MCPSA Press Releases
CONTACT:
Dominic Slowey
781-710-0014
Marc Kenen
617-973-6655
STATEMENT ON THE PASSAGE OF EDUCATION REFORM LEGISLATION
(Statement can be attributed to Marc Kenen, MCPSA Executive Director)
BOSTON, MA - January 14, 2010: The education reform bill approved by the Legislature today recognizes the tremendous contributions charter public schools have made toward raising academic standards and closing the achievement gap in Massachusetts.
The bill doubles the number of students who can attend charter public schools in the Commonwealth's lowest-performing school districts providing parents in those districts with additional educational choices and expanding high quality educational opportunities for underserved children. It also encourages high quality charters to expand in underperforming school districts where the need is greatest and demand is substantial.
The Legislature, particularly those legislative leaders who worked diligently on this bill, deserves a tremendous amount of credit for crafting a bill that will greatly expand access to charter public schools and provide both the state and districts with increased authority and flexibility to implement needed reforms.
The Legislature's action could enable Massachusetts to compete for federal "Race to the Top" grants, which could provide $250 million for Massachusetts school systems to preserve jobs and educational programs.
Although the legislation retains overall caps on the number of charter public schools statewide, it provides flexibility to expand charters in the neediest districts.
The legislation also preserves the current charter funding formula and provides additional financial assistance to districts that lose students to charters. Every time there is an increase in the amount of money that is transferred from districts to charters - whether it be because a new charter opens in that district or because there is an increase in district spending on students - those dollars are reimbursed by the state for six years at a rate of 100% the first year and 25% for the next five years.
The bill also imposes new requirements for charters to recruit and retain students from similar demographic backgrounds as district students and places controls on how our schools fill vacancies when students transfer back to districts during the school year. The bill also imposes restrictions on charter school reserves funds and out-of-district enrollments.
We will work with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement those new restrictions so they do not impede the operation of successful charter public schools.
Senate makes Progress in Addressing Charter Community's Concerns with Provisions of Proposed Education Reform Bill
(Statement can be attributed to Marc Kenen, MCPSA Executive Director)
BOSTON, MA – November 17, 2009 – The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) is gratified that the Senate today adopted various amendments that addressed concerns expressed by the charter public school community regarding proposed education reform legislation.
Although we are still examining the details of the impact of the various amendments, we are encouraged by the overall progress made in the Senate.
We look forward to continuing to work with the House and Senate to ensure that final legislation will encourage and expand educational choice for parents and educational and economic opportunities for tens of thousands of children across the Commonwealth.
Education Reform Bill Contains Provisions that would Undermine Efforts to Expand Charter Public Schools Across the State
(Statement can be attributed to Marc Kenen, MCPSA Executive Director)
BOSTON, MA November 16, 2009 - The MCPSA is deeply concerned about a number of proposals within the Senate Ways and Means version of the Education Reform bill. While we share the overall goal to expand charter public schools around the state, there are provisions in the bill that would undermine this goal. These provisions would inhibit future charter growth, and restrain the ability of successful charters to continue to provide the educational and economic opportunities they have been providing for 15 years - a key tenet of the education reform agenda.
The Senate Ways and Means version of the Education Reform bill contains proposals that will:
- create a separate and potentially unequal funding system for charter school students;
- significantly restrict and stifle charter school growth and innovation;
- establish unworkable enrollment application quotas;
- impose counterproductive rules related to student attrition
An Unequal Funding Formula
The bill decouples approximately 20% of total funding for all charter public schools from Chapter 70 funding, including 100% in first-year funding for new charters, and puts it in a separate line-item in the state budget. This sets up one way to fund district students and a separate and possibly unequal way to fund charter students, who are predominantly minority and poor. This provision will have a chilling effect on new charter applicants, thus contributing a further restriction on charter school growth and innovation. Charter schools must enroll students, hire staff and secure private financing for facilities well before the state budget is enacted to prepare for the start of school. Requiring a direct appropriation to fund charter expansion will ensure an annual fight over every dollar against very powerful opponents. Without an assured revenue stream, based on the Chapter 70 per-pupil funding formula, charter schools will have no choice but to defer any growth plans.
Moratorium on New Charters?
Language in the bill would effectively place a moratorium on new charters. The bill mandates that the first three charters awarded in any given year must be located in districts that rank in the bottom 10% on MCAS. A second provision says that only current successful charter operators can apply for these charters. On average, only two or three charters get awarded each year. Last year, only one new charter was awarded. The net effect will be to severely limit where charters can locate and who can apply for them. This runs counter to the effort to lift all caps on charters and encourage the expansion of educational choice all across the Commonwealth.
If all of these provisions are adopted, the net effect will be to place an indefinite and indelible moratorium on the creation of new charters, and effectively block the replication existing successful charters - surely an unintended consequence considering the Legislature‚s stated goal to lift growth caps currently in place.
Demographic Soft Quotas?
Charter public schools already serve a far higher percentage of minorities and low-income families, and an equivalent number of special needs children compared to district schools statewide. Nonetheless, the bill proposes that charter schools set annual goals to attract children from certain demographic groups to apply for their enrollment lotteries to more closely match the demographic makeup of their host districts. If schools do not meet these benchmarks, the state can impose financial sanctions or revoke their charters.
While we agree with the overall goal of attracting more underserved children, the language puts our schools in a Catch-22. Under federal discrimination laws, parents are not required to divulge this kind of information on enrollment forms and charters cannot require this type of disclosure. Therefore, charters would be held accountable for information they could not collect, exposing them to sanctions and charter revocation.
Attrition "fix" will exacerbate issue
In attempting to address the "attrition" issue, the legislation imposes regulations that would actually increase attrition. The bill requires charters to fill vacancies up to the 12th grade. While the intent of this provision is to offer opportunities to attend charters to as many students as possible, the current language would not solve the problem.
If such a policy is implemented, it will be unfair and disruptive to both the students filling the vacated seats and the existing charter students. Students entering these high performing charter schools are usually at least 2 or 3 years behind their peers in academic preparation. This will force the schools to demote the student to a lower grade or hold them back at the end of the year. Many, if not all, of these students, when faced with such an action will choose to return to the district schools thus increasing the attrition rate, creating a churning of students within the school and the district and a serious disruption in the educational environment of these students and those already enrolled in the school.
Furthermore, requiring charter schools to fill vacancies in the upper grades would do nothing to expand the pool of students they serve, since their charters place strict limits on total enrollment. Adding new students in the upper grades would result in a reduction in the lower grades. The net impact would be neutral in terms of opening slots for children to attend charters.
Amendments Filed
We have been encouraged by the yearlong movement by state leaders to endorse the concept of lifting restrictions on charter growth. The Association has filed several amendments we hope will be adopted today that will accomplish what the legislation seeks to accomplish without jeopardizing the funding or the operation of existing schools, or compromise the original intent of the legislation.
MCPSA analysis of Senate Ways and Means version and Proposed Amendments
November 13, 2009
The MCPSA is deeply concerned about a number of proposals within the Senate Ways and Means version of the Education Reform bill.
According to the MCPSA's analysis the Senate Ways and Means version of the Education Reform bill contains proposals that will:
- create a separate and potentially unequal funding system for charter school students;
- significantly restrict and stifle charter school growth and innovation;
- establish unworkable enrollment application quotas;
- create havoc for high performing urban charter schools and their students
I. The bill creates a separate and unequal funding system for charter school students
The bill decouples approximately 20% of charter school funding from Chapter 70 funding including all charter school growth and puts it in a line-item subject to annual appropriation. This means that 100% of the first year of any charter school and subsequent years of growth will be subject to the annual appropriation process. This will inevitably lead to a loss of funding for charter school students compared to their peers in the sending districts. This provision will also have a chilling effect on applicants interested in applying for new charters, thus contributing a further restriction on charter school growth and innovation. (lines 1175-1224, 1248-1260).
Amendments Proposed:
Senator Hart: Charter Funding (clerk #79), Senator Tisei: Charter Funding and Reimbursement (clerk #56), Charter School Funding Reimbursement (clerk #60), Charter Funding II (clerk #63). These amendments will restore the charter school funding formula to the existing statute.
Senator Spilka: Establishing a Charter School Working Group (clerk #57). this amendment will create a legislative study group to examine charter school financing, district reimbursement, and the dissemination of best practices.
II. The bill will significantly restrict and stifle charter school growth and innovation in greater ways than in existing statute
While the bill eliminates existing statewide caps on commonwealth charters, new provisions in the bill will create new and significant restrictions on charter school growth and innovation beyond what exists in present statute.
The bill proposes that at least 3 of the new commonwealth charters approved by the state each year shall be granted for commonwealth charter schools located in districts in the lowest 10%." (line 841). and restricts charters in these lowest 10% performing districts to be opened only by proven providers. (849)
Present statute requires the first three charters granted each year to be in districts at the statewide midpoint of MCAS performance and has no clause restricting charters to proven providers.
As a result, if three new charters in the10% lowest performing districts proposed by proven providers are not approved then no new charters can be granted anywhere in the state, whether it be in the lowest 10% performing districts or elsewhere.
This exclusive focus on proven providers in the lowest 10% performing districts will also severely stifle innovation in these districts. There must be room under the existing 9% district cap for new providers to bring innovation to these and other districts.
Amendment Proposed:
Sen. Tisei: New Charter Approval Process (clerk #80). This amendment would restore the existing language that requires the first 3 charters every year to be in districts below the MCAS midpoint, and requires charter applicants to be proven providers only in when a sending district goes above 9% net school spending.
III. The bill creates enrollment application quotas
The bill contains new requirements to focus recruitment and retention efforts on high need students, a worthy objective and one that charter schools agree with. However, the bill proposes that charter schools shall set annual goals for "the number of students in the categories of students identified in the plan who seek to enroll in the school" (785). It then states that the state can impose conditions or financial sanctions if insufficient progress towards these goals is achieved. (1155)
This provision is unworkable and sets up charters for failure. Charters are not allowed, nor wish to require parents to provide the information about their child on a charter school application necessary to make this provision work. Charters are not allowed to require a parent to disclose if an applying student is a special education student, an English limited proficient student, is eligible for free or reduced lunch, has scored in the needs improvement, warning or failing categories on the MCAS for 2 of the past 3 years, are at risk of dropping out of schools based on predictors determined by the department, or are a member of a group that is suffering from the achievement gap.
Amendments Proposed:
Sen. Tisei: Charter School Demographics (clerk #82) and Enrollment Quotas (clerk #36) These amendments would revise language concerning Recruitment and Retention activities so that charter schools are not subject to non-renewal for student demographics that they cannot control.
IV. The bill will create havoc for high performing charter schools serving high need students
The bill contains a provision that requires charter schools to fill a mid or end of year vacancy in the same grade in which it occurs. (956) This "backfilling" provision will create havoc in high performing schools that have proven so successful in closing the achievement gap.
While the intent of this provision to make sure that as many students as possible have access to these high performing urban charter schools is a noble one and one supported by charter schools, the implementation of this provision within the bill will seriously threaten the success of these schools. It will also be unfair to students in the school as well as students entering the school without the preparation that comes with the initial grades.
A major component of the success of high performing charter schools is the creation of a culture of high expectations and standards. This culture is created with great care, deliberation and hard work. It entails intensive focus on the students from the moment they enter the school. The culture is essential in creating an environment that addresses the social and intellectual challenges that face high need children in urban communities.
If such a policy is implemented students will enter these high performing charter schools usually at least 2 or 3 years behind their peers in academic preparation. This will force the schools to demote the student to a lower grade or hold them back at the end of the year. Many, if not all, of these students, when faced with such an action will choose to return to the district schools thus increasing the attrition rate, creating a churning of students within the school and the district and a serious disruption in the educational environment of these students and those already enrolled in the school.
Amendments Proposed
Sen. Hart: Filling Charter Vacancies (clerk #78) This amendment offers a compromise where a more limited requirement is proposed that only applies to new charters approved after January 1, 2010.
Sen. Tisei: Vacancy Requirements (clerk #50) This amendment will strike the language concerning "backfilling"
MCPSA Statement on the Education Committee's Proposal to Lift Current Caps on Charter Public Schools
(Statement can be attributed to Marc Kenen, MCPSA Executive Director)
BOSTON, MA – November 11, 2009 – We are encouraged by the progress made by the Education Committee on legislation to greatly expand access to charter public schools and provide both the state and districts with increased authority and flexibility to implement needed reforms.
We congratulate Rep. Martha Walz (D-Boston) and Sen. Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable) – the two chairs of the Committee – as well as their staffs and other Committee members on the hard work and thought they obviously put into crafting this legislation, and we will continue to work with them on various issues related to charter public schools as the bill continues to move through the legislative process.
The Committee’s proposal to lift all statewide caps on charters and double the number of children who could attend charters in underperforming districts will expand educational choice for parents and create new educational opportunities for tens of thousands of children across the Commonwealth.
The Committee’s action will also enable Massachusetts to compete for federal “Race to the Top” grants, which could provide $400 million for Massachusetts school systems to preserve educational programs.
The Association looks forward to continuing to work with the Committee and will seek to address concerns with certain provisions in the legislation as it continues to move through the legislative process.
New State data shows that charter public schools are producing strong academic gains for their students
BOSTON, October 28, 2009 - The state's new system of measuring student achievement shows that students in charter public schools are making stronger academic gains than those in most traditional Massachusetts public schools.
"The state‚s data shows how well students are growing academically at charter public schools," Marc Kenen, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association (MCPSA), said. "Charters are generating strong academic gains among some of the most disadvantaged children in the state."
For the first time, the state is using a "growth model," which tracks how much a student's performance has changed from one year to the next. The analysis first groups students based on their MCAS scores in previous years, so there is a common starting point to fairly gauge growth. Scores from the 2009 MCAS results are compared to previous years to gauge academic growth and are then compared to other students in their peer group. The individual student data is then aggregated to produce a "student growth percentile" (SGP) for each school or district. This type of analysis allows the state to gauge the impact of particular schools on the academic achievement of their students. The higher the percentile, the better the performance.
Charters consistently placed in the top ten "growth schools" among all districts in the state in all grades on both the math and English MCAS:
- In Grade 6, charters represented 9 of the top 10 growth districts in math and 6 of the top 10 districts in English;
- In Grade 8, charters represented 7 of the top 10 growth districts in math and 4 of the top ten districts in English;
- In Grade 10, charters represented 5 of the top 10 growth districts in both math and English.
"This data proves the critics wrong," Kenen said. "Opponents have long said that charters attract and retain the best students. Yet, here is an unbiased measurement that shows that charters are generating greater academic gains among students than their sending districts. The value of a charter public school education can be measured in the achievement gains of our students."
Children who enroll in charters, especially in urban districts, are often two-three grade levels behind where they should be academically. Under this analysis, the higher the SGP, the broader the achievement gains for the students.
More than two dozen charters scored in the 80th and 90th percentiles, meaning the level of academic improvement of their students in grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 10 was greater than 80 to 90 percent of students in the rest of the state. Most of these schools are serving disadvantaged urban children. These schools included: Roxbury Preparatory Charter in Boston, Excel Academy Charter in East Boston, Boston Preparatory Charter, Community Day Charter in Lawrence, MATCH Charter Public High in Boston, Hill View Montessori Charter in Haverhill, Atlantis Charter in Fall River, Edward Brooke Charter in Boston, Neighborhood House Charter in Boston, Pioneer Charter School of Science in Everett, City on a Hill Charter in Boston, Sabis International Charter in Springfield, Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter in Springfield, Holyoke Community Charter, Martha's Vineyard Charter, Academy of the Pacific Rim in Boston, Community Charter School of Cambridge, Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter in Marlboro, Lowell Middlesex Academy, Four Rivers Charter in Greenfield, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter, Prospect Hill Academy Charter in Somerville, Francis W. Parker Charter in Devens, and South Shore Charter.
"Charters make up a small percentage of the schools in this state," Kenen said, "and yet we dominate the top ten positions on various tests. Charters are having a clear impact on the academic achievement of their students."
The new state data confirms on a statewide bases what a study conducted earlier this year concluded about Boston charters. The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard, MIT and Duke, compared the academic progress of two groups of Boston public school students with similar academic histories - one group "won" charter enrollment lotteries and the other did not. After four years in a charter, the test scores of the charter students rose from slightly above Boston‚s average to just below Brookline‚s, while the scores of the students who remained in the district barely moved.
Statement on Reports of Political Interference in the Awarding of a New Charter in Gloucester
(Statement can be attributed to Marc Kenen, MCPSA Executive Director)
BOSTON, MA - September 21, 2009 - The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association is deeply troubled by reports that Education Secretary Paul Reville exerted political pressure on the state's Education Commissioner to recommend the approval of a new charter public school in Gloucester.
Political interference - whether by charter opponents or supporters - weakens the integrity of the chartering process and cheapens the hard work and commitment of charter applicants.
The sanctity of the chartering process must not be sacrificed to further anyone's political agenda. Massachusetts is recognized around the country as having an open, transparent chartering process and high standards of accountability. This is one reason we have some of the best charter public schools in the country.
Any political interference with respect to the Gloucester application tarnishes this process and raises serious questions about not only the approval of the Gloucester application, but also the rejection of the Brockton application last year, which was opposed by very powerful local political leaders, who exerted an enormous amount of pressure on the Patrick Administration to reject it.
Caught in the middle of all this is a group of dedicated citizens in Gloucester, who put in countless hours to craft a credible proposal to bring a new type of public school to the city's children. Not only have they been ridiculed and ostracized by government and school officials from their own city throughout the process, but now they must endure additional questions about the validity of their charter.
The chartering process must remain immune from political interference at the local or state level. That is one reason why local communities do not - and should not - have veto power over charter applications or renewals. Final decisions must continue to be made by the independent Board of Elementary and Secondary Education based on the criteria laid out in the law.
We have stood by this process for more than 15 years, whether decisions have resulted in approval or rejection of particular charter applications, and it has served the children of Massachusetts well. We will continue to work to ensure that this process is not corrupted.
Charter Public School Founders Being Sought: State Grants Available to Develop Proposals
BOSTON, November 7, 2007 – A joint federal and state effort to replicate successful charter public schools in high need communities is being launched this week in Boston and other cities and towns across Massachusetts.
The effort is part of a federally-funded project to both study urban charter public schools that have been successful at raising academic achievement, and disseminate the critical and common elements of their success.
The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) is providing funds to replicate the common elements of success of high achieving charter public schools serving high need communities. The state Department of Education is providing grants and other forms of assistance to support potential charter founders. Each founding group can apply for a grant and become eligible for up to $20,000 to support the development of their charter proposals, with specific emphasis on the educational program, academic goals, and business plans.
Applications for the state grants are due Friday, February 1, 2008. Grants will be awarded by March 1, 2008. Letters of intent to apply for a charter must be submitted to the Massachusetts DOE by July 7, 2008 and the charter prospectus is due August 1, 2008.
In addition to the grants from the Massachusetts DOE, charter school founders can also seek the assistance of the recently formed Massachusetts Center for Charter Public School Excellence that provides founding group support.
There are 61 charter public schools in Massachusetts, serving almost 25,000 students while another 19,000 are on waiting lists. A recent state DOE study showed that 90% of charters in Massachusetts are scoring as well as or better than district schools on the state’s MCAS.
Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of local school districts. They are open to all students, free of charge; if there are more students than slots available, enrollment is determined by blind lottery.
Charter school founders are generally parents or community leaders, who come together to start a different kind of public school in their community. Often charter public schools are organized around a specific mission, theme or curricular focus. In exchange for specific freedoms (in organizational structure, mission, and academic program), charter public schools are held to high standards. The Board of Education ultimately determines which charter public schools will open and provides rigorous review, oversight, and evaluation of those schools.
The high-need communities targeted include:
| MetroBoston |
Boston
Everett
Chelsea
|
Cambridge
Lynn
Revere |
| Springfield Area |
Holyoke
West Springfield
Easthampton
|
Westfield
Chicopee
Springfield |
| Central Massachusetts |
Southbridge
Worcester
|
Fitchburg
Ware |
| Merrimack Valley |
Lawrence
|
Lowell |
| Southeastern Mass |
Fall River
New Bedford
|
Brockton
Taunton |
| Cape Cod |
Tisbury
Provincetown
|
Wareham (Cape Cod/New Bedford) |
| Western Massachusetts |
Pittsfield
North Adams
Adams Cheshire
|
Gill Montague
Greenfield |
State Business Leaders form Alliance to Support Charter Public Schools
BOSTON, Sept. 25, 2007 - A coalition of many of the state's top business leaders, sensing that forward progress on the state's education reform efforts has stalled, has organized in support of charter public schools saying they are essential to education reform in Massachusetts and should continue to expand.
Massachusetts Business Leaders for Charter Public Schools includes more than three dozen top executives from some of the state's most prominent companies and business groups. Their arrival provides a large boost for the charter public school movement at a time when opponents are aggressively promoting legislative proposals to halt new schools and jeopardize funding to those that exist.
“We're here today because we are certain that the economic future of Massachusetts depends on having one of the best public education systems in the country,” said Paul Sagan, President & CEO of Akamai Technologies. “For more than a dozen years, charter public schools have been one of the success stories of education reform. To undercut that progress now would be short-sighted and a setback to tens of thousands of young people today and countless others in the future.”
The formation of the business leaders' alliance represents a new level of commitment on the part of the business community to ensure that the charter public school movement continues to thrive in the Commonwealth. There are 61 charter public schools in Massachusetts, serving about 25,000 students from North Adams to Cape Cod. Another 19,000 students are on waiting lists hoping to enroll.
“In Massachusetts, our natural resources are talent and innovation,” said Paul Guzzi, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “The preparation that our future entrepreneurs and skilled workers receive begins at the elementary level of our schools. We can't afford to risk the quality of that education in any way.”
Initially, the business leaders will focus on two proposals pending in the Legislature: a measure to raise the cap on charters in high need communities; and a change in the funding formula that would jeopardize the future funding stream for charters.
The Business Leaders support a proposal that would raise a cap on charters that now limits the amount of money that districts send to charters at 9 percent. Many districts, including many urban areas where district public schools are underperforming, have already reached the 9 percent ceiling. That means no new charter public schools can be created in those districts, frustrating the thousands of students who are stuck on waiting lists trying to change to a charter public school.
“The funding cap denies parents a choice in the education of their children,” said Rick Lord, President of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts. “In many schools in Boston, Lawrence, Chelsea and other urban areas, low-income students have no alternative but to attend classes in district public schools that aren't working. Their parents can't afford private schools, nor can they afford a home in the suburbs. They need choices.”
Proposed legislation supported by districts would change the way charter school funds are distributed. Currently, charter money flows through the Chapter 70 formula and is based on how much districts spend to educate their students. The proposal would take half of charter funds out of the Chapter 70 formula and place it in a separate line item in the state budget. Charter supporters fear that money will be under attack every year by opponents.
If adopted, the proposed new formula would result in one funding formula for district schools, and a separate and unequal formula for charter schools that serve a far higher ratio of low-income students and almost twice the percentage of minority students as district schools.
“It is impossible to develop budgets and seek the kind of long-term financing that charters must seek to secure school facilities when you are not certain whether half of your funding will be available every year,” said Rick Burnes, Co-founder of Charles River Ventures. “Charter schools are producing measurable positive results for students. Let's not jeopardize a model that's working.”
According to a Department of Education study from just last year, 90 percent of charter public schools perform as well or better than the school districts from which their students come. About 30 percent of charters perform substantially better than their sending districts. MCAS data has also consistently shown that charters are helping to close the achievement gap that separates white, middle and upper class students from minority and low-income students.
“Although the most recent MCAS scores showed some incremental progress in Massachusetts to close the achievement gap, charter public schools have initiated a sea change,” said Charles Grigsby, Senior Vice President of The Life Initiative. “No matter how you cut it, the data tell the same story. Statewide, African-American charter school students, Hispanics, low-income students, special education students and those with limited English proficiency all outperformed their sending districts in both English and math.”
###
Massachusetts Business Leaders for Charter Public Schools
1. Bill Teuber, Vice-Chairman, EMC Corporation
2. Paul Sagan, President & CEO of Akamai Technologies
3. Rick Lord, President & CEO, Associated Industries of Massachusetts
4. Paul Guzzi, President & CEO Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
5. Rick Burnes, Co-Founder, Charles River Ventures
6. Paul Grogan, President & CEO, The Boston Foundation
7. Charles D. Baker, President & CEO Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
8. William “Mo” Cowan, Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.
9. William S. Edgerly, Chairman Emeritus, State Street Corporation
10. Richard L. Taylor, Partner, The Taylor Smith Properties
11. Paul Levy, President and CEO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
12. Patricia McGovern, General Counsel and SVP Corporate Affairs, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
13. Robert L. Beal, President, The Beal Companies
14. Christopher Anderson, President, Mass High Technology Council
15. John H. Davis, former Chairman and CEO of American Saw & Manufacturing
16. Charles Grigsby, Senior Vice President, The Life Initiative
17. Paul O'Brien, President, The O'Brien Group
18. Ray Stata, Chairman, Analog Devices
19. Mark Nunnelly, Managing Partner, Bain Capital
20. James Mobley, CEO, Neohapsis
21. Kevin McCall, President & CEO, Paradigm Properties
22. Bill Walczak, CEO, Codman Square Health Center
23. Laury Coolidge, Principal, Coolidge, Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge
24. Evelyn Murphy, President, The WAGE Project,
25. Peter Nessen, Principal, CRIC Capital
26. Mark E. Robinson, Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP
27. Andrea Silbert, CEO, EOS Foundation
28. Tripp Jones, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, The MENTOR Network
29. Lovett C. Peters, Founding Chairman, Pioneer Institute
30. Diane Schmalensee, President, Schmalensee Partners
31. Shannon Linde, Executive Vice President, Massachusetts Business Association
32. Ted Burke, President and CEO, Dennis K. Burke, Inc.
33. William B. Tyler, Of Counsel, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster
34. Robert Manning, Executive Vice President, Janney Montgomery Scott
35. Matthew Steele, President & CEO, ZRC Worldwide
36. R. Kingman Webster, Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Blue Seal Feed
37. Andrew Balson, Managing Director, Bain Capital
38. John Hurst, President of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts
2.3 Million Dollar Federal Grant Awarded to MCPSA to Share Best Practice With Districts
BOSTON, Oct. 10, 2006 - The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association (MCPSA) has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze effective methods of educating at-risk students in low-income Massachusetts communities and disseminate those best practices to districts and other charters here and across the country.
The award will fund a three-year project of identifying 15 high-quality Massachusetts charter public schools serving high-need areas, determining their most effective teaching methods and then sharing those approaches with other charter and district public schools in Massachusetts and across the country.
“This award validates the strong charter public school program the state has developed in Massachusetts and recognizes the success the schools have had in providing educational opportunities to at-risk children in cities throughout the state,” said Marc Kenen, executive director of the MACPS. “Charters have engaged in efforts to share their best practices with each other and with districts. This program will greatly expand those efforts.”
The MCPSA’s project, entitled Keeping the Promise: the Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project, is one of only six being funded by DOE out of 34 applications nationally.
“Keeping the Promise” will use U.S. Census and state academic performance data to identify 15 Massachusetts high-quality charter schools serving students at risk of educational failure in high-need communities. An independent academic research team will work with the Association to document the common elements of success.
Print, video and the Internet will be used to disseminate findings nationally to an audience of educators and policy makers. A book of the successful programs is expected to be produced and a filmmaker is expected to produce a program intended for a possible national television audience.
Finally, the Association will seek a partner to manage the job of replicating the strategies for other charter and district public schools in need of help.
Massachusetts law requires charter public schools to collaborate with district public schools and to disseminate innovative teaching approaches among other schools. Since the charter school program began more than a decade ago, charter public school teachers and administrators have reached out to their district public school colleagues to share their work. The Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, for example, created the “Project for School Innovation,” a grassroots network of public school educators.
There are 59 charter public schools in Massachusetts, serving more than 20,000 students while another 15,000 are on waiting lists to enroll. The innovations applied in charter school classrooms have helped to produce MCAS scores that consistently outperform district school averages.
Last week, the state Department of Education released data showing that several urban charter public high schools scored in the Top 20 statewide. In 10th grade English, 14 out of 18 charter public high schools placed a higher percentage of students in proficient or advanced categories than their sending districts. In 10th grade math, 10 out of 18 charters placed a higher percentage of students in the top two categories compared to their sending districts.
On average, 14.2 percent more charter high school students scored in proficient or advanced categories in English and 11.1 percent in math compared to their sending districts.
Other DOE grant award recipients include the California Charter School Association, the University of Washington, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the University of Minnesota and The Finance Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
