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Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
The othering of a Lynn charter school
Advertisement You might think, then, that the state would be eager to let the academy expand. But think again. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up In a The fractious debate leading up to the board's rejection provides a bracing study in the intransigence and sometimes pretzel logic of the state's education establishment toward public charter schools, even very good ones. In last month's board meeting, the Lynn teachers union asserted that the academy did not meet state standards for adding charter seats — even though the department and the state school commissioner had Other opponents testified that because KIPP Academy has a lower percentage of English language learners than the heavily immigrant Lynn Public Schools, it was effectively leaving the district with the more difficult and expensive task of educating recent immigrants. While this may be partly true, the suggestion that the academy is siphoning off only more proficient or privileged students is a stretch. Admission is by lottery. Nearly a third of the school's new students this year are English language learners, according to the academy. And its overall student body mirrors Lynn's population, as nearly 90 percent of its students are Advertisement 'It's really incredible to see the results that this school is having on low-income students,' the acting state school commissioner, Russell Johnston, So what was the real reason for the fierce opposition? Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson laid it on the table: money. If the KIPP Academy expansion went forward, he testified, Lynn Public Schools would lose $8 million in state aid over some unspecified number of years. That is because state funding But there is much debate over just how much public districts actually 'lose' in these situations. They no longer have to educate that student, which means their costs theoretically would go down too. Plus, the state pays 'transitional aid' to districts over three years to help them adjust when students move to charters. In the first year, that reimbursement is 100 percent of the aid that has been redirected to the charter; it declines to 60 percent in the second year and ends with 40 percent in the third. Nicholson argued that despite that reimbursement, the district would be hurt over time because it has fixed costs for personnel and capital projects. Charter school advocates counter that three years should be enough time for districts to adjust. They also note that if a public school student were to go to a parochial school or move to another town, the district would get nothing. Advertisement Moreover, Lynn is actually gaining students because of immigration. So even if the KIPP Academy expanded, the district would almost certainly have still received more state aid in the coming years. To be sure, public schools, from working-class Lynn to affluent Brookline, are facing severe financial stresses. Despite the infusion of education aid provided by the Pandemic disruptions also hurt school districts in lasting ways. In Lynn, performance on standardized tests fell during the pandemic, as it did everywhere. Though state law sets strict caps on charter seats, it allows charters to expand when the local district falls into the lowest 10 percent in academic performance. This happened in Lynn, opening the door to the KIPP Academy's application to grow. Nicholson said in an interview that by next year the district could be doing well enough to prevent KIPP from applying again for new seats. That seemed to be a winning argument with Tutwiler, who told the education board last month after his no vote: 'I cannot ignore the context in which we are making this decision. And it is a pandemic recovery context.' But what Tutwiler did not mention was the possibility that even if Lynn's performance improves, KIPP Academy's waiting list might remain long — as it has for several years now. Indeed, according to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, charter enrollment in the Commonwealth hit an all-time high this year at more than 46,000 students — even though enrollment is capped in many towns. At the same time, enrollment in public schools has Advertisement At last month's meeting, Tutwiler also voted against an uncontroversial expansion proposal from a Horace Mann Charter School in Boston, which passed despite his opposition, and another proposal from a high-performing math and science charter in Marlborough, even though it was for a mere 34-seat expansion. That one failed. His votes surprised some board members and raised concerns among charter advocates. Tutwiler has asserted that neither he nor the governor are dogmatically anti-charter. But if that is the case, the governor would do well to make her views clearer to the public. Beyond that gesture, the state and its more than 300 school districts should be having a more frank dialogue about containing costs and finding strategies to improve academic performance beyond spending more money. Many districts are facing the same problems; might there be statewide approaches to reducing the cost of busing students or educating new immigrants and students with learning disabilities? They should also be asking hard questions about why more families are searching for nontraditional alternatives — private, parochial, charter, and home schooling — to traditional public schools. So far, that discussion has too often 'othered' charter schools and their families, as Rhonda Barnes, executive director of the KIPP schools in Lynn and Boston, has described it. Indeed, Barnes felt she had to remind the board in February that her school is a public school and that her students are public school students too. Advertisement The state's acting school commissioner seemed to hear her plea, even if others on the board did not. The thousands of families on charter school waiting lists are asking for 'more public school options for their children,' Johnston told the board. 'We need to listen to our families.' Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Boston Globe
25-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Mass. education board rejects KIPP charter school's expansion in Lynn
The state funds charter schools by redirecting state aid from local districts for each student who attends a charter. 'These cuts would hurt at any time,' Nicholson told the board before the vote. 'Imposing them now with draconian federal funding cuts not just looming, but having been actively attempted, would be short sighted and careless, particularly given that the federal government is Six state board members voted against the expansion, while four others approved it. Dissenting votes came from state Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, a former Lynn superintendent; board Chair Katherine Craven; Ericka Fisher; Dálida Rocha; Mary Ann Stewart; and Ioannis Asikis. Advertisement 'Obviously, I know the Lynn Public Schools extremely well, but I also know KIPP Lynn really well and I have extraordinary respect for what they do,' said Tutwiler, who also voted against several other charter school proposals Tuesday. But he added, 'I cannot ignore the context in which we are making this decision, and it is a pandemic recovery context.' Related : The rejection came during the board's monthly meeting in Everett, which included votes on four other charter school expansions. Three of them passed: Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, an in-district charter school in Boston received the greenlight for 352 additional seats; Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, 100 seats; and South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell, 225 seats. But Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlborough came up short on a request for a mere 34 seats, with the board deadlocked 5-5. Advertisement The charter school expansions faced a tough fiscal environment as the The votes also came as President Trump is pushing to invest nearly Acting state Education Commissioner Russell Johnston, who recommended the charter school proposals for approval, acknowledged the tight school district finances prior to the votes. 'We have heard testimony ... about the idea that we should take into consideration the financial impact of these expansions on the sending districts, and I respect the voices that you've heard from speaking to this issue,' Johnston said. 'However, the impact on the sending districts is not a consideration in law or regulation.' Related : The state evaluates charter school expansions on an array of factors that include a charter's faithfulness to its operating license and student achievement as measured by MCAS test scores, attendance and graduation rates and other factors. It also considers whether the number of seats sought falls within the state's charter school cap, which limits the amount of charter-school tuition covered by local districts to no more than 9 percent of their annual net school spending and for districts in the bottom 10 percent up to 18 percent. During the review process, the state asked KIPP to downsize its original proposal, which sought to add more than 1,300 students. KIPP agreed, recently putting forward a more modest request for 450 seats. Advertisement Family demand for KIPP Lynn is high, with an annual waitlist ranging between 1,789 and 1,917 students over the past five years. But the reduction did not quell KIPP's critics. During Tuesday's meeting, Lynn's mayor was joined by several state representatives in voicing their opposition, while at least a dozen expansion opponents in the audience held signs reading 'save Lynn Public Schools' and 'LPS student voices matter.' Nikki Barnes, executive director of KIPP Massachusetts attempted to downplay the financial concerns, pointing out the state reimburses districts for some of their losses. Under state law, the state reimburses districts over three years for new charter seats, starting at 100 percent and then sliding down to 40 percent in the final year. 'I believe that now more than ever, our families must know that their voices matter and that their desire to have access to a public school option that best supports their students, regardless of how uncertain the times may be, matters,' Barnes said. KIPP previously sought to expand seven years ago, but the state education department declined to recommend it for approval for a variety of reasons, including that academic performance in the Lynn Public Schools was improving at the time. Mandy McLaren of the Globe staff contributed to this report from Everett. James Vaznis can be reached at
