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President's Bulletin
August 5, 2009
As you know, in recent years the Council has been deeply engaged in delivering reform to the state's public education system, which despite its best-in-the-nation status is leaving far too many students behind. One of our top priorities is to expand innovative school options - in particular charter public schools - for more students and teachers throughout the Commonwealth.
We are happy to report significant progress in recent weeks with Governor Patrick filing legislation to increase the cap on charter schools in underperforming school districts and to create new "Readiness Schools," which allow for radical changes to the local school curriculum and management structures. There is a sense of urgency to approve this legislation so that the Commonwealth will be eligible to compete for billions of dollars in federal education innovation aid. While the Council will work to push the Governor's plan on Beacon Hill, there are no guarantees that the Legislature will agree to pass the bill because of the strong opposition to charters by the teachers union and municipal officials. If the Governor's legislation is not approved before the December 1 application deadline for federal innovation aid, it is highly doubtful that there will be any legislative action on education reform this year or next.
For that reason, the Council has been working with other reform-focused groups to support a 2010 statewide ballot initiative that would expand the current charter school cap in underperforming districts. The ballot question, which will be filed with the Attorney General's office today, is the culmination of discussions over the past few months by a leadership group that includes former Board of Education Chairman Jim Peyser, leaders from the charter school movement, Council members and myself. The filing of the petition was covered in today's Boston Globe.
The goal of the ballot question is two-fold. First, it provides outside pressure on the Legislature to act on the Governor's legislation to avert a high-profile ballot question debate next year. Second, it provides a backup plan to deliver real reform if the Legislature fails to act to increase innovative school models - or if any action they do take falls short of our requirements for meaningful reform. The ballot question's language goes further than the Governor's charter bill by completely eliminating the cap, which has trapped more than 20,000 students on the charter school waitlist. While we believe an elimination of the cap is the best outcome, the parties involved have agreed to suspend the ballot campaign if the Legislature approves the Governor's bill in a timely manner.
We have had some preliminary discussions with State House officials on the possibility of a ballot question. So far the response has been positive and is viewed as a potential help in pushing the Governor's bill through the Legislature. But if the legislative session ends without action on these bills, we will have the option to move forward to bring change through the ballot box in November 2010.
The stakes are critical for Massachusetts. There is a strong sense of urgency among business and civic leaders - in particular Council members - to bring long overdue reforms and innovations to the state's public education system. This urgency is underscored by advances made by students in classrooms around the world - particularly in math and science. While the Massachusetts school system is overall leading the nation, there are too many students and teachers trapped in underperforming schools. If you exclude its three prestigious exams schools, only 7.5% of Boston Public School freshman students can expect to receive an associate's or bachelor's degree within seven years of high school graduation. That is completely unacceptable and shows that Massachusetts still has a long way to go to bring true educational opportunities - and rewarding career pathways - to all its students. Massachusetts needs to fully embrace classroom innovation and new learning structures and charter schools are the most proven vehicle the state has for delivering those reforms.
We will be in touch with you in the near future with more detail on this initiative. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on this matter.
Sincerely,
Christopher R. Anderson
President
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