Press Release about a Moratorium on Charter Schools
 

February 19, 2004

PARENTS, EDUCATORS AND ADVOCATES CALL FOR CHARTER MORATORIUM AT STATE HOUSE. AN ALTERNATIVE FUNDING METHOD NEEDS TO BE IMPLEMENTED BEFORE EXPANDING THIS PROGRAM.
 

Contacts

Pam Richardson, Framingham School Committee (508)788-9461
Kate Toomey, Vice Chair, Worcester School Committee (508)735-8058
Darleen Melis, Salem School Committee (978)744-6471
Nancy Walser, Cambridge School Committee (617)868-1973
Kate Robey, Marlborough School Committee (508)460-8484
Margaret Donnelly, Vice Chair Waltham School Committee (781)891-6511
Helen Norris, Holyoke City Council (413)536-3858


The Statewide Coalition for Public Schools, a group of parents, educational leaders and advocates for public schools, will speak out in favor of a moratorium on Commonwealth Charter Schools in order to allow investigation and implementation of an alternative funding method at a State House press conference Monday February 23rd, 2004 at 11:00 a.m. in Room A-1.

The Statewide Coalition for Public Schools, which includes representatives from Andover, Ashland, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Fitchburg, Framingham, Hudson, Holyoke, Lynn, Maynard, Marlborough, Needham, North Adams, Northampton, Salem, Springfield, Waltham and Worcester, will be joined by State Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton, State Representatives Thomas O’Brien of Kingston, Rep Deborah Blumer of Framingham and Rep Karen Spilka of Ashland and Framingham who are the principal backers of the legislation to delay the additional expense incurred by district schools with the expansion of the inequitably funded charter school program and the granting of 5 new Commonwealth Charters currently being considered by the Board of Education.

Statewide Coalition for Public School members lobbied for support of the O’Brien/Pacheco Moratorium Bill 2215 in 2003. An FY04 budget amendment mirroring this language was passed during budget debates in the Senate but defeated in the House. While House Bill 2215 received a public hearing on November 6, 2003, it remains in the Committee on Education, Arts, & Humanities.

"In this time of fiscal uncertainty, every penny is needed to improve the education of our students," said State Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton. “Now is not the time to create excessive bureaucracy or to divert needed educational resources from existing schools. Massachusetts must place a moratorium on the expansion of commonwealth charter schools in order to study an equitable funding formula and meet the needs of our current education system."

“The current charter school funding formula is punitive to the students who choose to remain in the district schools,” said Pam Richardson, a member of the Coalition who serves on the Framingham School Committee. “There are other ways to fund this program which would be more equitable. Members of the House and Senate must support a delay in expansion of this program so that alternative funding methods can be studied and implemented. ”


“The issue in question is how do we fund charter schools in a way that is fair to both charter schools and district schools.” said Kate Toomey, a member of the Coalition who serves as Vice Chair of the Worcester School Committee. “How can rational people continue to take away funding from the general student population to benefit only a select few, when the budget is shrinking? The argument that the money follows the child is only a half truth. The way the formula works, many school districts lose far more than they can save with the loss of some students. It is the amount of money which follows the student which is in question.”


“I have filed new legislation, the goal of which is to create more similar funding mechanisms and sources for charter schools and traditional public schools,“ said State Representative Karen Spilka of Ashland and Framingham. “Hopefully the changes created by this bill will allow us to make more accurate comparisons between the two systems.”

"It is hard to believe that some members of the legislature don’t understand the harmful impact of the charter school funding formula on the education of children in the local schools,” said Darleen Melis, a member of the coalition who serves on the Salem School Committee. “Successful educational advances which have been implemented over time are now in jeopardy because communities struggling to balance their budgets are being hit with a surcharge to fund these state mandated schools. "First do no harm " would be a very enlightened approach given the governor's intent to bring charter schools to so many communities."

“Contrary to popular belief, we are not opposed to charter schools; we are opposed to the way charter schools are currently funded. We need to find a fair way for charters to be adequately funded without hurting public schools in our cities and towns in the process,” said Representative Debby Blumer of Framingham. “I urge my colleagues to help us examine this question and find a solution that is equitable for all the children of our Commonwealth.”


“The Charter School Caps were raised in 2000 and Governor Romney proposes to raise them again. Meanwhile school districts with approved charter schools are facing severe cuts in funding and are being forced to lay off staff, cut programs and in some cases, close schools while being subjected to an educational reform that has not proven itself,” said Katie Robey a member of the coalition who serves on the Marlborough School Committee. “A moratorium on charter schools in the Commonwealth needs to be
approved by the legislature. A thorough review of the funding formula needs to take place.”