Column: School choice, charter schools need to go
The Massachusetts Teachers Association represents thousands of professional educators working in more than 1,800 schools. When energized, the MTA membership is a potent political force.
Its most important job is providing seasoned contract negotiators to its membership. At contract time, these hardball professionals square off against teams of well-meaning but usually outgunned local officials, lawyers and school administrators. Negotiating a labor contract in almost every school system in Massachusetts consequently disintegrates into an exercise in frustration, anger and outright hostility.
Because of the sour money angle of the MTA’s relationship with the 392 school districts in Massachusetts, voters have unfortunately been reluctant to listen to them when it comes to other important issues, such as school choice, charter schools and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System standardized testing.
This is too bad, because the MTA is right on all three counts. Long before these programs were put into effect, it warned us they were poorly thought-out, heavily politically influenced and ultimately destined to do more harm than good. A quick visit to the MTA website (massteacher.org) will reinforce the depth of its opposition to all three policies.
School choice allows students, along with the money the state assigns to their education, to flee
hometown schools rather than force anxious parents to make those schools better. Its main effect has been to make
