Back To MCPSA News
The proposal to expand the number of charter schools in the state that’s on the November ballot just took on a new level of importance this week with applications filed by six groups seeking to open charter schools and 12 existing charters looking to expand.
And with 32,600 students on charter school waiting lists, expanding those opportunities can’t happen soon enough.
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a list of the applicants Monday, and they include proposals for the Springfield, Lynn, Brockton and Holyoke areas that in total would add more than 3,000 charter seats by 2018 should all six advance. Seven of the proposals to expand the number of seats available in existing schools are from schools operating in Boston — many of them with stunning track records of academic excellence.
In a statement, Commissioner Mitchell Chester noted that department staff and the board’s first concern will be “the strength of each proposal,” but, he noted that even if each of the applications were found to be “of high quality, the current law governing charter school caps would prevent some of the applications from being approved.”
What more do voters really need to know? There are real opportunities on the line here and now, real choices for students and parents in communities where those choices and those opportunities are desperately needed. November will be the time to make a difference.
