OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA

OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA:

OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way

On Beacon Hill and across Massachusetts, charter schools have become a hot topic of conversation and debate.

It’s due in part to a new governor who is forceful in his support for lifting the cap on the number of charter schools in the state, a ballot petition that proposes lifting the cap, and a lawsuit filed against the state on behalf of several Boston students who want the cap lifted.

Proponents of charter schools argue that children in underperforming school districts deserve access to quality education – something they say charter schools provide. We wholeheartedly agree that every Massachusetts student deserves a quality education.

However, in a brief filed in response to the students’ civil suit, state Attorney General Maura Healey said it is “highly speculative” to assume the existence of a link between charter schools and high-quality education.

True enough.

Baker and his administration have said the state owes it to the 37,000 students on charter-school waiting lists to increase the number of charter schools in Massachusetts from the current 82.

About that 37,000 figure:

In December 2014, state Auditor Suzanne Bump released a report that said the waiting-list figures compiled by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees charter schools, were “not accurate.” The figures were then recalculated.

Bump’s report also said “the reliability and accuracy of charter school information in DESE’s data systems are questionable” and that the state does not have a consistent method for evaluating whether a charter school is eligible for renewal of its charter.

The report was a pretty damning account of the state’s ability to accurately measure charter schools’ efficacy and administration.

The funding mechanism for charter schools has also been criticized. When a student chooses to attend a charter school, the money that his or her hometown school district budgeted for the student is diverted to the charter school. Consider that Quincy’s excellent public schools spent $14,642 per pupil in the 2012-13 school year, according to the DESE’s most recent figures. If 20 Quincy students attended charter schools that year, $292,840 would have been diverted from the city’s school budget, though bulk costs like utilities, maintenance and pensions would have remained. A minority of students would have benefited at the expense of the majority.

In response to concerns about funding fairness, the state in 2010 approved a measure to reimburse schools districts 100 percent in the first year and 25 percent for five subsequent years for each diverted student. However, the state hasn’t fully funded that line item in the last few budget cycles.

Then there are the legitimate concerns about charter schools “creaming” – admitting better-prepared students and inadequately serving mentally, physically and socio-economically challenged students and those for whom English is a second language.OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA: