Blame Education Reformers for Their Defeat
Ignoring middle-class families could cost Massachusetts charter advocates this election.
While the rest of the nation is riveted by the final days of the presidential campaign, the education world is paying equally close attention to Massachusetts, where voters will decide next week whether or not to allow more charter schools in their state. Polls are deadlocked on Question 2, a ballot question which has attracted millions of dollars of advertising from supporters and opponents alike, making it the most expensive ballot-question battle in the nation, according to the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity.
Writing at the pro-reform website The 74, Richard Whitmire framed the issue as one of fairness and equity: "Will voters in Newton (median house listing price: $1.2 million) vote to help out voters in Roxbury (median list price: $479,000) looking for better school options?" he asked.
If the answer turns out to be no, don't point angry fingers at selfish Massachusetts voters: Blame falls equally upon a movement that has long been a bit too enamored of its own civil-rights-movement-of-our-time rhetoric to worry much about building a constituency among the middle class.Blame Reformers If Massachusetts Charter School Ballot Question Fails | Knowledge Bank | US News:
