STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REJECTED BY THE voters in his bid for an expansion of charter school access, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday he will explore other means of reducing the gap between the achievement levels of white students and students of color. Speaking to reporters a day after Question 2 went down, with 37.8 […]
Charter schools
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The shock heard ‘round the world
DONALD TRUMP WAS elected president, upending the expectations set by virtually every poll going into Tuesday’s election. He won despite alienating and attacking everyone from Hispanics to Gold Star families, calling war hero (and fellow Republican) John McCain a loser, and boasting of his celebrity-fueled ability to grab women’s genitals at will. None of it […]
Posted inEducation
Suburbs and the charter school question
HINGHAM DOES NOT look much like the sort of place where a charter school is likely to pop up. While charters schools in Massachusetts are concentrated in lower-income urban communities with struggling district schools and large minority populations, the wealthy South Shore suburb has a median home price of nearly $800,000 and a highly-regarded district school system, with a student population that is 92 percent […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Pro-charter vote doesn’t diminish district commitment
ON NOVEMBER 8, I will vote yes on Question 2, the referendum that would allow for controlled expansion of charter schools in Massachusetts. I have always embraced any social invention, including charter schools, which gets any child out of the educational wilderness of poor schooling. Thousands of students in the Commonwealth now languish in underperforming […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Real Democrats support charter schools
WITH JUST DAYS until America selects a successor to President Obama, a longstanding kerfuffle has broken into the open on his longstanding, crystal clear opposition to artificial caps on public charter schools. An aggressive form of this denial came to the forefront of Massachusetts politics this summer when, after the Democratic State Committee rushed a vote […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Charter school question at the wire
The vitriol and division that have been the hallmarks of the presidential race nationally have found their way to the state ballot question in Massachusetts on expanding charter schools. The contest over Question 2 has drawn more than $30 million in spending between the two sides, with emotionally driven arguments from both camps about who […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Charters offer high-quality choice
MY SUBURBAN FRIENDS are asking for my stand on Question 2. I tell them my “yes” vote is based on one critical measure: There are simply not enough high-performing district schools in Boston to serve even half of the students enrolled in them. My view is not based on hearsay, but rather hard-earned facts. I’ve […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Charter narrative gets story wrong
A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens. – John Updike AS THE CHARTER school […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
A vote for students
AT THE OUTSET, I make two admissions: I am not a fan of making public policy via ballot initiative and my children currently are enrolled in private, independent schools. I suppose I should make a third admission: I am a Democrat who believes in public education and thinks teachers are the most put upon – […]
Posted inEducation
Charter showdown
IN NOVEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS voters will have their say on a ballot question that would allow up to 12 new or expanded charter schools each year above the existing state cap on the independently-run, but publicly-funded, schools. The issue has inflamed passions on both sides. We asked two prominent Boston education leaders, Jon Clark, co-director of […]