Guest MINDSETTER™ Goodrich: Fight Over Charter Schools - A Fight Over Accesibility to Good Education

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Andrew Goodrich, MINDSETTER™

Teachers’ unions are adopting a scorched earth approach to stopping a plan to create more charter schools. Charter schools work, and by standing in lockstep against them, unions prove they care more about politics than students.

Charters are in demand because traditional public schools are failing too many of our most vulnerable students. The fight over charter schools is, at its core, a fight over the accessibility of a good education.

Charter schools have a proven track record of success. Their students perform better on standardized testing, but more importantly they have a higher graduation and college admission rate. For example, the dropout rate in Boston charter schools is less than 1%. This success occurs despite their students coming predominantly from the low-income backgrounds that place a student at risk for dropping out of school.

Parents know that charter schools work, which is why more than 34,000 students are waiting for an open spot. In 2015, over 18,000 students entered Boston’s annual lottery for just 2000 spots in the city’s charter schools. The marketplace is speaking loud and clear – charters work so parents want more of them.

Charter opponents make two lazy arguments: that charters take money away from public schools and that because a few charters aren’t high performing, no more should be created. The first argument ignores how school funding is tied to student enrollment. When a student (who is lucky enough to win the lottery) choses a charter over a traditional public school, the charter gets the money that the public school would have gotten had the student enrolled there. On top of that, the state gives reimbursement payment to public schools who lose a lot of students to charters. If anything, public schools have more funds per student in areas where charters are most popular. The proposal to create more charters will also set aside more money for reimbursement.

The second argument, that a few ineffective charters discredit the entire project, is equally misleading. Of course not all charters succeed. Even the best public policy isn’t universally successful. Even the most coldhearted person wouldn’t argue that drug rehab should be abolished because some addicts replace. Nobody claims that police departments should be discredited because some crimes go unsolved. Charter schools should be judged against public schools, which they outperform, not against an impossible standard of perfection.

Teachers unions rely on these false arguments because their real reason for opposing charters is far less noble. Charter schools don’t force teachers to join a union and give administrators more power. The success of schools with weaker collective bargaining, and the enthusiasm of teachers to work at them, undercuts the entire logic of teachers’ unions. Eventually, union leaders know, people will ask why the principles that make charters work shouldn’t be applied more to traditional public schools.

That’s what the charter school argument is about. Whether or not every student deserves the best education they can get. Whether or not schools exist to educate students or to serve a powerful union.

If teachers unions were serious about providing every student with a quality education, they would abandon their scorched earth opposition to expanding charter schools. Instead, their opposition – literally blocking a better future for many students – shows that for unions, politics always comes before our children.

Related Slideshow: Central MA’s Top High Schools 2015

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#100 Nipmuc Regional High

Upton, MA

2014 Rank: #134

Enrolment: 627

Mascot: Warrior

Claim to Fame: Aerosmith played its first gig at Nipmuc Regional high on November 6, 1970.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 96.2% (+0.7%)

District spending per pupil: $11,900

Student-teacher ratio: 13:1

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#95 North Central Charter Essential

Fitchburg, MA

2014 Rank: #197

Enrolment: 217

Mascot: N/A

Claim to Fame: Students from over 30 cities and towns in central Massachusetts are eligible to enroll at North Central Charter Essential.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 78% (-8.3%)

District spending per pupil: $13,569

Student-teacher ratio: 9.4:1

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#90 Shrewbury Senior High

Shrewsbury, MA

2014 Rank: #117

Enrolment: 1,684

Mascot: Colonial

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Shawn Loiseau, who played linebacker in the NFL.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 94.9% (+0.2%)

District spending per pupil: $11,612

Student-teacher ratio: 14.8:1

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#87 Lunenburg High School

Lunenburg, MA

2014 Rank: #104

Enrollment: 427

Mascot: Blue Knights

Claim to Fame: Gordon Edes, a sportswriter for The Boston Globe, is a member of the class of 1972.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 98.2% (+1.4%)

District spending per pupil: $12,027

Student-teacher ratio: 12.4:1

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#73 Tahanto Regional High

Boylston, MA

2014 Rank: #80

Enrollment: 297

Mascot: Stags

Claim to Fame: Students, teachers, and faculty now enjoy a $32.2M building that opened in 2013.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 94.2% (+7.3%)

District spending per pupil: $11,644

Student-teacher ratio: 12:1

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#63 Tantasqua Regional High School

Fiskdale, MA

2014 Rank: #63

Enrollment: 770

Mascot: Warrior

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Joel Crouse (Country Singer) and James Lynch (Guitarist for the Dropkick Murphys).

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 91.7% (-3.2%)

District spending per pupil: $12,403

Student-teacher ratio: 9.6:1

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#51 Algonquin Regional High

Northborough, MA

2014 Rank: #33

Enrollment: 1,452

Mascot: The Tomahawk (T-Hawk)

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Mark "The Bird" Fidrych (former MLB pitcher), Ryan Gallant (professional skateboarder), Nathaniel Raymond (human rights investigator and anti-torture advocate), and Mike Sherman (former head coach of the Green Bay Packers), and current offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins).

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 97.1% (-0.4%)

District spending per pupil: $12,929

Student-teacher ratio: 13.7:1

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#45 Nashoba Regional

Bolton, MA

2014 Rank: #76

Enrollment: 1,075

Mascot: Chieftain

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Hal Gill (National Hockey League player with the Nashville Predators), Koren Zailckas (Author of bestselling book Smashed), and Clive Weeden (Professional basketball player).

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 95.3% (+0.2%)

District spending per pupil: $13,107

Student-teacher ratio: 14.2:1

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#40 Hopkinton High

Hopkinton, MA

2014 Rank: # 53

Enrollment: 1,122

Mascot: Hillers

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Keegan Bradley (Professional Golfer).

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 99% (-0.2%)

District spending per pupil: $13,005

Student-teacher ratio: 13.9:1

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#26 Westborough High

Westborough, MA

2014 Rank: #26

Enrollment: 1,045

Mascot: The Ranger

Claim to Fame: Westborough High offers a wide variety of curricular and extracurricular musical ensembles.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 97.1% (+0.5%)

District spending per pupil: $14,306

Student-teacher ratio: 12.7:1

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#14 Bromfield School

Harvard, MA

2014 Rank: #13

Enrollment: 414

Mascot: Trojan

Claim to Fame: Famous alumni include Keir O'Donnell (Starred in the popular comedy movie the Wedding Crashers) and Lynn Jennings (In 1992 she became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in long-distance track).

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 97.1% (-1.2%)

District spending per pupil: $14,691

Student-teacher ratio: 12.9:1

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#8 MA Academy for Math and Science

Worcester, MA

2014 Rank: #285

Enrollment: 97

Mascot: Gompei the Goat

Claim to Fame: Seniors at MA Academy for Math and Science take a full-time course load at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate:100% (0%)

District spending per pupil: $13,466

Student-teacher ratio: 13.1:1

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#5 Advanced Math and Science Academy

Charter School

Marlborough, MA

2014 Rank: #6

Enrollment: 569

Mascot: War Eagle

Claim to Fame: Advanced Math and Science Academy offers more than ten computer science classes to students: ranging from Game Design to Intro to Java/Networking.

2015 performance at a glance

Graduation rate: 99% (+0.4%)

District spending per pupil: $14,723

Student-teacher ratio: 12.3:1