Save Saturday, Jan. 25, for a CPS Charter School Forum

Have Charter Schools Broken Their Promises
to Parents, Students and the Community?

Come join us on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Madison Park High School, Cardinal Hall, for a forum and community discussion on charter schools in Massachusetts. (Click here to register now.) Massachusetts was the second state to authorize charter schools, under the Education Reform Act of 1993. Charter proponents made many promises: that all children would be welcome and would achieve at unprecedented levels; that charters would innovate and this would lead to improvements in traditional public schools as well. Eighty-one non-district charter schools are now open in Massachusetts, 25 of those in Boston. More than 31,000 students are enrolled.

In June 2012, as part of a review of the Education Reform Act of 1993, CPS released its analysis of charter schools in Massachusetts (click here to see the report).  Our findings about the detrimental effect of some charter school practices on students, the increasing financial hit to district public schools, and the privatizing effect of an increasingly two-tier school system, led us to conclude that major reform is necessary, and that this is not the time to expand charter schools.

We hope you will join us on Saturday morning, January 25, at Madison Park High School in Boston to learn more about charter schools in Massachusetts, from parents, students, teachers, advocates, activists and academics. Help us begin a serious discussion about the future of charter schools.  The Forum program begins at 9:30 am and ends at 12:30 pm.  Registration and coffee begin at 9 am.

Speakers include Dr. Daniella Ann Cook, author of Voices Crying Out from the Wilderness: The Stories of Black Educators on School Reform in Post Katrina New Orleans; Jerry Mogul, of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, on charter schools and students with disabilities; Roger Rice of META Inc. on charters and English language learners; and Barrett Smith, a former Match charter school tutor, among others.

We welcome the participation of all perspectives and points of view about charter schools in Massachusetts.

For those who can, we ask for a tax-deductible donation to help us meet the costs of this event. (All those donating $25 or more will be listed as Sponsors.) The Forum is free of charge, but we ask that you register (click here), so we’ll know how many to expect.