In 2016, Massachusetts voters decisively rejected a referendum to expand the charter sector. State officials don’t care. They are ignoring local resistance and going full speed ahead, as Citizens for Public Schools reports.
The push for charter school expansion in Massachusetts continues, despite the clear message sent by voters in 2016, when 62% said no to Question 2 and charter school expansion.
It’s time to speak out, this time against charter expansion proposals in New Bedford and Haverhill. Contact the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) by December 3 (the deadline for public comment) at charterschools@doe.mass.edu.
New Bedford’s Alma del Mar charter school is asking to expand by 1,188 seats, and Global Learning seeks 100 additional seats. This would cost New Bedford Public schools roughly $15 million a year, beyond the $14 million the district already loses to charter schools.
CPS Board Member and New Bedford School Committee member Joshua Amaral described the stakes for his community in a Commonwealth Magazine article titled “Ignore the charter school think tank crowd.” Amaral writes, “To put it simply, the district cannot afford a single additional charter seat, let alone a doubling of its charter enrollment.”
In Haverhill, the national Wildflower chain has applied to open a 240-seat Montessori charter school. The district already loses more than $3 million a year to a Montessori charter school and, like New Bedford, cannot afford to lose more.
New Bedford and Haverhill students, teachers and families need investments in democratically accountable schools that serve all children, not millions of dollars diverted to charter expansion
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s the link to the full article:
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/new-bedford-charter-expansion-mind-boggling/
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Corruption is rampant in the Massachusetts state house.
Same as it ever was.
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Corruption is the result of over forty years’ dismantling of democratic institutions and concentration of power. The Billionaire Boys and Girls Club now has amassed enough power to keep up a full frontal assault on public education, and everything else public, for decades to come. It’s not just in Massachusetts, either. It’s GERM, the Global Education Reformyism Movement. It’s global. Sustained, forceful action is required to keep public education — and democracy alive. I think the following is a must read opinion article:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/25/gilets-jaunes-struggle-to-hold-power-to-account-an-ever-harder-task-in-the-west
They elected a centrist in France. They’re paying for it in regressive taxes. Go Gilets-Jaunes!
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The Massachusetts public wants to protect their public schools.
The governor, Charlie Baker, is a Republican who loves charter schools.
The state board of elementary and secondary education is controlled by privatizers.
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I fail to understand how Massachusetts could elect a Republican governor. Are there no liberal lions left in blue Boston?
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William Weld, Boston Brahmin, gave us our first education “reform” back in 1993, which introduced charters.
You might remember Mitt Romney, as his health care law was the forerunner to Obamacare.
And now Charlie Baker, who never met a charter school he didn’t love (they’re businesses, after all!) has loaded up Massachusetts department of education with privatizers and Pioneers (see their propaganda on sending cash to Catholic schools: https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/new-documentary-highlights-impact-bigoted-blaine-amendments/).
Republicans in Massachusetts’ corner office is a thing I just do not understand.
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GREAT LINE: “Charlie Baker, who never met a charter school he didn’t love (they’re businesses, after all!)…”
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When I lived in MA, I had two housemates who both grew up in staunch Democratic families.
They nonetheless loved George W. Bush (and his wars) and voted for Mitt Romney for governor.
After a while, I gave up trying to reason with them.
They also thought that microwave ovens actually nuked food and made it radioactive, so all bets are off when it comes to trying to make logical sense of their views.
Some of the dumbest smart people I have ever known.
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Solid proof that the pirates, crooks, liars and frauds behind the public school take over, do not care about voters and despise democracy.
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OMG will the madness ever end? The charter madness is popping up like the movie Halloween where jason just never dies no matter how is he killed. The persistence of these people really is perplexing as charter schools are proving over and over that they are no better than our public schools and in many cases they are worse! Take a look at Detroit.
However, on a daily basis I have to get up and read Diane’s blog with another case of pushing charter schools down our throats even when people are screaming no! Our country does not honor respect for anything anymore is this charter school privatize movement is so disturbing in the sense that these people just do not care or respect any one or anything. This is sad news for America because this is how many other countries operate in the third world environment. Scary time for the US and the people who live here.
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Are Massachusetts citizens forced to fend off METCO to keep local democratic control?
The Pioneer Institute which blathers about free markets, avoiding the truth, that the U.S. is an oligarchy promotes MEDCO. Harvard Law School, one of the 7 most conservative faculties in the nation, also promotes MEDCO.
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