Governor Baker's "Truth About Charters" press bit

While we await the Governor, you might want to peruse this Boston.com article from this morning. And I don't say that because I'm quoted. Twitter hashtag for this is #TruthAboutCharters

"and committing to a great public school for every child in the Commonwealth"
Phoenix Charter reference (representative from MA Charter School Association and Great Schools MA)
launch "Fact Check"
conversation about lifting cap on charter schools
37,000 on waitlists; 13,000 in Boston
Governor, Speaker, Mayor of Boston
voters "overwhelmingly support cap"
"a basic misunderstanding of what charter schools are, who they serve, and their purpose"
"have the facts, not opinions, not half truths, not things that are completely untrue"
"they have looked at us, they have looked at what charter schools are and they have come out in favor"
"best charter schools in the country...among the highest performers in our state"
"every charter public school has sped program"
4 cents of every dollar taxpayers spend on education for charter schools

Boston Collegiate Charter
kids are counting on people in this very statehouse to make decision based on facts
"becoming more and more clear that the information that is swirling about charter schools....based on fiction, not fact"
"charters aren't perfect; no school is perfect"
"issues of equity and equality...are foremost in our minds...and we're striving to improve that every day"
"these truths that need to see the light of day: who we serve and how to serve them"
"actively pick the best students...pick name out of a box"
"know and believe that we should be an option for every child"
"when it comes to the highest need children...increasingly close to BPS"
ELL enrollment has increased 4 fold
1 in 5 students in a charter school was not a native English speaker
"we need to do our work in preparing our work for college and career"
citation of the MIT study, which limited itself to a super-limited group of schools
serving ELL and sped students rather well
"hurtful and offensive to educators" to suggest that they push out highest need kids
"average attrition rate...is lower than district average...and so is dropout rate"
high suspension rate of Boston charters: more work to do but these rates have come down dramatically
"no evidence to show that higher suspension rates lead to higher rates of dropout" (what?)

Race to the Top Coalition: speaker from Boston Foundation
"private schools run by corporate outside interests...absolutely false"
"constantly been faced with misrepresentation and outright falsehood"
"artificial and unfair cap"
"find a way to increase this arbitrary cap"
"honest discussion that's based on facts, on data"
Boston Foundation has published numerous reports

parent of students at KIPP Boston (who I barely can hear)
"far too many students---37,000 to be exact--who" haven't heard their names
disproportionately affects students of color
"yet there is hope"
"closing the achievement gap"
"my experience as a parent...so important to lift the cap on charter schools now"

Baker: Massachusetts should be enormously proud of the progress this Commonwealth has made in education over the past twenty years
not an accident that MA finishes first in NAEP
no accident that EdWeek ranks Massachusetts as "it's number one performer"
teachers, teachers aides, and "yes the kids, bring it every single day"
"the biggest problem we face as a Commonwealth in education" is the achievement gap
"research has proven time and time again that charter schools, for whatever reason, do a tremendous job for children who have been left
"I don't really care if the number is 37,000, 32,000, 35,000...THOUSANDS of kids"
"especially when we have so much evidence"
"lost opportunity for kids who in this great state of ours deserve better"
"this conversation ought to be based on facts and data and kids"
"Now, I applaud everyone who gets up every day to try to find a way to create educational success for children in the Commonwealth"
to deny kids and their families a chance to be part of a great school
"that every family has the same choice that my wife and I had and the vast majority of families have for education in the Commonwealth"