When the new year begins, be prepared for the great charter school debate of 2016 to kick off in earnest. The first order of business will be whether the Legislature can agree on a plan to raise the cap on charter schools that satisfies Gov. Charlie Baker and charter supporters. The Senate is the sticking point, and there’s no guarantee of a bill clearing that chamber.
If the Senate doesn’t act, that will set in motion a high-profile campaign for a November ballot question that would raise the charter cap, with millions of dollars spent by both sides.
In the meantime, be prepared to be hit with a barrage of statistics aimed at proving the worth of charters or the unfair ways that they skew comparisons with district schools to look better than they really are.
Kathie Skinner, the former policy director for the Massachusetts Teachers Association, details on the CommonWealth site the findings of a recent report from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The report says charters differ from district schools on all sorts of demographic variables that tend to boost achievement scores at charters.
A recent report from the Pioneer Institute tackles one of those demographic arguments — that charters enroll fewer English language learners — and says charter schools are not only increasing their enrollment of such students, but are also seeing solid achievement scores among these students. In a Globe op-ed, Boston Foundation president Paul Grogan highlights a recent MIT study that also points to increasing charter enrollment of English language learners as well as special needs students.
The Springfield Republican’s Shira Schoenberg offers a good look today at the demographic arguments when it comes to students with disabilities. She reports that charters are closing the gap with district schools by enrolling more students with special needs, but that they often draw those with less severe disabilities. While some say charters deliberately steer away students with greater needs, others point out that the schools often simply lack the capacity to provide more intensive services, since each charter operates, in effect, as its own independent school district.
Where they are able to handle students with special needs, some charters get glowing reviews, as Adrian Walker writes in today’s Globe. He spotlights a Roxbury mother who says her 7-year-old son, diagnosed on the autism spectrum, is flourishing at the KIPP Academy charter school in Hyde Park.
The charter debate is getting framed by opponents as a “false choice,” argues Walker. “Of course, public schools must be supported — and they are. But it strikes me as folly to say parents shouldn’t have choices. Why shouldn’t they have alternatives to schools that have yet to be fixed?”
–MICHAEL JONAS
BEACON HILL
A Herald editorial applauds House Ways and Means chairman Brian Dempsey for declaring taxes off the table for 2017 budget talks.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh reflects on an up-and-down 2015 and says his biggest regret was the outcome of the city’s Olympic bid, which he says was doomed because it started under the former mayor and governor and was left to him and Gov. Charlie Baker. (Keller@Large)
As violence at Springfield bars escalates, The Republican calls for Mayor Domenic Sarno and local bar owners to sit down and talk instead of sniping at one another. (MassLive)
CASINOS
Developers of the proposed Brockton casino have reached a mitigation agreement with Stoughton that calls for payment of $60,000 when the license is approved, then $130,000 annually with a 5 percent increase every five years after that. (The Enterprise)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Lobbyists working for hotels, casinos, and wealthy Wall Street investors successfully inserted 54 words into the 2,000-page congressional spending bill that protected a billion-dollar tax loophole. (New York Times)
A woman in Las Vegas intentionally pulled her car onto the sidewalk, plowing into pedestrians. (Time)
The Obama administration takes steps to protect two species of lions. (Associated Press)
ELECTIONS
The lowdown on loo-gate: The most important story you’ll read about Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate. (Boston Globe) The Globe beats the pants off the Times, which only reports on the longer schlep Clinton faced to the ladies’ loo, not the further (maybe not so innocent) holdup caused by an aide to Martin O’Malley.
In an interview with NPR recorded before he left on Christmas vacation, President Obama says Donald Trump is exploiting working-class fear and says opposition to his own presidency and policies is based, in part, on the fact he is black.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The Globe’s Bob Hohler has a lengthy investigative piece in Sunday’s paper on Alex Guerrero, Tom Brady’s trainer and business partner and godfather to the quarterback’s son — and a serial scammer who seems to get a pass for his transgression from Brady and the Patriots organization. Boston Magazine reports that Guerrero was investigated by state agencies for a year but ultimately no action was taken.
Luxe Valet, the smartphone app designed to ease urban parking problems, is pulling out of Boston. (CommonWealth)
EDUCATION
A Globe editorial says allegations of abuse in a special education program at a Holyoke school raise questions about the adequacy of oversight of such programs statewide.
The Nashua, New Hampshire, public schools are closed today because of a detailed threat made against students, teachers, and staff. (Nashua Telegraph)
Massachusetts officials take pity on the Worcester schools, rescinding $200,000 in fines for allowing elevator inspection certificates across the district to expire. (Telegram & Gazette)
Harvard ranks first in a lot of measures, but lags much farther behind in monetizing scientific and medical breakthroughs its researchers are responsible for. (STAT)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
The Eagle-Tribune and its sister publications in Massachusetts launch a three-day series on the heroin crisis. Day one analyzes where the state is now and what is being done. Day two looks at life in the trenches.
Most people have health insurance in Massachusetts, but the high cost of care means many people still forego treatment to save money. (Telegram & Gazette)
TRANSPORTATION
The problem-plagued Green Line extension is being further complicated by uncertainty over potential contributions to the cost of the project from property owners along the route. (Boston Globe)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A Salem News editorial urges the state to take action against winter moths, which are laying their eggs now.
The MetroWest Daily News looks at seawalls, which some say don’t help protect the areas behind them but just make things worse.
A new state study aims to collect more data about the cod fisheries crisis. (Cape Cod Times)
About 120 endangered Kemp ridley sea turtles were found stranded on Cape Cod beaches suffering from “cold shock.” (Cape Cod Times)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Connecticut is setting aside prison space exclusively for offenders who are 18 to 25. (Governing)
A third person is facing charges in connection with the heist at the Worcester Army Reserve gun armory. (Telegram & Gazette)
MEDIA
The Globe is using Spotlight, the movie about the newspaper’s investigation into pedophile priests, as a marketing tool. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
Jeff Bezos is playing a behind-the-scenes role in the Washington Post’s dramatic digital growth. (Bloomberg)
The Las Vegas Review-Journal does an astounding investigation — of its old and news owners and what appears to be a decision by GateHouse, the former owner, to do the bidding of new owner billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the old Dorchester boy-made-good, by using the paper’s reporting resources without the journalists’ knowledge.
The Beat the Press panel offers a year-in-review of the media.
Gee whiz, can’t the Commonwealth staff actually take an independent look at charter schools data? Seesawing between what charter school proponents say and what charter school opponents say is downright nonsensical. Does Commonwealth expect its readers to spend more than several hours sifting through OpEd pieces, news articles and an MIT study to figure out what’s really going on just with the demographics? Come on, be serious. Make the effort on charter schools. Hundreds of millions of dollars in education funding are at stake. Whatever happened to investigative journalism? The Boston Foundation received $12 million over the past four years from New Schools Venture Fund, a huge charter school proponent, with one of the outcomes a study showing Boston charter high schools had really good performance but two charter high schools forced to close for academic underperformance weren’t included in that study. How does that make any sense? Commonwealth needs to dig deep and figure out what’s really going on with charter schools. The truth is out there. Commonwealth needs to find it and bring it to its readers.
If Commonwealth reporters are wondering where to start their trek to the truth on charter schools then how about looking into who’s behind the “lift the cap” initiative petition? One of the very first people to sign the initiative petition to increase the number of charter schools in this state was Beth Anderson, chair of the board of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association and founder of the Phoenix Charter Academy Network in Chelsea. Ms. Anderson’s charter school is the same charter school where Governor Baker served as a board member. That’s the same charter school that’s a Level 3 performer with a “persistently low graduation rate,” does not have even one name on a wait list, and PAYS $100 recruitment incentives to fill its many empty seats. That $100 brings in a student to the Phoenix Charter Academy Network along with a $14,731.88 check from the taxpayers of Massachusetts. There are 215 students attending that charter school at an expense to taxpayers of $3,167,354. If there are supposedly 37,000 names on waitlists for charter schools but Beth Anderson’s charter school has no names on a wait list and has to wave $100 bills to get students to attend her charter school then what’s going on with the rest of the charter schools in this state? By the way, to get the info on the recruitment incentive go on the Phoenix Charter Academy’s website and find the 2014-2015 Annual Report: “Recruitment Incentives: Students who refer a student to Phoenix will receive $100 if that referred student and the referring student pass their classes and have an 80% attendance rate or higher.” To find the rest of the info go on the state DESE website.
Commonwealth reporters can check out the declining charter school enrollment phenomena by going on the state DESE website where they’ll see what’s going on at the Brooke Charter School – Roslindale. Like many charter schools it opened with one grade…the 5th grade…back in 2003 and then in 2004 added the 6th grade, in 2005 added the 7th and in 2006 added the 8th grade. So the 5th graders became the 6th graders then the 7th graders and finally the 8th graders. A funny thing happened to the original 85 students enrolled as 5th graders…in 2004 there were 8 fewer students in 6th grade, in 2005 there were 34 fewer students in 7th grade and then in 2006 those 85 5th graders became only 43 8th graders. There was a loss of almost 50% of its students. This charter school’s declining enrollment phenomenon continues to this day. Its present 8th grade class of 35 students started out in 4th grade with 54 students so there has been a loss of 36% of initial enrollment. Isn’t that something worth looking into?
Another interesting charter school area for Commonwealth reporters to investigate is the waitlist. That’s the main reason charter school proponents give to “lift the cap.” The vast majority of names are on waitlists for 16 charter schools and most of them are in Boston. The Brooke Charter School – Roslindale has the most names on its waitlist: 3,993. For a charter school in such a high demand isn’t it strange not to go to the list to fill the empty seats of students who leave the school?
And what about the charter schools operating on probation or under conditions? According to the DESE website, there are 13 charter schools in that category. The Boston Renaissance Charter Public School has 1,074 names on its wait list and has been in operation for 20 years. Boston Renaissance was placed on probation in 2013 and DESE imposed conditions “designed to improve the school’s academic program and results.” Probation was lifted but still operates with conditions.
Then there’s SABIS International Charter School with the fifth highest number of names on its wait list 3,041 and received a stern warning from the state last year “The renewal of the charter…is explicitly conditioned…Failure to meet these conditions may result in…probation, revoking its charter, or imposing additional conditions on its charter.”
The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School has the sixth highest number of names on its wait list: 2,922. This charter school is still operating under conditions.
How about looking into what brought charter schools to the various cities across Massachusetts? The City of Lowell did not provide its schools with the legally required minimum local contribution for 19 years so what do you think happened? The public school became underperforming and a charter school moved in. Fun fact about the charter school, it became too big to fail with almost 950 students and even though it underperformed the underperforming public school district the charter school did not have its charter revoked because the public school couldn’t absorb the huge number of students. How many underperforming school districts are in their predicament because of underfunding?
Why not look into the backers of the initiative petition for more charter schools?
One coalition partner, New York based Families for Excellent Schools, hired Moore Research, a marketing research firm “with a passion for building, assessing and strengthening their clients’ product lines and services” to conduct a poll on charter schools in Massachusetts. The poll showed crazy high numbers of voters in favor of lifting the charter schools cap. The problem with the poll is it wasn’t scientific or independent or even unbiased. True independent polls have shown dramatically less support for charter schools in the state. But the poll got an incredible amount of undeserved publicity.
Great Schools Massachusetts is the coalition for the charter school initiative petition. According to the Great Schools Massachusetts, Eileen O’Connor is a spokeswoman for the group. I checked her email address and she works for Keyser Public Strategies which “offers a range of strategic communications services, including media relations, message development and strategy, media training, crisis communications, reputation management, and issue advocacy.Whether it’s defining your brand, driving an issue or shaping public opinion through the media, KPS can help you achieve your communications goals and objectives.” Shouldn’t those facts be disclosed to the public?
The Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School slated for closure “has never demonstrated consistent academic success” in the seven years it has been operating BUT it has a wait list with hundreds of names on it.
The 3 charter schools with the highest number of names on their wait lists totaling 10,516 kids have 92 empty seats and an incredible shrinking enrollment as students advance to the upper grades. Why would students leave charter schools while so many children are supposedly trying to get in?
How about examining why the charter schools waitlist has received so much publicity but the 17,000 names of Massachusetts children on a waitlist seeking state funded preschool has received virtually no publicity?
Almost 2/3 of the charter schools waitlist are for Boston schools. Boston has three exam schools one of which is recognized nationwide as exceptional. So why can’t a city like Boston have all its schools be exceptional? How about finding out the answer to that question?
There’s definitely something going on with this state’s newspapers and news services and their reporters when it comes to charter schools. Why is there a complete willingness to accept press releases as news? Why not analyze what’s going on with that? How difficult is it to click on a website like the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for charter school performance?
If Commonwealth reporters didn’t want to look into Massachusetts charter schools then how about telling the story about Ohio’s charter schools? The Akron Beacon Journal had an interesting article on Ohio’s charter schools: “Charter schools misspend millions of Ohio tax dollars as efforts to police them are privatized.” The opening sentence is a doozy: “No sector — not local governments, school districts, court systems, public universities or hospitals — misspends tax dollars like charter schools in Ohio.”
Two months ago, Governor Baker made the announcement of his charter school bill at Brooke Charter School in Boston. If the AP had gone on the DESE website, it would have seen this charter school had 58 students enrolled in 5th grade in 2013, the next year that same class in 6th grade had 10 fewer students and then another 12 fewer students by 7th grade for a total of 22 students no longer enrolled at this charter school. So the class started with 58 students and within three years there were only 36 students. That’s 38% fewer students.
Another charter school operating with conditions is the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. This charter school has an interesting history. In 2007 Boston Renaissance was placed on probation “for failing to meet the academic achievement conditions of renewal” and was told to reduce enrollment from 1,240 to 880 by 2009. The enrollment reduction period was extended to 2011 then again to 2012 then again to 2013 “six years after this condition was originally imposed.” The state finally established the maximum enrollment to 944. The probation was lifted for the 2009-2010 school years then probation re-imposed in 2013. I won’t go into the conditions but I will note the number of names on its waitlist: 1,113. The Boston Renaissance Charter Public School has been around for 20 years and spent almost half that time on probation.
Religion is one problem I haven’t read about in Massachusetts charter schools. There have been issues with Christian, Islamic and Hebrew charter schools in other states. In San Antonio a private Jewish school closed and re-opened as a Hebrew language charter school located in the same Jewish community center…one of two charter schools approved by Texas under those very same conditions. The new charter schools were surrounded by high income neighborhoods, the staff stayed the same, the number of students increased but instead of paying tuition…taxpayers financed the new charter schools. Some charter schools have connections to Christian churches and even have pastors as heads of the schools. Then there’s the secretive Islamic sect from Turkey operating almost 150 charter schools across the country with almost 50,000 students using H-1B visas to import Turkish teachers and mostly doing business with Turkish owned businesses. The two charter schools operated by that group in Massachusetts are Level 1…so that means everything’s A-OK, right?