Mayoral Candidate Tom Menino

In a shocker, Mayor Menino reversed his long-standing opposition to charter schools in a speech today. You can find coverage at the Globe and at bostonherald.com.

Some choice bits are reprinted below.

From The Globe:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has for years expressed deep reservations about charter schools, abruptly shifted course today and said he is eager to open new ones in Boston to help transform the city's poorly performing schools.

In a speech to hundreds of chief executives, Menino said he would file state legislation that would allow the city to create "in-district" charter schools.

Unlike traditional charter schools, which Menino has argued drain money from traditional public schools, these charter schools would be established and controlled solely by the Boston School Committee. In a point sure to spark opposition from organized labor, the schools would not need to be unionized,
although the teachers could vote to form a union. Menino said the schools would
also have more flexible work hours and rules, in an attempt to attract better
teachers and tailor the school day to students' needs.

If the bill does not pass by the end of this legislative session -- July 31, 2010 -- Menino said he would call for lifting the overall cap on charter schools.

"The status quo won't work," Menino told a luncheon at the Boston Harbor Hotel of the Boston College Chief Executives' Club. "We've got to make real changes."

Observers said Menino's position represents a sharp reversal.

"I thought the ideas were good and a bit surprising," said former Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, who helped write the 1993 Education Reform Act that paved the way for the state’s first charter schools. "The mayor has been a long-time, major opponent of charter schools and I think this is an exciting propositon -- both the in-district charters and the affirmative commitment, if he can't get that legislation through, to eliminate the cap."

Menino's embrace of charter schools comes after his rivals in the mayor's race, City Councilors Michael F. Flaherty and Sam Yoon, released plans earlier this week that expressed support for more charter schools in Boston.

"Politically, it's extraordinary for the mayor of the city of Boston to come out for charter schools like this," Birmingham said.

From the Herald:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino proposed merit pay for teachers and in-district charter schools to boost student performance, but the teacher’s union is skeptical.

“The status quo doesn’t work in education,” Menino said following a speech to a group of business leaders at a Boston College Citizen Seminar today. “We want to raise underperforming schools, but we can’t get it done on pilot schools and advanced placement because of arbitration. Give me a break.”

In a plan short on details, Menino said he will seek legislative approval to authorize city-run charter schools free from union rules on hiring, budgeting and length of the school day. While the staff can unionize, he said, union approval will not be required to create the schools. If the legislation is not adopted on Beacon Hill, the mayor said will lift the cap on charter schools.

Menino did not know how much the schools would cost, or how many would be
created. But he said the Obama administration is making $5 billion available under a competitive grant program through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act that could fund the idea.

(Richard) Stutman (BTU President) also noted that the union continues to oppose charter schools. “We already have well-functioning schools in the city of Boston and we are not against talking about improving those schools,” he said. “But we oppose charter schools.”