The Massachusetts charter scene reminds us of Dorothy's observation in the Wizard of Oz: people come and go so quickly around here! This week, Governor Mitt Romney vetoed a one-year moratorium on new charter schools passed by the state General Assembly. The bill was spurred by claims that charters were diverting funding from regular district schools. (A recent Fordham publication puts this specious claim to rest as it pertains to charters in Dayton; we suspect that the same is true in Massachusetts.) The legislature is expected to overturn the veto, which passed with a veto-proof majority. Meanwhile, a superior court judge threw out a lawsuit filed by the city of North Adams that challenged the legality of a state board of education vote approving an arts and science charter school. The suit claimed that the board chair, James Peyser, exerted undue influence on the approval process, a claim the judge called "conjecture, speculation, and surmise." (Peyser is associated with the New Schools Venture Fund, which provides start-up costs and expertise to charters.) In Washington, Education Secretary Rod Paige chimed in with a warning that a recent $7.1 million federal grant to the Bay State to encourage charter school growth may be revoked if Romney's veto is overturned. And on the pages of the Boston Globe, columnist Sam Allis, who has been a vicious opponent of charter schools since the get-go, writes a lovely column extolling the tremendous success of the Roxbury Prep Charter School, which even he admits "obliterate[s] the achievement gap." But Allis is still in favor of the moratorium - we guess because it just wouldn't do to have too many gap-obliterating schools.
"Feds give charter school money to Bay State," Associated Press, June 30, 2004
"Ruling could thwart charter moratorium," by Kevin Rothstein, Boston Herald, June 28, 2004
"Closing the gap," by Sam Allis, Boston Globe, June 27, 2004
"Romney vetoes new freeze on charter schools," by Suzanne Sataline, Boston Globe, June 26, 2004