FY’10 budget could mean more charters

LYNN – Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed raising the charter school cap in some communities in an effort to target high-risk students and improve state standardized test scores.According to the governor’s proposed fiscal year 2010 budget released Wednesday, Patrick wants to raise the cap on district spending from 9 to 12 percent charter tuition in the state’s 50 lowest performing districts, including Lynn.Districts with charter schools lose a percentage of state aid for each student who leaves public schools in favor of a charter.The decision means that districts such as Boston, which is close to the 9 percent cap because of its seven charter schools, would be allowed to add additional charters if they cater to students who struggle with English, have special needs or fall in the low-income bracket.Although the move will raise the cap in Lynn, the city is currently well below 9 percent with only one charter school, KIPP Academy Lynn, serving grades 5-8.If approved, the proposed changes would benefit the 12 state districts closest to the 9 percent cap – Boston, Holyoke, Lowell, Fall River, Somerville, Randolph, Salem, Everett, Malden, North Adams, Revere and Cambridge.Lynn Superintendent Catherine Latham said Wednesday that she had not reviewed the governor’s proposal, but warned that the cost of another charter school would be tough on the School Department budget.”The cost alone associated with charter schools is hard for the community to absorb,” she said. “It is difficult on the budget, and it can be a financial burden on individual districts.”Since the inception of charter schools in the Education Reform Act of 1993, there have been 61 charters opened in Massachusetts, many in low-income areas such as Lynn. The idea of a charter is to use education strategies that are different and often more bold than those of public schools as a way for parents of at-risk students to achieve a different kind of education.At KIPP, the curriculum is very disciplined-based, and students attend school for 10 hours each day. Test scores at KIPP rival those of many more affluent public schools in the state, despite having a 90 percent poverty rate.While charters have become popular with parents who are disillusioned with public schools, most public school districts and teachers unions have been reluctant to accept the change, in part because they feel the tuition reimbursement takes money and resources away from other students.Many charters also do not use union teachers.Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said Wednesday that the concept of charter schools is not necessarily a bad one, but the financial impact on the community needs to change if the number of schools increases.”I have no problem with school choice, I think parents should have that choice,” he said. “But (the state) has to pay for it. We simply cannot afford to lose money in the current state of the budget.”Despite the proposed cap increase, Lynn currently does not have any new charter schools on the horizon.