HGSE on MA Charter School Cap

Professor Tom Kane posts here on Mayor Menino's charter school proposal, and Katherine Merseth (HGSE) and Marc Kenan (Mass Charter School Association), respond. As a poster at Universal Hub commented, it looks like there is some support from the HGSE folks for Sam Yoon's proposal, while MCSA is worried about limiting charter school entepreneurs.

Patrick on "Smart Caps"

Looks like Governor Patrick is going to be filing legislation on a "smart cap lifting" for charter school, or so says Secretary Reville in last month's DOE "Board in Brief." Also in there, mention of his Readiness Schools, although the names, Advantage, Alliance and Acceleration, do say much about what they're going to be...I'll do some digging to see if I can find out.

Rotherham and Whitmire on Duncan Charter Proposal

Eduwonk Andrew Rotherham and Richard Whitmire have a piece in US News that praises Arne Duncan's call to expand good charter schools and close the lousy ones. MATCH and Roxbury Prep are held up as examples of schools at the top of the charter school ranks and the Massachusetts logjam is also mentioned in passing.

Massachusetts Gets a C

The pro-charter schools Center for Education Reform has ranked all the state charter laws. Massachusetts gets a C.

Maybe that will change with all the proposals floating around...

Lehigh on Charters, Menino, BTU

Scot Lehigh comments on the "paradigm shift" in his Globe column today. He makes a couple of noteworthy points.

He mentions that the Patrick administration is retooling their charter school proposal. The new plan, while not solidified, would only lift the cap for underperforming districts. However, it would no longer require front end demographic jiggering that runs counter to the open lottery enrollment structure that is currently in place.

He also focuses on the Boston Teachers Union's role in Mayor Menino's shift on charter schools. He writes:

"TALK ABOUT barriers lifting and paradigms shifting.

Suddenly, support for charter schools, once the lonely province of public-policy entrepreneurs and intrepid, union-defying pols, has become positively mainstream.

For that, you can credit a pro-charter Democratic president, recent Boston Foundation-sponsored research demonstrating their educational efficacy, persistent pressure from both Boston dailies, a developing mayoral race in the Hub - and, oh yes, the myopic resistance to change displayed by the leadership of the Boston Teachers Union."

Later, he goes on to say:

"Further, the macro message is clear: After years of trying to nudge the existing system along, only to be thwarted by the BTU, the mayor has concluded he can't get the changes he needs by working solely within that system.

Menino acknowledges as much, noting the BTU has filed grievances over pilot schools - designed to be the city's in-district alternative to charter schools - and over a plan for performance pay for advanced-placement teachers.

"I have been out there working with them, and now we are in arbitration on two simple matters," says Menino. "When is it going to be about the kids?"

Finally, Lehigh points out that none of this will matter if the state legislature doesn't jump on the lift the cap bandwagon. Hopefully the momentum that's built up over the past week will start to have an impact.

Bulletin Weighs In

The local free newspaper chain, the Bulletin, has weighed in on the mayor's new education proposal. The editorial can be found here. There's also an article on the charter school proposals of mayoral candidates Flaherty and Yoon here.

A Witness to Tragedy

In a piece of sad news, MATCH students (and students from other Massachusetts schools) witnessed the murder at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. yesterday, the Herald reports.