Charter schools innovate to help children or siphon funds while escaping accountability: Holyoke forum

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At a forum in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Amaad Rivera, of Springfield, left, represented Great Schools Massachusetts in arguing for passage of a Nov. 8 ballot question to increase the number of charter schools. Former teacher Dorothy R. Albrecht, of Holyoke, right, represented Save Our Public Schools in opposing the question, at the forum held on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 at Dean Technical High School.

(MIKE PLAISANCE / THE REPUBLICAN)

HOLYOKE -- The innovations of charter schools are needed because the public schools have failed too many students, a ballot question proponent said at a forum this week.

An opponent of that question said charter schools divert funding from public schools and as essentially private schools operating with public money, they escape accountability.

They offered presentations as part of a forum on questions that voters will face on the Nov. 8 election ballot held Tuesday at Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St.

Approval of Massachusetts ballot Question 2 would permit up to 12 new charter schools a year.

Charter schools in Massachusetts are public schools but they are also independent. Supporters said this makes them effective because charter schools face being shut down after their five-year, state-approved charter expires if they fail to post good results and because they often are free of the bureaucracy that can stifle public schools. Foes said charter schools weaken the public school system.

Amaad Rivera, of Springfield, representing Great Schools Massachusetts, presented in favor of Question 2. Former teacher Dorothy R. Albrecht, of Holyoke, represented Save Our Public Schools and argued against Question 2.

Rivera said he was raised in Springfield and Holyoke by a single mother who had him when she was 16. They were mostly homeless and public schools were of little help, he said.

"Public schools actually failed me," he said.

A guidance counselor told him he wouldn't amount to much. But encountering "creative" minded mentors along the way helped him succeed to where he now is pursuing his doctorate. Such a path shouldn't be the exception, he said.

"I'm a supporter of Question 2 because I believe we have to start challenging the status quo," Rivera said.

Public schools have done a poor job of helping black and Latino students, said Rivera, who said charter schools offer innovations such as more parent involvement in the schools and the belief "that we can do anything."

Regarding funding, more money is spent on public schools every year but too many students fail to get the education they need. Why shouldn't public schools be held to the market conditions that base funding on performance, he said.

"We are facing an epidemic," he said.

Albrecht said the role of the public schools is to provide education, not post a profit like a private entity.

"Massachusetts has always had the best public schools in the nation. Why should we dismantle that?" Albrecht said.

Holyoke and other school districts lose millions of dollars a year when students attend charter schools but the costs to operate public schools remain, though absent the funding that the state diverts to the charter schools, she said.

Charter schools fail to serve the community by not taking in homeless children and not reflecting the racial and cultural diversity, said Albrecht, points that Rivera later said were false.

Albrecht said she was not calling for the closing of charter schools but rather, a halt to unregulated expansion.

"We want all our public schools fully funded. Unbridled charter school expansion will take away too much funds from our schools. Don't believe the 'Great Schools' propaganda," she said.

The NAACP is against charter schools, she said. Actually, NAACP leaders last month ratified a resolution calling for a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools and for stronger oversight of these schools.

In any case, Albrecht said, charter schools must be accountable to the public as public schools are. For example, charter schools aren't required to disclose staff salaries, she said.

Nelson R. Roman, Ward 2 representative on the Holyoke City Council, organized the forum with the neighborhood associations for South Holyoke, Churchill and the Ingelside-Springdale, along with Neighbor to Neighbor, a group that pushes for affordable housing.

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