Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) was initiated by JALSA leaders (operating as the New England Region of AJCongress) as a coalition to support public education in 1982. In 2009, CPS became an independent non-profit group. They have been monitoring the approval process for charter schools in Massachusetts.
“Untold Story”, Boston Globe, January 5, 2010 (Letter to the Editor)
“CHARTER SCHOOL approval faulted.” (Metro, Jan. 3) seemed to give a reasonable summary of the report of the inspector general’s office. Many citizens of the Commonwealth had some of our faith in the political system restored. The report stated that the approval of the Gloucester charter school was improperly made and should be reconsidered, as Governor Patrick has requested more than once. Yet, as a student of the controversy, I was astounded to find seven key words missing from your story.
The final seven words were missing in the following quote from an e-mail that Education Secretary Paul Reville sent to Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education: “Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we’ll get permanently labeled as hostile and that will cripple us with a number of key, moderate allies,” Reville wrote last year.
The words that followed “key, moderate allies,” in the original e-mail were “like the Globe and the Boston Foundation.” It is vital that citizens have full information to understand the players on both sides of this issue.
Ann B. O’Halloran, Waltham
The writer, a retired public school teacher, was 2007 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year.
Original Boston Globe story
Charter school approval faulted
Gloucester vote in error, inspector general rules
By James Vaznis
Globe Staff / January 3, 2010
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has not nullified approval of any charter school since the independently run public schools were created under the 1993 Education Reform Act.
The Gloucester Community Arts Charter School is scheduled to open in the fall.
It was not clear yesterday whether the board and its agency’s commissioner will comply with Sullivan’s findings because they have not seen a copy of the letter yet, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“We don’t have any comment,’’ said spokeswoman Heidi Guarino. “We need to review it with our legal counsel.’’
However, Colin Zick, an attorney who represents Gloucester Community Arts, said he disputed the inspector general’s interpretation of the rules and regulations and believes the commissioner does have the authority to overrule his own in-house specialists. “This does not automatically revoke the charter,’’ said Zick, who had not yet seen the letter.
The inspector general’s office plans to release a report on its findings to the two legislators who requested it, Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante.
In his letter, Sullivan said that Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, recommended approval of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School last February in violation of the agency’s own rules and regulations, which he says forbids a commissioner from giving a favorable recommendation against the advice of its own experts.
The department’s charter school office determined a few weeks before the board’s vote that the school’s application did not meet the approval criteria.
Chester’s favorable recommendation has been a lightening rod since a politically charged e-mail surfaced in September about the approval of the Gloucester charter school, and comes at a time when the Legislature is considering a sweeping education bill that is the cornerstone of Governor Deval Patrick’s education agenda.
In the e-mail, dated Feb. 5 – one day after the charter school office rejected all three charter school applications for last year – Education Secretary Paul Reville told Chester that the rejections could cause problems for the governor in getting his education agenda approved by the Legislature by alienating charter school supporters.
“Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we’ll get permanently labeled as hostile and that will cripple us with a number of key, moderate allies,’’ Reville wrote.
“It’s a tough but necessary pill to swallow,’’ he wrote.
Chester has repeatedly said that politics played no role in his recommendation, while Reville has said his e-mail has been taken out of context from an ongoing conversation with the commissioner and that he did not lobby any board members to vote favorably on the application.
Yesterday’s letter did not mention the e-mail controversy.
Sullivan, who was not available for comment yesterday, said in his letter that he did not believe that Chester intentionally violated the rules and regulations. Instead, he believes Chester was unaware of the pertinent provisions in the rules.
“It is clear from the record and from interviews that he acted under the mistaken belief that the [charter school office] review process was an advisory one and that the commissioner was unilaterally responsible for making the decision about charter recommendations,’’ Sullivan wrote.
Yesterday’s determination pleased Patrick, who has repeatedly asked the state board to undo its approval of the Gloucester charter school to restore public confidence in the process.
“While the governor has confidence in the commissioner and the board, he has been consistent and clear that review of the Gloucester charter required more transparency and has twice asked the board to restart its process and reconsider its decision,’’ said Kimberly Haberlin, a governor’s spokeswoman. “His view has not changed. Since this charter was granted, the board has tightened its regulations regarding charter school applications.’’
The Gloucester charter school has been intensely controversial in Gloucester since the proposal was initially unveiled roughly a year and a half ago, primarily because it would cause the city to lose a big chunk of state education aid to the charter school.
Under state law, students who leave a school district for a charter school take with them thousands of dollars in state aid. In the case of Gloucester, that amount could reach $2.4 million annually when the school is in full operation.
Greg Verga, a city councilor who was School Committee chairman last year, called the inspector general’s determination a “vindication’’ of long-held beliefs that the state board did not follow its own procedures in approving the charter school.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
