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Baker: The education kids deserve
By Governor Charlie Baker for The Milford Daily News
“Massachusetts has many great schools and many great school districts. And as a parent, I took it for granted that my kids were going to go to the kind of school where they would get the education they needed to be successful. But not every school district in Massachusetts is delivering on behalf of the kids that it serves. That’s why we have public charter schools today – the vast majority of which operate in urban communities where nearly half of children attend underperforming schools. Public charters have been the path to success for many children who had no other options. But right now, 32,000 kids sit on waiting lists hoping they’ll get into one. Their parents, for the most part, live in cities like Boston, Lawrence and Springfield. They work really hard to try and do what they can to provide for their families and serve their communities.” Also ft. in: Taunton Gazette, Cape Cod Today, Worcester Telegram, The Sun Chronicle, Lawrence Eagle Tribune, Lowell Sun, Metrowest Daily News, Milford Daily News, Fall River Herald
Obama official backs Mass. charter expansion
By David Scharfenberg for The Boston Globe
“President Obama’s secretary of education is backing a Massachusetts ballot question that would allow for a major charter school expansion in the state. “Certainly if I lived in Massachusetts and was a Massachusetts voter, I would be voting in support of the ballot measure,” said John King, the secretary, in an interview with the Globe Friday night. King, who helped found a charter school in Boston, did not utter the word “endorsement,” even when pressed. But his comments offer the clearest indication yet that the Obama administration supports Question 2, a referendum that has attracted deep interest from national charter school advocates who view the state as an important testing ground.”
Editorial: ‘Yes’ on charter schools provides needed alternative
The Daily Hampshire Gazette
“If the question of whether to allow more charter schools in Massachusetts applied only to Hampshire County, there wouldn’t be much of a debate. The waiting list for the region’s handful of existing charter schools is short and communities are rightly proud of their strong network of traditional public schools. But Question 2 on Tuesday’s ballot doesn’t just apply to schools in our relatively affluent corner of the commonwealth. It also applies to underprivileged students in Holyoke, Springfield and Boston and other cities where struggling public schools have left families desperate for options — ones that public charter schools can provide.”
Question 2: Yes, it’s personal
By Alison Bauter for The Beacon Hill Patch
“Tatiana Garces is waiting. She moved her family to East Boston two years ago. Housing is more affordable, but the transition has been tough on her 12-year-old, Jonathan. Back in his Waltham elementary school, Garces says her son excelled in English and took top marks on the math portion of the MCAS. Since moving, she says, his grades have dropped, and he’s struggling to fit in. “I know that’s not my kid,” Garces says. She believes it’s the learning environment, a Charlestown middle school that’s two T lines away and simply hasn’t meshed with her son’s educational or social needs. An alternative is right around the corner, but for Garces it might as well be back in Waltham.”
An open letter to my fellow Massachusetts voters on Question 2
By Shane Dunn for Education Post
“If you’re paying attention to education issues this election season, you probably know that every major newspaper in the Commonwealth (plus in Providence) is urging you to vote “Yes” on ballot question 2 which would allow for up to 12 new public charter schools or charter school expansions in your state each year. If you follow the debate closely, you probably also know that Boston and a few other Massachusetts cities have some of the best public charter schools in the country and a long waiting list of mostly low-income Black and Latino kids eager to enroll in these successful schools. And if you follow the debate really closely, you might even know that current state law allows for up to 120 charter schools and Massachusetts only has about 80. The other 40, however, are dedicated to suburban and rural areas where they are either not wanted or not needed. The current cap only exists in urban areas such as Boston, Fall River, Lawrence, and Springfield.”
Commentary: Dispelling the myths about Question 2
By Paul Niles for Chatham Wicked Local
“This week I voted “Yes” on Question 2 to support the measured expansion of charter schools in urban districts. I voted “Yes” because most of the 32,000 kids on charter school waiting lists in Massachusetts are in our biggest cities where, despite efforts over many decades, traditional public school performance lags behind expectations. This is in contrast to the performance of students in the Boston charters, which has been “startling”, according to a study by the Harvard School of Education. In this “gold standard” study, which compared students who applied to charters and gained admission through the randomized lottery to students who applied but did not get in, charters cut the math black/white achievement gap in half, and the ELA gap by one fifth in just one year. A Stanford University report states that “the average growth rate in Boston charters is the largest seen in any city or state.” Lifting the cap will not directly affect areas like Cape Cod, because our percentage of kids at charters is not up against the cap.”
Morin: For city kids, suburban voters should say Yes on Question 2
By Alexis Morin for The Milford Daily News
While most voters are focused on the presidential election, ballot questions like Question 2 in our state will have a major impact on low-income families and communities of color and their access to quality education. I’m from Northborough, Massachusetts, an affluent community about an hour outside of Boston. Neighborhoods like my hometown typically have great public schools and extremely high college matriculation rates. We’re rightfully proud of our strong public schools – but there’s a catch: the average family in our town can afford to pay over $6,000 per year in local property taxes. Fewer than 3 percent of residents in our town live under the poverty line. Our strong public schools are not, realistically speaking, available to low-income residents of our state.
