Sign up for our newsletter
Contact

Families Demanding Innovative Education Options Deserve Them: Massachusetts’ Charter School Law Must Improve!

April 12, 2016 By

“It’s not an experiment anymore. It’s not a demonstration. It’s not a what-if. After 20 years, we have overwhelming evidence . . . of kids, parents, families who have found what they were looking for in the charter school movement here in the Commonwealth of Mass.” -Gov. Charlie Baker

It’s time to bring greater innovative education opportunities to parents and families in the Bay State.

Despite some of the best charter school networks coming from Massachusetts, the Bay State’s C-rated charter school law must be improved to allow current schools to grow and new schools to open.

Boston, and other traditionally low-performing districts, have reached the charter school cap, meaning that no new schools will be able to open in places that need choice the most until the law is amended. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education estimates there more than 32,000 students on charter school wait lists.

2015-11-18-Charter-Rally-01-1-780x439

 

Take Action

  1. 1. Add your name to stand with families who want fair access to public charter schools.
  2. 2. Fill out this form to volunteer in the fight to bring greater educational opportunity to Massachusetts by lifting limits on charter schools.
  3. 3. Were you or someone you know stuck on a wait list? Tell your story here.

 

Videos

Best in the Country: Stand with parents who want to choose the best public school for their children.

Say Yes To Great Schools

Parents of Massachusetts: Shellina’s Story

Great Schools Massachusetts Launch: Families from across Massachusetts take a stand for equal access to public charter schools

 


Latest News & Updates


Why True Progressives Should Push Massachusetts to Lift Cap on Public Charter Schools, 8.7.16
The 400 Million Dollar Lie, 8.2.16
“For Too Many Families, The Skies Have Not Cleared”: Massachusetts’ Time To Shine for Parent Power, 7.19.16
What Will Question 2 Do?, 7.15.16
Great Schools Massachusetts Launches Statewide Ballot Campaign in Support of Question 2, 7.14.16
Charter Schools Head to Ballot: More than 20,000 residents make it known they want innovation and opportunity in education via charter schools, 7.6.16
New Data Shows 98% of 2016 Boston Charter High School Graduates Have Been Accepted to College, 6.22.16
Statement on Passage by the Massachusetts State Senate of Damaging Charter School Bill, 4.8.2016
Effort to Expand Educational Opportunity in Massachusetts is National Model, 4.8.2016
Charter School Supporters Bulk As Senate Passes Education Bill 22-13, 4.7.2016
Council President Chris Anderson’s Statement on Senate Charter School Legislation, 4.7.2016
Senate Approves Phantom Charter Cap Lift, 4.7.2016
List of Senate Amendments SB 2203, 4.7.2016
Those concerned about race and equity should champion charter schools, Boston Globe Letter to the Editor, 4.6.2016
More Than 80 Latino Leaders – Joined by Governor Charlie Baker -­‐ Call on State Legislature to Lift the Cap, 3.8.16
Public Information Campaign Launches To Set Record Straight About Public Charter Schools In Massachusetts, 2.12.16
A Leader’s Choice, 1.26.16

 

Facts & Resources

Massachusetts:

Nationwide:

 

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools

Education Next: School choice, charters propel student achievement in Denver

April 12, 2016 By

To better meet the needs of unique students, Denver Public Schools is expanding choice and offering school leaders increased autonomy. In a new article for Education Next, David Osborne, director of the project on Reinventing America’s Schools at the Progressive Policy Institute, finds that Denver’s strategy has produced impressive gains in student achievement.

In the spring of 2007, less than 39 percent of students graduated on time, but by the spring of 2015, 65 percent graduated on time. Between 2004 and 2014, the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level in reading, writing, and math increased from 33 to 48, far faster than the state average. DPS has more than doubled the number of students taking and passing Advanced Placement courses, and black students now take advanced math classes at the same rate as whites (Hispanic students lag by only 1 percentage point). In Denver 1 in 7 low-income students enrolled in college in 2014, compared to 1 in 20 in the rest of the state.

Osborne attributes increases in student achievement to expanding school choice and charters, as well as an equitable school choice system. Of Denver’s 223 schools, 55 are charter schools, up from 17 in 2005. In addition to charter schools, students can enroll at one of 38 innovation schools, district-operated schools pioneering new school models with more autonomy than traditional district schools. Together, DPS charter and innovation schools educate 39 percent of DPS students.

DPS’s new SchoolChoice enrollment system minimizes favoritism, fosters integration, and increases demand for high quality schools by using the same process to place students in most schools, including charters and district-operated schools. In the first three years using the system, 95 percent of students were placed in one of their top five choices.

 

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools, Breaking News

Statement on Passage by the Massachusetts State Senate of Damaging Charter School Bill

April 11, 2016 By

April 8, 2016

Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO of The Center for Education Reform, issued the following statement on the Massachusetts State Senate’s passage of a damaging charter school bill:

Massachusetts has produced some of the finest and most effective charter schools in the country that have been a lifeline to thousands of low-income and minority students. The state’s now 70 plus schools have provided critical options to all families whose children need more than a one-size-fits-all-education.

And yet, the State Senate continues to ignore charter success and put special interests first over the needs and demands of children and families. Last night, the Senate passed a bill that it packaged and sold as an expansion of charter school opportunities but in reality is a moratorium on more charters and gives districts more power to veto their creation.

As Marc Kenen, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Charter School Association said, the bill is “a carefully crafted moratorium on public charter schools that will prevent tens of thousands of children from having fair and equal access to high quality public schools. It also endangers existing charter schools by placing unrealistic impediments to their continued operation, and automatic trigger mechanisms to shut them down. The cap lift authorized by the bill is contingent on $1.4 billion in new education funding and would largely be erased in low-performing districts like Boston by a separate provision allowing districts to count some of their own schools against the charter cap. In addition, local school committees, which have historically opposed charter schools, would have new powers to block new charters… It is not a serious attempt to expand educational opportunities.”

As this bill masquerading as pro-charter school heads to the House for debate, it’s time that policymakers put kids first, and for citizens to hold policymakers to account.

Filed Under: Press Releases

How to fix our worst schools

April 8, 2016 By

Jeanne Allen
Fayetteville Observer
April 7, 2016

A North Carolina bill, sponsored by State Rep. Rob Bryan, a Charlotte Republican, is poised to bring an achievement district to the Tar Heel State, a pilot effort to address the problems plaguing long under-performing schools.

Bryan, a champion of educational equity for the poor, has modeled his plan on similar successful efforts. If enacted, the proposal would enable a new statewide Achievement School District made up of newly constituted schools to take the place of failing neighborhood schools. Serving families without the economic means to pick up and move to a school with a better track record, the achievement district gives hope to those most in need.

Research on effective schools shows that if you want real change, a school must be completely transformed. The late John Chubb, a renowned expert in the field, noted that only school restructuring that reorganizes a school from top to bottom can “ensure a new day for the school and its students.” Mike Feinberg, co-founder of the highly applauded KIPP charter network, which successfully operates six charter schools in North Carolina, says, “The best way we can look a child in the eye and say with confidence what kind of school and environment we will provide is by starting that school and environment from scratch.

Concept

The concept behind the achievement school districts reflect this perspective: Small changes yield small results. As failed turnaround efforts show, throwing money at a dysfunctional system isn’t likely to produce results that can completely transform and uplift student outcomes.

In 1993, the Annenberg Challenge was the largest and earliest public school turnaround effort. It doled out cash in exchange for an IOU from 10 school districts to demonstrate improvement. One billion taxpayer dollars later, there was little to no improvement for failing schools. The outcome is wrapped up nicely in the University of Chicago’s final report on the program: “The Challenge had little impact on school improvement and student outcomes, with no statistically significant differences between Annenberg and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain, classroom behavior, student self-efficacy and social competence.”

Fast forward to 2010, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to transform Newark, New Jersey schools also came up short. Because the turnaround effort left most existing laws in place, powerful seniority protections for teachers remained, along with many educators who had long lost their flair for teaching. Instead of allowing schools to attract and reward new talent, money went to tenured teachers regardless of their measurable impact. Or in the words of Vivian Cox Fraser, president of the Urban League of Essex County, “Everybody’s getting paid, but Raheem still can’t read.”

The record is clear. When traditional schools and districts fail, it’s time for radical change. At the heart of successful turnarounds is the ability for staff and educators to do whatever it takes to get students learning. While charter schools were not designed as turnaround entities, their experience is illustrative. They succeed because their autonomy gives them the power to do so.

To ensure that North Carolina families have the opportunity to see their schools succeed, it’s critical that those engaged understand the biggest challenge to the achievement school district. Teacher’s unions and their allies are working to stop this bill. They want more money and time diverted into the same kinds of turnaround programs we have routinely seen fail. This should come as no surprise, because the premise behind achievement districts – that students in failing public schools should be given an alternative – represents a direct challenge to union dominance of education. As a result, these defenders of the status quo are attacking proposals to bring achievement districts to North Carolina with typical scare tactics about waste, fraud, abuse and resource draining. And they’re doing so at the expense of better opportunities for our children.

The reality is that North Carolina’s achievement district is a real-time solution to give the state’s worst schools a shot at finally giving their students a great education. We must learn from the lessons of the past 50 years and give bold new opportunities like the Achievement District a chance. Our kids can’t wait.

Jeanne Allen is founder and CEO of The Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C.

Filed Under: Opinions, CER in the News

Effort to Expand Educational Opportunity in Massachusetts is National Model

April 8, 2016 By

Diverse coalition, compelling data and stories driving momentum

April 8, 2016

Washington, DC – A diverse array of parents, community leaders, pro-parent power legislators and Governor Charlie Baker have banded together to secure critical changes to the state’s charter school law that would ensure thousands more students have the opportunity for a better education. Their effort in Massachusetts is being seen nationwide as a model for other states facing similar challenges.

“Meaningful change can occur when strong leadership, substantive public policy reforms and sustained public support combine to achieve increased innovation and opportunity for children,” said Jeanne Allen, Founder & CEO of The Center for Education Reform. “Advocates on the ground in Massachusetts are doing exactly that. They recognize that despite some of the nation’s best charter school networks hailing from the Bay State, their C-rated charter school law must be improved in order for schools to expand and new ones to open to serve more students.”

Leading the effort to support pro-charter legislators and citizens, and working diligently to provide them with information and resources, is the Great Schools Massachusetts coalition, which includes the state’s successful charter school association. The coalition continues to grow, with more than 80 Latino leaders convening in East Boston last month to stress the overwhelming demand for more education options from Latino communities, as charter schools have proven they can close achievement gaps for English Language Learners and Latinos.

State leaders are also aggressively working to put an end to misinformation about charter schools and have launched an effort (www.charterfactsma.org) to educate the public more broadly about charter school demographics, outcomes, funding and results.

“Efforts to fix Massachusetts’ charter school law are powerful and being watched by other states trying to tackle similar issues,” continued Allen. “No longer can state leaders ignore the demands from tens of thousands of parents on waiting lists in almost every community where charters have whet  their appetite for a better education.”

Filed Under: Press Releases

More Than 80 Latino Leaders – Joined by Governor Charlie Baker -­‐ Call on State Legislature to Lift the Cap on Public Charter Schools

April 6, 2016 By

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 8, 2016

CONTACT:

Josiane Martinez
josiane@discoverasg.com
857-­‐222-­‐0800

Eileen O’Connor
eileen@keyserpublicstrategies.com
617-­‐806-­‐6999

More Than 80 Latino Leaders – Joined by Governor Charlie Baker – Call on State Legislature to Lift the Cap on Public Charter Schools

EAST BOSTON – More than 80 Latino leaders from across Massachusetts gathered today at Excel Academy in East Boston to urge immediate legislative action to lift the cap on public charter schools in the Commonwealth. Governor Baker also attended the launch event, and echoed the urgent call for a legislative solution to increasing access to public charter schools.

CLICK HERE TO READ LETTER FROM COALITION

The Latino leaders – which include state legislators, city councilors, school committee members, non-­‐profit leaders, business leaders and community activists from Boston and Gateway Cities – joined the Great Schools Massachusetts Coalition and announced a public information campaign, “Justicia en la Educación: Latinos Unidos por Escuelas Públicas Charter,” which will focus on educating Latino parents and community members about the benefits that public charter schools have provided Latino children across the state.

“Massachusetts’ public charter schools have provided kids, parents and families in our communities with a student-­‐centered approach critical to the success of children who face additional barriers to a great education,” said Governor Baker. “I am proud to join these leaders to call for raising the cap in low-­‐income communities of color so that all children, regardless of zip code, can share in this success.”

“This legislation is something that our community wants and perceives it needs – and we await the leadership of our legislators at the State House to deliver it,” said Samuel Acevedo, Executive Director of the Boston Higher Education Resource Council and Pastor of Leon de Juda church.

“Public charter schools have played an important role in improving our education system, since we went into state receivership,” said Jeovanny Rodriguez, a Lawrence City Councilor and former school committee member. “But almost 34,000 children across the state and more than a thousand children in Lawrence remain stuck on public charter school waiting lists due to the cap. It’s time for all of us to come together to lift the cap and give all children access to quality public schools.”

Latino leaders are joining the pro-­‐charter coalition because of the overwhelming demand for public charter schools in communities with large populations of Latinos, and because public charter schools have a proven track record of closing the achievement gap for Latino students and English Language Learners. In addition to gathering today to launch the public information campaign, the Latino coalition sent a letter to legislative leaders, urging them to pass a bill that provides relief for the 34,000 children stuck on waiting lists for public charter schools.

“We speak for thousands of constituents that care deeply about correcting this social injustice, and we urge you and your colleagues in the Legislature to support a bill to increase access to public charter schools across the Commonwealth,” read an excerpt of the letter. “This would enable Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to truly level the playing field for low-­‐income students of color, and ensure that all children are afforded the basic right to a quality education.”

Almost all of the 34,000 children stuck on charter school waiting lists live in Boston and Gateway Cities, including Lawrence, Holyoke, Springfield and Chelsea – all communities with large Latino populations where traditional public schools are among the lowest performing in the state. An independent study from Stanford University’s CREDO Institute found that Massachusetts charter schools have eliminated the achievement gap between Latino students and white students statewide, and 2015 study from MIT found that English Language Learners perform “significantly better” in Boston charter schools than they do in traditional public schools.

Great Schools Massachusetts is a statewide coalition of parents, community groups, public charter schools, education advocates and business leaders who are committed to providing families with equal access to public charter schools. Nearly 34,000 children in Massachusetts remain stuck on public charter school waiting lists due to arbitrary enrollment caps. New charters are frozen in many urban districts where traditional public schools are underperforming and parents have shown a clear demand for public charter schools. Great Schools Massachusetts is committed to providing families with equal access to public charter schools, whether that happens through a ballot measure or a legislative solution.

###

Via Great Schools Massachusetts.

Filed Under: Breaking News Tagged With: , ,

Those concerned about race and equality should champion charters

April 6, 2016 By

Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 9.47.22 AMBoston Globe
April 6, 2016

 
RE “Racial aspects tinge charter debate” (Page A1, March 28): Massachusetts charter schools are not only among the highest performing in the nation, but they serve a student population that’s 58 percent black and Latino, while statewide that figure is 27 percent.

That should make people who are concerned about race and equality want to support charter school expansion, as a gateway to improved opportunity. Yet you report that the New England Area Council of the NAACP opposes permitting more charter schools, even while the African-American community votes with its feet in overwhelmingly choosing them for their kids.

It’s precisely because the traditional civil rights groups oppose structural change to traditional public schooling that new organizations such as the Black Alliance for Educational Options were born. Meanwhile, African-American lawmakers and celebrities have advocated for charters and started their own, from former NBA star Jalen Rose, who started one in Detroit, to singer John Legend supporting Harlem Village Academies and writing a song in honor of the school’s first graduating class. It was black Democratic representatives who brought expansive charter school laws to states including Florida, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.

If there is to be any focus on race and charter schools in Massachusetts, it should be because charter schools are helping to serve children historically underserved by our nation’s education system, and putting power in the hands of parents who otherwise do not have access to a better education option for their children.

Jeanne Allen, founder and CEO
Center for Education Reform, Washington, D.C.

Filed Under: Opinions, CER in the News

Newswire: April 5, 2016

April 5, 2016 By

Vol. 18, No. 14

HOW IS LACK OF FREEDOM A WIN? US Education Secretary John King called theScreenShot2016-04-05at5.33.53PM 4-4 SCOTUS ruling on the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association a win for educators, but that’s hardly the case. The whole point of this suit was teacher freedom. Rebecca Friedrichs and her colleagues boldly took a stand against union practices they ultimately felt were damaging to their students, something some Chicago teachers who are in the midst of a union-led strike wish they could do right now, but are afraid of the repercussions. This is exactly why the issue of teachers’ rights is not going away, and will persist until educators get what they truly consider a win – the freedom and ability to be treated as professionals and educate children unfettered by the politics of unions.

CHARTER KIDS SUCCEED AS ADULTS. Now here’s the kind of research that makes a data wonk get all excited! Researchers from Vanderbilt & Georgia State find that charter high school graduates are more likely to stay in college and earn more in their adult life. They use real data, over time, and account for numerous variations in school composition, size, longevity, and more. Read up on this study and more charters & choice research here.

THE REAL SEGREGATION IN EDUCATION. Education pioneer and CER Board Member Kevin P. Chavous takes aim at the claim that school choice is to blame for segregation in US education.Many who are quick to point the finger at school choice fail to condemn the status quo, and fail to consider the fact that school choice programs are designed to help low-income families, many of whom are minority and stuck in failing schools by virtue of their zip code.

IN THE NEWS. Voters in New York can’t decide if they want de Blasio to have control over schools, perhaps because he’s not the Mayor and the leader in education that his predecessor was… Meanwhile, despite Wisconsin being a ground zero for school choice, the issue has been ignored by candidates in the state’s Presidential primary. There are cheers in Pennsylvania over the court putting Philly back in its place, and Treasure State parents are celebrating a court ruling in favor of school choice in Montana.

Screen Shot 2016-04-05 at 5.44.47 PMTRUTH TO POWER. “We have schools in this state that are so low performing it’s almost criminally negligent,” said one of the founders of the successful Raleigh Charter High School at a meeting last week regarding legislation to turn around some of North Carolina’s worst performing schools. Achievement District legislation proposed by Rep. Rob Bryan (a former CER Intern!) would create new opportunities to take the place of schools that have been failing students for too long. As Marcus Brandon, executive director of CarolinaCAN and former lawmaker who supported the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program, said, “This is an excellent opportunity for this General Assembly to say no longer will the state of North Carolina accept you failing kids for 20 straight years.”

ED TECH INNOVATION OF THE WEEK. The Indigo Project aspires to empower all students and aims to transform the national education system. How, you ask? By giving schools non-academic data on who their students are, Indigo creates a path for schools to transform their culture and empower students through personalized learning. Already, a handful of charter schools are taking advantage of the freedom and flexibility they’re afforded and using Indigo as a tool to have real impact on students’ academic trajectories. Visit indigoproject.org to learn more.

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly, Newswire

Charter High Schools’ Effects on Long-Term Attainment and Earnings

April 5, 2016 By

Charter High Schools’ Effects on Long-Term Attainment and Earnings

Confirming previous research (Booker et al., 2011) that charter school students are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in higher education, this study looks at charter school students’ college persistence and earnings.

Findings reveal charter high school graduates are more likely to stay in college and earn more money as adults.

In Florida, 23-35 year olds who attended charter schools could earn as much as $2,300 higher compared to their peers who attended traditional public schools in the Sunshine State.

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools

The Real Segregation in American Education

April 5, 2016 By

by Kevin P. Chavous
The 74
March 31, 2016

The Washington Post wrote about a new study from the Southern Education Foundation, which finds that private schools in America are overwhelmingly white. The study’s author makes the illogical and unsubstantiated argument that the private school choice movement of today is an extension of the racism that existed a half a century ago when white parents opted to use private schools to avoid desegregation.

There is no denying history and the motives of some parents and politicians 50 years ago, who feared desegregation and were racially motivated to send their children to private schools. However, the history of 50 years ago doesn’t align with the reality of today. Private school choice programs now exist in 25 states and Washington, D.C. Through vouchers, tax credit scholarships, and Education Savings Account programs, nearly 400,000 children are accessing a private school of their parents’ choice. Today’s system is color blind and largely benefits minority families. Despite the clear evidence of this, the author of the study still makes this inaccurate conclusion: “The fact is that, over the years, African American families and non-white families have come to understand that these private schools are not schools that are open to them, especially in light of their traditional role and history related to desegregation of public schools.”

That’s an actual quote from Steve Suitts, the senior fellow at the Southern Education Foundation who wrote the report. Not rooted in fact, but mere conjecture to support his bias against school choice and in support of an antiquated, one-size-fits all model of education.

Continue reading here.

Filed Under: Opinions
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »