The Massachusetts House passed a bill previous year to lift the charter school cap, but the Senate did not go along.
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CHARLIE BAKER REIGNITED a debate on Thursday that has vexed and divided Democrat and Republican lawmakers in recent years, proposing an expansion of charter schools that would be targeted toward the lowest performing districts statewide. Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign it. But the charter schools have not dropped their lawsuit. Getting it to more than 50 percent would require approximately 260 more charter schools that will hold up to 130,000 students and cost over 490 million dollars.
“The bill would permit 12 new or expanded charters per year across the state”. The newly-created charter schools will serve students; particularly minority and low-income students. The state also has a handful of Horace Mann Charter Schools that operate with approval of the local districts and their teachers’ unions.
Adding to the charter sector’s other woes, Ohio’s charter schools director was forced to resign this summer after revelations that he omitted failing grades from certain state evaluations that might have been used to determine public aid.
Baker says the bill will focus the new growth in the lowest performing districts.
Tens of thousands of pages of documents related to the Hansen flap have been turned over to the state auditor and inspector general.
Baker, a long-time supporter of charter schools, said the legislation will help give every child the opportunity to a high-quality education regardless of their location or background.
At Baker’s event, Rodolfo Aguilar, the parent of two Brooke Charter School students, cried as he thanked Baker for supporting charter schools.
In a statement, the Ohio Department of Education said it was glad to have strengthened enforcement powers but that Superintendent Dick Ross “has been tough on charters over the past several years”.
He said the bill would also let charter schools enter into voluntary agreements with districts to participate in district student enrollment systems that take into account parental preference.
Now they are seeking a long-term fix and want the school system to open the books. “Those are plenty pressures enough, so I don’t need additional motivation, but the ballot initiative process, whether it’s in education or in other policy, I have always felt is a very blunt tool, so if we can do it better with more precise instruments in the Legislature I would certainly prefer that”, Chang-Diaz said.
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“A coalition of parents and educators called the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance joined the chorus uniting against Baker’s bill”.
