Raising the Bar on Education
June 23, 2004
ROMNEY TO VETO CHARTER SCHOOL MORATORIUM
Pledges to Increase Funding for Reimbursement to School Districts
Governor Mitt Romney today announced he will veto the charter school moratorium from the Fiscal Year 2005 budget, saying the hundreds of students already committed to attending these schools do not deserve to have their lives put on hold indefinitely.
Romney also committed to ensuring proper transitional funding for public school districts that send students to charter schools, noting he will approve the $37.7 million in the budget for that purpose – representing nearly a three-fold increase over the prior fiscal year.
“Charter schools are public schools. All of our public schools deserve our support and encouragement,” said Romney, joined by dozens of parents on the front lawn of the State House in front of the statue of Horace Mann, the father of American public education.
He added, “Charter schools make other public schools stronger because they have to respond to competition. Charter schools provide meaningful educational choices and are held strictly accountable for their successes and failures.”
Romney’s veto, which he will make official on Friday when he acts on the entire budget, will remove the obstacle threatening to keep five charter schools from opening as scheduled. If Romney’s veto stands, three of the schools – Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter School in North Adams, Kipp Academy Lynn Charter School and Salem Academy Charter School – will open this fall. Two other schools – Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlborough and Community Charter School of Cambridge – are scheduled to open in the fall of 2005.
“Parental involvement is critical to the success of a child’s education,” said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. “That is why Governor Romney and I support the choice that parents have made to give their children a charter school education. Charter schools are an excellent alternative for parents who are seeking more options for their child’s education.”
Some of the charter schools named in the moratorium have already invested millions of dollars to prepare for their openings, including signing multi-year leases and hiring teachers and staff to begin instructing eager children.
“It’s not about the contracts and leases we have,” said Dennis Wright, Executive Director of Salem Academy Charter School. “It’s about 88 families who feel like they are having an educational opportunity taken away from their children. Why punish families for making a choice that the rules in place at the time said they had to make?”
Kathleen Fitzgerald, a single mother with four daughters, wanted all her children to have a public education in Salem.
“My daughter, Fallon, had a full scholarship at a private school, but we sacrificed that to choose Salem Academy Charter School,” said Fitzgerald. “Now, I feel like I’m walking a plank with my daughter having lost her space, lost her scholarship and now losing this opportunity that we dreamed about for the last year. The option the district presented me with was not what I felt was best for my four children.”
Romney said he recognized the legitimate concerns that local officials and legislators have about the current charter school funding formula and the process by which charter schools are approved. He noted that he is committed to working with the Legislature to resolve those issues.
“My Administration is working to address concerns over the funding formula for charter schools and the charter school approval process,” said Romney. “But, we can work out those issues without prohibiting already approved schools from opening their doors to new students.”
Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of any school committee under a five-year charter granted by the Board of Education. Parent and student demand for charter school enrollment in Massachusetts is extremely high. More than 13,000 students were put on a waiting list for a charter school this academic year and the waiting list for this coming school year has grown to over 14,000.
Massachusetts charter schools were created as part of the 1993 Education Reform Act with the mission to increase student achievement, give parents more educational choices, develop best practices and be held accountable for results. A charter school must demonstrate positive results within five years or lose its charter.
- "Thanks to the support of the Bush Administration, we will ensure that charter schools can continue to educate and nurture the children of the Commonwealth in safe and stimulating environments. Since 1995, charter schools have provided nimble and innovative methods of teaching our kids and pushed all of our public schools to perform at a higher level.”
- “Let there be no doubt, I will veto any charter school moratorium that reaches my desk... Charter schools provide more alternatives in public education and encourage innovation and excellence. hold teachers and administration accountable for the educational success of their students and give parents the chance to make choices regarding their children’s education.”
- “Charter schools are public schools. All of our public schools deserve our support and encouragement... Charter schools make other public schools stronger because they have to respond to competition. Charter schools provide meaningful educational choices and are held strictly accountable for their successes and failures... My Administration is working to address concerns over the funding formula for charter schools and the charter school approval process,” said Romney. “But, we can work out those issues without prohibiting already approved schools from opening their doors to new students.”
- “Charter schools are important centers for innovation, achievement and accountability in education. It is especially important for parents with children in low-performing districts to have an alternative, and I will continue to fight any measure that would restrict this choice or the addition of new charters.”
School Choice and Charter Schools
School Choice and Charter Schools Press Releases
- Closing the achievement gap in our schools is the civil rights issue of our time.
- There is a proper role for the federal government to play in Education.
- The federal government should not determine what schools teach or how they are ran.
- When parents and kids are free to choose their school everyone benefits.
- We should have a federal home schooling tax credit.
- Good teachers should be rewarded for their hard work.
- Competition in Educational opportunities makes traditional public schools better.
- Students in failing schools should be able to exercise school choice.
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