I WAS MAYOR of Springfield and chairman of the city’s school committee when the Massachusetts Education Reform Act passed in 1993. As a Democrat, and now a Boston resident, I am a strong supporter of public education, and I want all school districts to be high performing. I once believed that the path to better schools was to hire a dynamic, reform-oriented superintendent and to support basic reforms. Springfield had a superb, reform-oriented superintendent, but he was stymied far too often by veto groups associated with the education establishment.
Somewhat reluctantly, I have come to the conclusion that the best path to improve poor performing urban schools is to create competition and to give parents a choice. This is particularly important for the poorest minority parents who cannot afford the option available to middle class parents – to send their children to private or parochial schools when dissatisfied with the local district school. Lifting the cap on public charter schools is the right direction for my party, my city, and for Massachusetts.
In 1993, the Springfield school committee, the superintendent, and I decided that we did not want a new, stand-alone public charter school. Instead, we decided to challenge a charter school organization to take over the poorest performing elementary school in the city. We chose the SABIS charter school organization, and we turned over the second lowest performing elementary school among 29 in Springfield. To accomplish this, we closed the district school in June and SABIS re-opened it in September as a charter school with the exact same students.
From the beginning, SABIS charter school students reflected the demographic makeup of the Springfield public schools. Three-fourths were black or Hispanic, and nearly all students were from low-income families.
In four years, the SABIS charter school went from 28th to the best performing elementary school in the city. Later, a high school was added, and today SABIS operates a set of highly successful elementary and secondary public schools with the longest waiting list in the city. Since 2001, when the first high school class was graduated, there have been 16 graduating classes where 100 percent of the students were admitted to college.
SABIS is one example of what public charter schools are accomplishing in Massachusetts. Boston also has some outstanding charter schools that consistently outperform the district schools. There are also some failures, and under state law, all charter schools are audited annually, and poorly performing charters have been forced to close by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
As in Springfield, special interest groups in Boston are protecting the status quo. Boston has some of the highest paid teachers and administrators in America, with average salaries at $91,000, yet Boston has one of the shortest school days in the Commonwealth. There was a strong push for a longer school day in the last round of contract negotiations; nevertheless, the teachers’ union successfully blocked the effort, just as it has blocked merit pay for teachers and changes in work rules that stifle quality education.
As a middle-class parent, I had choices for my children. Why is it not in the progressive tradition of the Democratic Party to give urban families the same choice as middle-class parents to send their children to a different and often better school?
Critics of charter schools argue that they take resources away from local district schools. Why do failing district schools that resist fundamental change deserve to keep their existing resources? If district schools are losing students and resources to charter schools, they have a choice to either restructure and provide better education, or to face loss of staff and eventual closing. This sounds harsh, but the failure of district schools to change and the lobbying of organized interests against real reform leave us only one choice to stop wasting the lives of children in our failing city schools: Create competition and offer the choice of a charter school.
Question 2 on the November ballot authorizes new public charter schools in areas with low-performing district schools. School choice is particularly important in older cities where district schools are often choked with bureaucracy, poor leadership, and union work rules.
Given the implacable hostility of teachers’ unions to charter schools, voters must choose between their powerful special interest groups and better educational opportunities for children.
Robert Markel was mayor of Springfield from 1992 to 1996.
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According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, SABIS International Charter School in Springfield has a Level 2 accountability rating and is “Not meeting gap narrowing goals.” SABIS International Charter School in Springfield is one of ten charter schools in Massachusetts operating under conditions or on probation. A Memorandum dated February 13, 2014 from Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education stated: “The renewal of the charter of the SABIS International Charter School (SICS) is explicitly conditioned as follows. Failure to meet these conditions may result in the Board placing SICS on probation, revoking its charter, or imposing additional conditions on its charter.
1. By June 30, 2015, SICS shall submit to the Department a comprehensive evaluation of the school’s mathematics, English language arts, and science programs including, but not limited to, whether and how such programs effectively meet the needs of special education students and English language learners. Such comprehensive evaluation must be conducted by an external consultant(s) acceptable to and approved in advance by the Department.
2. By December 31, 2016, SICS must demonstrate that it is an academic success by providing evidence that the school has met or is making substantial progress toward meeting benchmarks in its approved Accountability Plan and, in particular, has demonstrated significant and sustained academic improvement in mathematics, English language arts, and science.
VOTE NO on Question 2.
SABIS, a private, for-profit company, based in Minnesota with roots in Lebanon, also runs the Holyoke Community Charter School. That charter schools has a Level 2 accountability rating and is “Not meeting gap narrowing goals.” VOTE NO on Question 2.
SABIS, runs a third charter school in Massachusetts: Collegiate Charter School of Lowell. There is “insufficient data” for the state to give an accountability rating because its charter was granted in 2012 and it opened in 2013. How this charter school came about is interesting. According to The Boston Globe, SABIS a for-profit management company analyzed the Lowell school district finding “there was a demand in Lowell for an alternative to the traditional public school” and applied for a charter. About two months ago, The Lowell Sun ran an article that noted the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell’s “Trustees also had uncertainty about the school’s organizational structure, including the relationship between the board, SABIS and the school director.” That’s what happens when a private, for-profit company comes up with the idea for a new charter school. By the way, not too long ago, The Lowell Sun reported the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell’s student population is 13% English Language Learners, 6% students with disabilities and 39.1% economically disadvantaged which is well below the Lowell Public School District’s 25% ELL, 15.5% students with disabilities and 50.4% economically disadvantaged. The Collegiate Charter School of Lowell gets the money and the easier to teach students while the Lowell public schools end up with less money to provide resources necessary for a higher percentage of higher need students. VOTE NO on Question 2.
The Boston Globe reported on November 2, 2016 Boston and Springfield are two of four Massachusetts cities Moody’s Investors Service warned hat passage of a ballot measure to expand charter schools could weaken the municipalities’ financial standing and ultimately threaten their bond ratings. Source: “Charter school vote may hurt ratings, credit agency says.” VOTE NO on Question 2.
Understanding what’s going on with charter schools in Massachusetts is worth the effort. The City of Springfield is a good place to start to look at charter schools. Some Springfield charter schools are so new there is “insufficient data” on their performance. That includes: Baystate Academy Charter Public School grades 6-12; Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School, Springfield grades 9-12; UP Academy Charter School of Springfield grades 6-8; and Veritas Preparatory Charter School grades 5-8. Notice those schools start at Grades 5 or 6 or 9. What’s going on with the other charter schools in that city specifically the ones serving lower grades? If you do an internet search, “mass dese charter school fact sheet” then you’ll uncover an interesting untold story. Springfield already has three charter schools starting with kindergarten: Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School of Excellence K-05; SABISs International Charter School K-12; and Springfield Preparatory Charter School K-08. Two of those charter schools are on probation or operating under conditions and the third, Springfield Preparatory Charter, even though approved for K-08 opened in 2015 with 54 students in kindergarten and another 54 students in 1st grade so it will take quite a few years before grade 8 is filled with any students. That means as far as Springfield and its charter schools are concerned, they’re expanding like crazy even though all of the charter schools in operation are either too new to evaluate or on probation or operating under conditions. How can more charter schools be approved for Springfield under those circumstances? Shouldn’t there be a positive track record for charter schools in a community before adding more charter schools? Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to address whatever shortcomings there are in the public school system rather than approving charter schools and waiting years and years and years for the grades to fill up? VOTE NO on Question 2.
We will have to let this school perform before you can evaluated!!!!!! Be patient!!!
Why put tax payer money into the corrupt system….. that money comes out of tax payer’s money to fund specifically in education not gamble.. wreckless oficials should be ousted!!!!
Your efforts are failing and the school out advocating as welll.. oops I forgot you don’t care about failing schools in urban districts, just want to brag about the great schools in rich towns.. VOTE yes on 2
You will have to wait and give enough time for your evaluation… be patient!!!
The photo accompanying this commentary features students at the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Dorchester. Here’s an interesting fact on Codman Charter I’d like to share. In 2016, Codman has 19 students in grade 12. That class started out in 2013…grade 9…with 46 students. That means, twenty-seven students left over the course of those four years…or a whopping 59% of students exited Codman Academy Charter in the most recent four year period while progressing from grade 9 to grade 12. Where did those 27 students go? Back to public schools or did they drop out or what? Codman is not the only charter school that loses vast numbers of students as grades progress. VOTE NO on Question 2.
This year charter schools will drain $35,883,246 from the Springfield Public School District. The Springfield School Committee voted against lifting the charter school cap…against Question 2. VOTE NO on Question 2.
Collegiate Charter School of Lowell was granted its charter in 2012 and opened in 2013. A law was enacted in 2010 to make charter school student demographics more reflective of their sending public school districts but it looks like mostly it has failed to do so. VOTE NO on Question 2.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School of Excellence K-05 was granted its charter in 2005 and opened in 2006. That charter school is currently on probation. In fact, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School of Excellence was placed on probation when its charter was renewed on January 25, 2011. The SABISs International Charter School K-12 was granted its charter in 1995 and opened that same year. Exactly how long should it take before you accept a charter school’s poor performance? VOYTE NO on Question 2.
The Foundation Budget…the state’s mechanism to distribute aid to local public school districts is underfunded. That’s a fact. Three of the areas underfunded in the Foundation Budget are: English Language Learners, low income and special education students. That’s a fact. Where are significant numbers of English Language Learners, low income and special education students? Urban public school districts. The state needs to fully fund public education and bring early education to all public school districts. VOTE NO on Question 2.
A lower credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service would make it more expensive for Boston and Springfield to borrow money. VOTE NO on Question 2.
The school is on probation and if it does not get the act together it should be shut down.. the same criteria should be used to your failing schools in my district.. kind of hypocritical on your part to target charter schools.. get your failing schools in order!!!!
You have never once acknowledged the state underfunds public school districts with English Language Learners, low income and special education students. That’s quite an accomplishment. Those are the same urban public schools with English Language Learners, low income and special education students you call “failing schools.” Shame on you for not educating yourself on this very fundamental…very basic fact. VOTE NO on Question 2.
Fat salaries to teachers who don’t want to teach!!!! Throwing more money to BPS has not solve the problem… every year public schools have received Xtra millions of dollars $15 BILLIONS in public education is a lot of dough!!! Get those lazy assistant teachers to work!!! As opposed to giving misleading information you should be working in fixing your failing schools… vote yes on 2
The Foundation Budget underfunds public school districts with English Language Learners, low income and special education students. In other words, urban public schools are getting shortchanged in financial assistance to provide much needed supports for English Language Learners, low income and special education students. VOTE NO on Question 2.