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The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) provides its members with:

Advocacy

MCPSA offers a range of advocacy efforts, developed and managed by MCPSA Executive Director, Marc Kenen, Ed.D. Marc brings to MCPSA 20 years of experience as an advocate for education; his campaigns have involved parent organizing, media relations, and lobbying.

School Organizing: Through this statewide network of charter leaders and friends, charter public schools across the state receive regular updates on key legislative matters. They have opportunities to organize and advocate for Massachusetts charter public schools.

Government Relations: MCPSA utilizes the services of Jack Brennan, former State Senator and Majority Leader. Jack is known as one of the most effective advocates on Beacon Hill, where he has represented the charter public school movement since 1993, the year charter public schools were first created in the Commonwealth.

Public Relations:Dominic Slowey, former reporter and former spokesperson for the Weld Administration, serves as consultant to MCPSA. Since 2001, Dominic has earned extensive coverage of charter public schools in daily and weekly newspapers throughout the state.

Data Analysis: MCPSA contracts with Community Partners Data Specialist Bruce Bean. Bruce provides data analysis on both charter public schools and state finance, supporting MCPSA since 2002.

Web E-Advocacy: MCPSA uses Votervoice.net, a means for parents and supporters to send correspondence to their state legislators. During the 2003-2004 legislative season, this service generated a total of over 4,000 e-mails to our 200 state legislators.

Technical Assistance

MCPSA provides a growing number of technical assistance and dissemination programs. Most are managed by Director of Dissemination, Cindy Snow, whose background is in teaching, writing, and community action.

State Convention: Attended by hundreds, this annual event (held in late March/early April) brings together charter public school teachers and leaders, allowing them to network with one another and share their expertise.

Best Practices Web Site: Nearly 70 professionally edited papers appear here, documenting the best practices of whole schools and individuals in the charter public school community.

Fellowship Program: Open to teachers, administrators, and board members, this program offers educators the chance to document their innovative practices. Stipends, editing, training, and the opportunity to present at our convention are provided annually.

Training/Workshops: Offered throughout the year, these focus on areas of stated need. Charter public school leaders and outside consultants have addressed such topics as: renewal site visits, public bidding laws, development programs, and character education.

Consultation: In a new program, charter public school leaders have been professionally trained to share their expertise with other schools. Consultation is available in curriculum development, administration, and governance.

Leaders Institute: This summer event offers two days of training designed to meet the needs of charter public school leaders. Past topics include: strategic planning, special education, multiple learning styles, and using data to promote academic achievement.

MCPSA Leader ListServe: Facilitated by Dr. Kenen, the list serve allows charter public school leaders to share information and resources through the Internet. It’s available to all 56 MA charter public schools and is utilized extensively.

Facilities Loan Guarantee Program at MassDevelopment: Dr. Kenen, through MCPSA, helped secure $10 million in U.S. D.O.E. charter public school facilities loan guarantees. The program is ongoing.

Administrative Services

Newspaper Clippings Service: Through this free service, members receive (via e-mail) daily newspaper clippings on Massachusetts charter public schools; Web site access to clippings is also available.

Salary Survey: Through a bi-annual survey, MCPSA compiles data on the salaries of administrators and faculty in Massachusetts charter public schools.

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