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Rolling through Springfield on Thursday, Governor Charlie Baker was asked to respond to concerns in some communities that charter schools, for all their well-intentioned goals, are siphoning support and attention from the traditional public school system.
Baker is a champion for the charter school cause, and his answer struck to the heart of the entire debate about alternative education. It can be summed up like this: if there are disparities between different forms of schooling, the solution is not to water down or diminish the high achievers, just to even things up.
He didn’t say it quite that way. In fact, Baker made it a point to emphasize the superb teaching available in the traditional public schools.
“If Massachusetts were a country, we would be top-5 in the world in science. We have a lot of great teachers all over the system,” he said.
What he also said was that traditional public education could take a page from what charter schools are doing well.
“I am willing to look at things a little differently on (the formula for) charter school funding,’ he said, while also promising to continue promoting local aid and seeking ways to support public schools in creative ways.
“What I am not willing to do is to say a program tested over time as a model for educating kids shouldn’t be part of our conventional system,” Baker said.
About 40,000 Massachusetts students are on charter school waiting lists. Within many cities and towns, charter schools are eyed as one would look at the new, attractive and popular kid in school. There is some curiosity involved, but there is also envy, especially by those who aren’t getting the attention they once did.
In March, Massachusetts Teachers Association president Barbara Madeloni warned of a “two-tiered” educational system. Charter schools and traditional public schools seem less in concert with each other than in conflict, at least in the eyes of many on the side of traditional systems.
If charter schools are succeeding, to the point where many advocates want more, Baker says public systems should look at why.
“Charter schools think differently about organizing the classroom and using teachers’ aides. They do a lot to keep track of what’s going on with kids in a structured, standard way,” he said.
Charter schools were not conceived as a final solution but an experiment in education. Delivering encouraging results would suggest that conventional public schools could incorporate positive aspects of that experiment as their own.
So why aren’t they? In some cases, they are; more systems are adopting or at least considering a longer school day, which has been used in charters.
Charter school faculties have meetings with kids and parents, and amongst each other. Baker describes these sessions as no-nonsense sit-downs that cater not to extenuating circumstances and excuses, but results.
“I’ve sat in on some of these meetings. They make you uncomfortable (with their bluntness)” he said. “But they are very comfortable doing them.”
Public schools need financial support, but it is fair to say that some self-examination must also be part of the process of seeking best results. Baker cited the state takeover of public schools in Lawrence, whose experience is being used as a blueprint for the receivership underway in Holyoke.
According to Baker, 50 percent of Lawrence school principals were removed – a far greater shakeup than among teachers. The superintendent and receiver in Lawrence, Jeff Riley, cut 30 percent of his own office budget and put the money into supporting the extended school day.
The Holyoke receivership debate revolved around three issues: giving a relatively new superintendent (Sergio Paez) more time, retaining local control – and saving jobs.
Baker did not say this, but I will: very little on the local level was said about what Hoyoke was doing wrong, or at least, what it could do better.
Implementing aspects of charter school strategy (or any so-called out-of-the-box concepts) into conventional public schools would need to go through collective bargaining. Some unions are more open to change than others, but it does add another layer – and a potentially contentious one – to the process.
Any reasonable person understands the challenges faced in traditional public education, particularly but not exclusively in urban settings. Baker does, too, though he does not accept that “engaged parents” have migrated out of public schools and exist only in alternative settings.
Rather than protesting charters, Baker says public educators can learn from them.
“I can’t force anybody in public schools to adopt the approaches being taken in charter schools,” he said. “But they are there to be adopted.”
