09-18-2003

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Raising the Bar on Education

September 18, 2003

ROMNEY ANNOUNCES $6 MILLION CHARTER SCHOOL GRANT

 

 

Massachusetts charter schools will receive a $6 million grant to build and improve their facilities from the U.S. Department of Education, Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. DOE Regional Administrator Michael Sentance announced today.

 

Romney said the grant is important because Massachusetts’ 46 charter schools do not qualify for state funds to build, purchase or maintain their buildings. As a result, many schools have difficulty obtaining a lease or funds to transform vacant buildings into classrooms for students.

 

“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,” said Romney.

 

He added, “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.”

 

“This grant is an important part of the school reform effort in Massachusetts and this country,” said Michael Sentance, New England Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Education. “The MassDevelopment program will assist charter schools to improve their classrooms and improve the learning for thousands of students in the Commonwealth. Massachusetts charter schools have proven to be an important ally in school reform in this state and kept their promise to improve student achievement and leaving no child behind.”

 

The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) won the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. With this grant, MassDevelopment will create the Massachusetts Charter School Guarantee Fund to guarantee debt for the acquisition, construction, renovation and leasehold improvement of charter school facilities. The fund will assist schools that range from start-ups to established schools. The agency will use the grant to leverage $60 million in private financing to assist as many charter schools as possible.

 

“This guarantee fund will significantly enhance the ability of charter schools across the Commonwealth to obtain the facilities needed to provide our children with a unique and alternative education,” said Michael Hogan, President & CEO, MassDevelopment.

 

“Throughout the Commonwealth, charter schools are using creative teaching techniques and providing students the education needed to go on and graduate from college,” said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. “This grant will allow more charter schools to obtain the financial backing they need to help more students realize their dreams.”

 

Charter schools are public schools that are given the freedom to organize their activities around a core mission, curriculum, or teaching method and set their own budgets and staffs. Massachusetts charter schools were created with the philosophy to increase student achievement, to 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.

 

Currently the Bay State has 39 Commonwealth charter schools and seven Horace Mann charter schools.

 

 

Governor Mitt Romney and School Choice

 

2003

 

  • "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.”

 

2004

 

  • “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.”

 

2006

 

  • “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

 

2003

 

2004

 

2005

 

2006

 

  1. Closing the achievement gap in our schools is the civil rights issue of our time.
  2. There is a proper role for the federal government to play in Education.
  3. The federal government should not determine what schools teach or how they are ran.
  4. When parents and kids are free to choose their school everyone benefits.
  5. We should have a federal home schooling tax credit.
  6. Good teachers should be rewarded for their hard work.
  7. Competition in Educational opportunities makes traditional public schools better.
  8. Students in failing schools should be able to exercise school choice.

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