Foes, supporters draw battle lines on raising charter school cap

The question of expanding the current crop of 62 charter schools could be decided by voters next year if the Legislature rejects Gov. Deval Patrick’s expansion plan.Patrick faces strong objections from school superintendents like Revere’s Paul Dakin and other educators as he pushes his plan to lift charter school spending caps in the lowest-scoring 10 percent of school districts from 9 percent to 18 percent, more than tripling the number of available slots in these districts from the current 10,000 to over 37,000. Under the governor’s plan, only successful charter school operators with demonstrated records of student achievement would be allowed to open, or expand charter schools. Local charters like Lynn’s Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP Academy) and the Phoenix Charter Academy serving Lynn and Revere students could propose expansion under Patrick’s plan.Teachers union officials last week tore into Patrick’s plan with Ed Doherty, special assistant to the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, telling educators it is a “direct attack on teachers’ rights.” Doherty said the Patrick administration’s proposals would strip teachers of collective bargaining rights and authorize “unprecedented state control” over schools, including the ability to replace staff and suspend policies. Doherty said the governor’s plans were “heavy-handed” and would stifle collaboration with teachers in education.Dakin said charter schools do not share the same burden for educating special needs and limited English students as other public schools.”They do have small numbers but almost none of the neediest students in both of these challenged populations,” Dakin said.Patrick’s expansion proposal would require charters to make efforts to recruit and retain populations of English Language Learners, students receiving special education and students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out.Phoenix specializes in working with dropouts like Julio Hernandez who dropped out of public high school four times over five years before enrolling in Phoenix and making progress toward graduation. Phoenix offers a strict college preparatory program and has expanded the number of students its serves to 150 since opening in 2006.The governor’s plan also calls for providing the education commissioner with the ability to develop a performance contract and an “innovation plan” with local stakeholders. It would also enforce the inclusion of “wrap-around services” to meet social service, health and workforce development needs of students and families.State education officials said the expansion plan’s goal matches funding standards set for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of “Race to the Top” federal stimulus grants.Dakin and other educators said the current state formula for assisting charter schools draws tax dollars away from other schools.”The matter of how charters are funded – and who pays what share – is as complex as it is controversial. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ fix to the problem,” he told a legislative education committee last week.In written testimony to the committee, Boston Foundation President Paul Grogan took issue with those worried by the costs associated with charter school expansion. “What is the cost of denying the 21,000 families on charter wait lists in disproportionately under-performing areas the access to proven education? What is the cost of maintaining the status quo and consigning another generation of largely black and brown students to be stuck in under-performing schools?” Grogan asked.State House News Service material was used in this report.