be suspended and the charter schools so named shall not be allowed to open until the department of education, after this period of suspended authority, conducts a full review of the application and authorization process of the commonwealth charters named above to insure that the letter and spirit of the laws governing those processes have been followed by the department and the board of education.

There shall be a house and senate working group to study all aspects of, make recommendations on how to improve and develop legislation to change the current tuition financing system for charter schools. The first meeting of the working group shall take place within 30 days after the effective date of this section. The working group shall consist of the speaker of the house of representatives, or his designee, the president of the senate, or his designee, the minority leaders of the house and senate, or their designees, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education, arts and humanities and the chairs of the house and senate committee on ways and means.

Based on the findings of its study, the working group shall make recommendations on how the existing financing system can be improved in order to more closely align the funds sent to charter schools from state and local sources with the funds that would have been expended on the education of the charter school students if they remained in the districts from which they are drawn. The recommendations shall reflect actual costs associated with the grade level, program participation and demographic profile of students attending charter schools, including all capital costs, transportation costs and other factors which contribute to the actual cost of educating these students. The working group shall also examine the relationship between charter school funding and state education funding under chapter 70 of the General Laws, and shall ensure that any recommendations for changes in charter school funding are consistent with the principles, objectives and formulas embodied in the funding formula under said chapter 70. Any legislation proposed by the working group shall require that funding be reflective of the grade level, program participation and demographic profile of the actual students enrolled in charter schools. The working group shall compile data which shall compare the demographic profile and educational needs that characterize charter school students with those that characterize students in the districts from which they are sent. The working group shall solicit advice from such persons and entities as it deems necessary, including the department of education, as well as associations representing superintendents, school budget officers, municipal officials and charter schools. The working group shall file a report containing its recommendations, including legislation necessary to carry out its recommendations, with the joint committee on education, arts and humanities on or before December 1, 2004.

05/20/04

Last night the Senate voted 26-13 in favor of the House version of the charter school moratorium/study bill. The bill, introduced by Senator Pacheco calls for:

1. A one year moratorium on new charters until July 31, 2005.
2. Prohibits the authorization of additional enrollment for existing schools beyond that approved by the Board of Education prior to January 1, 2004.
3. "Suspends" the charters of the new schools in Adams, Salem, Lynn, Marlboro and Cambridge until July 31, 2005, after which it requires review of their applications before they are allowed to open.
4. Establishes a House and Senate working group to make recommendations on the charter school financing system.

While last night’s Senate vote was a setback, we still have time and numerous opportunities to try and defeat and/or minimize the impact of the charter school moratorium and funding reduction proposals.

First and foremost, we still have the strong support of Governor Romney, who has vowed to veto any legislation harmful to our charter schools. Any veto by the Governor will almost certainly face an override vote in the legislature. As such, we need to focus all of our energy on maintaining Governor Romney’s support, and on convincing our House and Senate allies to vote against a veto override.

Please contact your Senators. Tell the 26 Senators who voted for the moratorium how disappointed you are in them, and how their vote will only hurt poor, working class, and middle class parents who deserve the same choices as those with greater financial means. Tell the 13 Senators who voted against the moratorium how much we appreciate their support and that we hope they will vote against overriding the Governor’s veto.

05/14/04

Today (Friday) Education Committee Chair Robert Antonioni and Senators Hart, Baddour, O'Leary, Sprague, and Hedlund proposed a compromise charter school amendment for the Senate to consider next week in its budget deliberations. The Amendment includes the following:

- A one year moratorium on the granting of new charters by the Board of Education effective upon passage of the budget until July 31, 2004, . This would allow all previously awarded charters to open on schedule.
- A funded study by outside educational and municipal finance experts on the charter school tuition formula.This study would be used by a specified Working Group of leaders in the House and Senate to propose changes to the formula. They're work shall be completed by December 31, 2004.

This amendment is meant to head off the more severe amendment being proposed by Senator Pacheco and others based on the House version that would stop the new schools from opening. The Antonioni amendment would also replace the new funding formula proposed in Senate Ways and Means version.
We're calling it the Antonioni Charter Public School amendment.

Please activate your parent and trustee networks and have them contact their state senator to support the Antonioni Charter Public School Amendment.
Debate begins Wednesday.

05/06/04

Yesterday, at an event at Roxbury Prep Charter School honoring the eight new and renewed charters, Governor Romney vowed to veto the moratorium and any hostile legislation to charter schools. Furthermore, he expressed confidence that there would be a group of urban and low-income community legislators who would join together to uphold the veto.

It's important that we thank Governor Romney for his stance and his continued support of charter schools. Please use our "Contact Your Lawmaker" feature to send a thank you message to the Governor.
Romney vows veto of charter school moratorium
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Boston Globe

4/29/04

Dear Leaders and Friends,

A difficult night for us in the House...

The House last night adopted a charter school amendment that has three major components:
* "suspends" the granting of new charters/new expansions for one year.
* "suspends" the charters of five schools to open this fall and next (Cambridge, Marlborough, North Adams, Salem and Lynn) until after July 31, 2005 and a DOE review of the granting and authorizing of their charter(s).
* creates an all legislator working group to "study all aspects of the current tuition financing system for charter schools".

You can read the full text of the amendment below.

We'll be communicating again with you shortly about our strategy going forward in the Senate.
Thank you to everyone once again for all of your letters, emails, faxes, and phone calls to legislators.
MarcCONSOLIDATED AMENDMENT ON CHARTER SCHOOOLS: HOUSE BUDGET DEBATE
(4-28-04)

Ms. St. Fleur of Boston and other members of the House move to consolidate amendments 250, 251, 371, 374, 438, 785, 854, 887, 962, 963 and 999 and move to amend the bill by adding at the end thereof the following section:-

SECTION XXX.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the authority of the board of education to grant commonwealth charters to any applicant pursuant to section 89 of chapter 71 of the general laws is suspended until July 31, 2005, or until such time as a new tuition formula consistent with the recommendations of the house and senate working group authorized in this section has been enacted into law. During said period, the board of education shall not authorize additional enrollment, beyond that approved by the board prior to January 1, 2004, in any existing or previously authorized commonwealth charter school. Further, the approval of the commonwealth charters by the name of Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, Community Charter School of Cambridge, KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School, Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter School, and the Salem Academy Charter School made prior to passage of this act are hereby suspended and the charter schools so named shall not be allowed to open until the Department of Education, after this period of suspended authority, conducts a full review of the application and authorization process of the commonwealth charters named above to insure that the letter and spirit of the laws governing those processes have been followed by the Department and Board of Education.

There is hereby established a house and senate working group to study all aspects of, make recommendations on how to improve, and develop legislation to change, the current tuition financing system for charter schools. The first meeting of the working group shall take place within 30 days of the passage of this act. The working group shall consist of the speaker of the house of representatives, or his designee, the president of the senate, or his designee, the minority leaders of the house and senate, or their designees, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities, and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means.

The working group shall also examine the relationship between charter funding and state education funding under the provisions of Chapter 70 of the General Laws, and shall ensure that any recommendations for changes in charter school funding are consistent with the principles, objectives, and formulas embodied in the funding formula under Chapter 70. Any legislation proposed by the working group shall require that funding be reflective of the grade level, program participation, and demographic profile of the actual students enrolled in charter schools. The working group shall compile data which compares the demographic profile and educational needs that characterize charter school students with those that characterize students in the districts from which they are sent. The working group shall solicit advice from such persons and entities as they deem necessary, including the department of education, as well as associations representing superintendents, school budget officers, municipal officials, and charter schools.

The working group shall file a report containing its recommendations, including legislation necessary to carry out its recommendations, with the joint committee on education, arts, and humanities on or before December 1, 2004.3/18/04Another bullet dodged. On Tuesday the Education Committee voted to send the O'Brien Charter School Moratorium Bill to "study". Reports we received were that there was quite a debate and a strong push from some members of the committee to vote it out favorably. We prevailed primarily because of the strong support we continue to receive from the Co-Chairs of the Committee, Rep. Marie St. Fleur and Sen. Robert Antonioni. I've attached an article in today's Berkshire Eagle about it.

THIS IS MERELY A WARM-UP TO THE BUDGET DEBATE TO BEGIN APRIL 26!!! BUT ITS A GOOD WIN, NONETHELESS.

It would very helpful for people to either call or email the co-chairs and thank them for their continued support. We will be depending on them to lead the debate for us during the budget process. Here's how to reach them:
Simple Message: Thank you for your continued support of charter schools in the Education Committee. We are very grateful. Leave your name and the school you're associated with, if any.

Rep. Marie St. Fleur
617-722-2070
Rep.MarieSt.Fleur@hou.state.ma.us

Sen. Robert Antonioni
617-722-1230
RAntonio@senate.state.ma.us

News & Events

Campaign begins to open new charter schools that replicate successful models. Charter school founders being sought. Grants available to develop proposals. If you are interested in starting a charter public school in your community, please contact John Tarvin.
Read the full press release here.

Parents: Sign up here

To receive regular charter school updates and to be able to send emails to your state legislators. More info.

Five MA charter schools document keys to their success.
Read their 2007 papers here.
Learn about study tours here.

US DOE report on best practices of charter school authorizers highlights Massachusetts. To read the full report click here

Exhaustive State DOE study finds Charters outperform sending districts

To read the full study go here.

Recent Charter School Media

The achievement gap wins one, a Boston Globe editorial

Make charter schools a priority, a Boston Globe editorial

No delays, please on new charters, a Boston Herald editorial

Take the brakes off the charter movement, an op-ed from Democrats for Education Reform

Boston Globe editorial: A new leader for better schools

Boston Globe editorial: "Don't cheat charter schools"

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