In an op-ed in Friday's Globe, Scott Lehigh reported on an event at the Boston Foundation at which KIPP CEO Richard Barth was the keynote speaker. Barth discussed KIPP's interest in expanding to Boston and its inability to do so because of the 9% charter cap. Lehigh posited that the potential of Boston KIPP schools should motivate local politicos to lift the cap. I doubt this is how our local pols think.
Lehigh's overall view is that the cap should be lifted and KIPP should be welcome here in Boston. I wholeheartedly agree. But he sets KIPP up as saviors for both charter school expansion and for the kids of Boston. It's a shame that he doesn't include in his argument the successful charter schools here in Boston that are itching to serve more kids and can't because of the cap. You would think that Bostonian politicians would be more inspired by local kids' exceptional success at schools like Excel or Roxbury Prep than the results of kids in other states.
Michael Goldstein "Goes Wild" of MATCH says that the risk of losing federal "Rae to the Top" money is a much better motivator and that changing the cap will allow local success stories to expand. He's probably right. Money trumps all.
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