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City plans meetings on single application for BPS, charter schools; not everybody happy
By adamg on Sat, 09/19/2015 - 10:20am
Mayor Walsh announced a series of meetings on his proposal to give parents a single system for applying for seats in both BPS and charter schools.
The separate application processes for district and charter schools can place an unnecessary burden on families, leading to confusion, limited options and lack of individual needs being met. Families need a clear and simple path to school enrollment and a unified enrollment system will level the playing field for all Boston's families. We look forward to hearing any ideas, thoughts and concerns from the community on how a unified system might work in Boston and increasing success for all of Boston's schools and students.
A single application system would require approval of the School Committee and the state legislature.
- Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m. - Kroc Center, 650 Dudley St, Dorchester
- Oct. 20, 5:30 p.m. - East Boston Public Library, 365 Bremen St, East Boston
- Oct. 21, 5:30 p.m. - Mattapan Public Library, 1350 Blue Hill Ave, Mattapan
- Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m. - Grove Hall Community Center, 51 Geneva Ave, Dorchester
- Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m. - 1st Church of Jamaica Plain, Corner of Elliot and South Street, Jamaica Plain
- Nov. 17, 5:30 p.m. - West End Boys and Girls Club, 105 Allston St, Allston
Quality Education for Every Student, a group of BPS parents, warns the program could harm BPS:
Unlike charters, BPS educates English Language Learners of all levels and children with a wide range of special needs, and takes students mid-year and in any grade. Where is the partnership here? QUEST also pointed out that BPS has lost tens of millions of dollars to charter schools who receive 49% of Chapter 70 funds, though serving only 12% of Boston students, and criticized the lack of charter school accountability to the communities and families they serve, especially in regards to high suspension rates and low graduation rates of boys of color.
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Comments
Why is the mayor
elected by citizens of the city, ceding control over the Public Schools to outside influences -- Catholic schools, charter school networks funded by philanthropists and investors, and the Gates Foundation? What happened to a tax supported public school system, administered by people who are accountable to the voters?
because
We keep throwing more and more money at the BPS for fewer and fewer students and other than the advances made when we required passing the MCAS for graduation, BPS has made almost no progress. It's time to look at different solutions for at least some of the students. Maybe this isn't the fault of the school personnel (and it's not being taken out on them because they keep staffing levels constant and get higher raises than the population as a whole and generally maintain extremely generous benefits), but the focus should be on developing programs that work for the kids - not the adults and charters by the overwhelming choice of the parents and ultimately the students seem to fit the bill.
I think BPS has a role to fill - some schools seem to do fine and they do a great job on things like special ed and bilingual ed. But for the regular ed kids - other solutions seem to fit better. Just as I support arts programs and vocational for kids so inclined - we need to realize one size does not fit all and let each child develop to his/her fullest potential in the school program that best suits them.(and charters are fully accountable, mostly publicly funded schools - at least in Mass - so other than non-unionized staff - I don't get the beef).
"BPS has made almost no progress."
Please take your head out of your ass, you don't know what you're talking about. BPS outperforms Boston Charters on college admissions and college graduation rate.
Citation?
Where are you getting this data - please don't tell me it's from one of those crappy regurgitative Globe pieces with zero analysis that Vaznos writes? I've never read an article from him that is more than a rehashed press release with greatly massaged numbers.
Boston Foundation
Boston Foundation 4th Annual Opportunity Agenda Report Card - January 2015
Really?
First let me say the more important number is not that BPS postsecondary graduation rates exceed those of charters. The number that shows an increase in graduation rates of BPS students from 35% to 50% is an outstanding result and you have to tip your cap to all involved (and it appears most of this has little to do with BPS and much more to do with a program spearheaded by - ahem - the Boston Foundation).
However, if you read it carefully and analytically, you realize that at the very least you need A LOT more data to come to any meaningful conclusion. Does this include the exam schools? They note in another section they specifically exclude the exam schools - but not here. Curious. Does this include kids who went to charters for elementary and middle but not high school? This includes associates degrees - are graduates of charters far more likely to go to 4 year colleges thus making it more difficult to graduate in 6 years if at all.
I like the Boston Foundation. I think they do good work. The program by itself seems to have some merit. However, only someone with "their head up their ass" would use it as a fair and reasonable statistical comparison between BPS and charters until they knew the details of the populations and other specifics. This is why I hate Vaznos - he just reports this crap and never asks any questions. He's a very specific reason I won't subscribe to any Globe services.
"BPS postsecondary graduation rates exceed those of charters."
True!
No, I don't think so. I don't think you get to minimize, devalue or discount these accurate statistics because they don't fit your narrative.
And there's this, BPS outperforms Boston Charters on college admissions.
Do you even have any children?
You never mention that and nearly always wave your charter school pom poms to tout the tax savings.
If you don't have school age children, it is kind of like Monday Morning Quarterback time.
Charter Schools should not be using tax dollars any more than Boston 2024.
Why?
I fail to see the logic in your question. The person with no skin in the game is a far more neutral judge.
As for Charter schools shouldn't get tax dollars - that's nonsensical. They are public schools - they just don't have central control or unionized teachers (and they also have to raise money to pay for their own facilities and all kinds of other programs.
Maybe
Maybe because your idea of success metrics is way off? Kids aren't robots or products of assembly lines.
I am not the arbiter of success metrics
I didn't invent MCAS or graduation rates or anything else. The "experts" consider this the idea of academic success - I just use the statistics for comparison.
Far more importantly, thousands of parents opt out of the system - and thousands more would if given that choice. That jumps to tens of thousands when you include parochial schools, private schools and perhaps the exam schools (which while officially BPS are essentially a separate system serving almost as many kids as the charters - why not the outrage against them? Such discrimination! And why are we spending all that money on smart kids!).
BPS has a role - seems they do a phenomenal job at the top (exam schools) and a better than average job at the bottom (ESL, various levels of disability etc.). Where they seem to be falling down is in the middle - the "regular ed" kids. Given choices - like parochial, private, charters or even moving - many parents choose that over BPS.
No other institution in the world is good at everything - why should we expect BPS to be right for all students? Maybe due to their deep pockets they are best suited to serve the top and the bottom - and the middle can go elsewhere. I'm not picking sides - I'm just saying that if it's about the kids - they and their parents should have a choice. The arguments I hear against charters seem to be all about the adults - and I'm not talking parents.
Donation
And yet Marty Walsh took $500k from a Rosi interior decorator from a national teacher PAC.
So he's corrupt AND unreliable.
time for you to bone up on PACs
Candidates don't take money from PACs. PACs operate independently of candidates and cannot coordinate with them.
You can thank the Roberts Court for Citizens United, when corporations became people, and money became speech not property.
Technically true
But really, that wasn't a very shady, corrupt move by a public teacher group to support Walsh? It was, which was my point, technicalities aside.
not corruption
No, it's not corruption, it's legal and normal, which says a lot. But if you FEEL it's shady, how would you argue the "shadiness" accrues to Walsh?
when competition is no longer your operating principle
One of the main ideas on which charter schools are premised is free-market and competition. So when the mayor says let's provide Boston charters with access to BPS enrollment system in the spirit of cooperation I have to ask, when did we stop competing and doesn't this cooperative initiative undermine the argument for having charters in the first place?
The oddest thing about the entire initiative is that charter schools have made no commitment to participate in unified enrollment.
If Walsh can sell BPS parents and BPS School Cmte, it then goes to each and every charter school and they decide if they want anything to do with it.
Catholic schools already said no thank you.
I have always had the uneasy
I have always had the uneasy impression that Walsh is a stooge, and his performance during the winter did nothing to change that. His messaging on charters has confirmed it, the guy literally falls for anything, as long as it's slick and promises cash. I don't think Walsh wants to undermine public education, I just think he's honestly not bright enough to have more than a superficial understanding of what he is endorsing here.
Not for nothing, a lot of parents and educators voted for Walsh solely because Connolly seemed to be in the charter industry's pocket. ONE TERM MAYOR!
"Seemed to be"
"Seemed to be" is the operative phrase... Remember, Connolly has 2 children in the Boston Public Schools and was the Education Chair on the City Council. He held many hearings on education/budget meetings on BPS and met often with parents and community members. He may have supported charters in some form, but he demonstrated a commitment to BPS and parents. Walsh, on the other hand, took the path that led to great sums of money coming in from unions, including the embarrassing amount of blind donor money from the teachers union affiliate. Has the teachers union learned its
lesson? I hope so. Walsh is not committed to the Boston Public Schools on the issue of charters. He does not understand the deep issues with charters and the funding conplexities that have driven away money from BPS. It's time people look at the true data around charter school wait list numbers, suspension rates, percentages of ELLs, children with disabilities- moderate, severe, physical (visual impairment, hard of hearing)., behavioral. These populations are radically underrepresented in the charters and are often sent back to BPS.
BPoS
I don't understand why this is being proposed by the mayor or why the mayor has an education czar that has no affiliation with BPS.
I don't fully understand the intended relationship between the city and charters (unlike the obvious relationship between the city and BPS), but the BPS administrators I know have nothing to do with charters (other than worry they will inherit their buildings when they fail) so why would the mayor.
As a future BPS parent my concern is that this will make the lottery for the BPS schools you do want to get into even more complicated - that there won't be parallel ranking systems for BPS and charters but now charters will also fall into your list pushing out other possibilities.
Generally though the system sucks and because I can't seem to get my kids into the decent BPS school that is literally at the end of my block I am looking at a charter school option simply because it's the next closest and best stable school. I don't need an integrated application for that though.
chartering
If I was interested in sending my kid to a charter high school, I would want to be able to apply to all six and get six chances of being chosen rather than choosing from a limited list presented to me by this new proposed system. The way I understand it, Marty's proposal called BostonCompact, is a unified school registration process (unified except charter schools can opt out) that presents a customized list of options based on where you live that includes some public and some charter schools. You pick from that list. You may or may not get your first or second or third choice. Catholic schools were not interested in unified registration.
As a former inner city public school teacher elsewhere
I'd really recommend parents visit some of these schools before deciding they're awful. I've taught in public schools and worked with public schools across the country. Honestly, you can tell an awful lot within a minute of walking in the front door whether or not a school is functioning adequately. A lot of an individual student's success lies in their home environment (parent socioeconomic status remains the number one indicator of student academic performance) but if you're looking for a broader picture? Visit the school. Walk the halls, talk to kids, talk to teachers, see what happens.
Great point
I've had a kid in a BPS school and in a charter school. Both were staffed with teachers and administrators who wanted my kid to be successful. Not because they were trying to hit some achievement target but because they want to see kids succeed. I've also had a kid in a terrible BPS school where no-one really gave a damn but I don't believe that's par for the course.
This is only at the K-5 level BTW. I have a much worse impression of BPS at higher grades but not based on personal experience.
Is the BPS really "educating" ELLs?
Or simply admitting more of them? According to the Department of Justice, enrollment numbers only tell part of the story: to quote the Globe, "The Boston school system is failing to adequately teach thousands of students who speak limited English and provide them with rigorous coursework, nearly five years after promising the US government it would overhaul programs to comply with civil rights laws, according to an ongoing federal review obtained by the Globe."
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/29/boston-schools-still-failing...
Adam, time to stop taking the QUEST perspective at face value. They represent a small contingent of BPS parents and their facts aren't so factual.
Some of the best students in BPS are former ELL
Some of the best students in BPS are former English language learners. 19 of 42 BPS class valedictorians last year were foreign born.
Also, there's crazy number of native languages spoken at BPS, I think I read ~62 languages, kids from 150 nations.
At the same time, I heard teachers would like to change the Romney-era law about dual language learning.
While the top end may not represent the middle ...
Take a look at the Valedictorian rosters from the past fifteen years and tell me what you see.
Same for the schools my sons went through - the top ten and honor roll are packed with former ELLs. I thank that "striving" culture that they produced for kicking my older son into gear in middle school.
Anecdotally, at least some of these kids are besting their peers.
While we watch.
Our school system crumbles.
Decimated by indifference from our political officials who have no skin in the game, due respect to all above posters, data can tell us anything we want to hear, but experience is how we learn.
Parents simply want the best for their children, Public, Charter, Parochial, Private, it matters not. Don't all children deserve the best? Teachers do their best with limited supplies, and suffer the greatest defeats while the district builds new buildings and hires a top heavy administration.
Isn't it our responsibility as a society to provide equal education for all?
Too bad more kids can't attend our best in the nation exam schoo
METCO puts kids in great school systems like Needham, Wellesley, Weston, Concord Carlisle from 1st through 12th.
You realize that testing scores largely track with wealth and poverty? Poverty is the biggest challenge we have in public education. It'd be great if we would address that problem outside the classroom. But since it seems we won't pre-k may be a way to mitigate.