All About Charter Schools inMassachusetts: Charter Legislation and Law, Charter School Numbers, Enrollment and Academic Achievement, and Charter School Resources and Support Organization Contacts, as well as Massachusetts Department of Education Charter School Offices

Charter Schools in Massachusetts

Law:   Passed in 1993

Rank:   7th strongest of the nation's 40 charter laws

CER Grade:   A

Schools:   46

Students:   14,013

POLITICS:

TUG OF WAR: Even though the State Board is poised to approve eleven charter applications Tuesday, opposition to charters is growing supporting a three-year moratorium on charter school growth. Many community leaders are putting the blame of fiscal shortages right at the doorstep of charters. The state has 12,000 students on waiting lists. CER Newswire February 25, 2003.

BAYWATCH: Local governments and schools in the Bay state are targeting charters to soften the budget cuts that are inevitable across the board. A Waltham elementary school principal "sent an email to families urging defeat of a charter program. In Framingham, homeowners got a letter with their tax bill reminding them of the fiscal impact of a charter school that opened last fall. In North Adams and surrounding towns, some 400 people have signed a petition against a charter school proposal," according to the Boston Globe. CER Newswire January 28, 2003.

LOST POTENTIAL: The success of Boston's charter schools is well known, but because of a sticky provision in the state's charter law, the potential for new schools -- or growth of existing schools -- is all but lost. The law stipulates that, "In any fiscal year, no public school district's total charter school tuition payment to commonwealth charter schools shall exceed 9 percent of said district's net school spending." The superintendent of Boston announced recently that the 9 percent cap was fast approaching, and that only a few hundred more students would be able to attend charter schools under this restriction. The state's 42 charter schools currently serve about 15,000 students, and another 11,000 are on the waiting lists. Depending on election outcomes today, charter proponents may want to consider an amendment to the budget restrictions that are putting the brakes on the charter movement in the Bay State. CER Newswire, November 5, 2002.

DEVELOPMENTS:

SERVING THE UNDERSERVED: According to the Charter Friends Accountability report, in Massachusetts "of the 20 school districts with the biggest percentages of poor children, 11 are charter schools (charter schools are considered their own school district in Massachusetts). In the 2001-02 school year, about 25 percent of the state’s 979,000 public school children were considered low income. Twenty-seven of the state’s charter schools rank above that percentage, and 15 are below it." (For more information, visit www.doe.mass.edu/charter.) From CER Monthly Letter, Back to School 2002.

LOVE IT: Massachusetts business leader Lovett Peters offered the 22 worst schools in the Bay state a chance to convert to charter status with the help of his Save a School Foundation and partnerships with one of a number of private management firms. He guarantees that if their scores don’t rise above district averages, he’d pay them a million bucks. Peters is responding to the hue and cry from inner city parents who know their children only get one shot at a good education. But rather than take him up on it, the school establishment has mostly dismissed the offer. For more information, contact the Pioneer Institute.

ACHIEVEMENT:

SEVENTH HEAVEN: Students at the Boston-area Roxbury Prep earned the highest average score of any predominantly black school in Massachusetts on the 6th grade math MCAS and 7th grade English Language Arts test for the second consecutive year. The school serves 170 students in grades six, seven, and eight. The student body is entirely black and Latino and more than 65 percent of the students qualify for either free or reduced-price lunch. CER Newswire January 14, 2003.

TOP SCORES: On recent statewide tests fourth graders of Neighborhood House charter school outperformed every other school in Massachusetts in English and language arts. In math and science Neighborhood House took the top scores in Boston. The student body is mostly black and mostly poor; white students make up less than a third of the enrollment, and 51 percent of the students are eligible for a free lunch. "Giving Charter Schools A Chance" by Jonathan Schorr, The Nation, June 5, 2000

TRENDS: The Charter School Resource Center at Pioneer Institute highlighted some findings of the inspection team that renewed the states first 14 charter schools: schools with the highest student achievement had well-developed academic programs, clear standards of performance in each grade and subject, and used consistent and appropriate tools to measure student progress. These schools give priority to recruiting faculty who are proficient in their subject areas and are less concerned with certification and pedagogical experience. In the two highest-achieving schools, fewer than half of faculty members have Massachusetts certification. CER Monthly Letter, June 2000.

RESOURCES:

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS:

Charter School Resource Center
Pioneer Institute for Public Policy
85 Devonshire Street, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02109-3504

Contact: Linda Brown , Director
Tel: 617-723-2277
Fax: 617-723-1880
Email: pioneer@pioneerinstitute.org

Website: http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/csrc/index.html

The Charter School Resource Center focuses on the improvement of elementary and secondary education by providing support for the launch of entrepreneurial, self-managed public charter schools throughout the state. The Center offers research, policy education, business and media outreach, management reviews and other technical assistance.

Massachusetts Charter School Association
P.O. Box 147, 132 Main St.
Haydenville, MA 01039

Contact: Marc Kenen, Ed.D.
Telephone: (413) 253-8970
Fax: (413) 268-3185
Email: kenen@rcn.com

Website: www.masscharterschools.org/

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

Massachusetts Department of Education
Charter School Office
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148

Contact: Rebecca Holmes , Associate Commissioner of Education for Charter Sc
Tel: 781-338-3227
Fax: 781-338-3220
Email: lferrante@doe.mass.edu

Website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/cs.www/default.html