Charters add value, save money for Lowell

By Kathleen McCarthy

Parents, students, teachers and public officials all gathered in August to celebrate the opening of the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell’s new building in the Highlands neighborhood. The facility is home to 640 students in grades K-6. And that’s just the beginning. Next year Collegiate Charter will include a seventh grade and enrollment will be about 750 students. Longer term, the plan is to add a grade level each year until the school, which can accommodate up to 1,200 students, serves grades K-12.

But not everybody is excited about Collegiate’s new facility. For some critics, it was another opportunity to propagate misinformation about the state’s public charter schools. Among other things, they claim charters siphon money from public education, forcing the district to operate at a deficit. The truth is, however, that charter schools do no such thing, a fact that has been shown in countless reports and studies, the most recent of which is the September Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report.

In reality, funding follows a student when he or she chooses to switch from a traditional public school in the district to a public charter school. The district, however, is not left high and dry. For the first year that the student is gone, the district receives 100 percent funding, and over a total of six years, the district receives 225 percent of the funding for a student whom they do not have to serve.

Massachusetts is the only state that has a reimbursement program. If school districts are properly managed there should be no additional increases to the taxpayer because fewer children mean fewer expenditures. The problem arises because cities rarely ever cut their budget to address the new reduction in the student population. In the case of Lowell, the Charter School assessment (monies assessed to all cities throughout the Commonwealth) is $17 million. Presently, Lowell has 1,500 charter school students its charter schools. If all the charter schools in Lowell were to shut their doors, the city would need at least one or two schools to educate them. The cost of building two new schools would far exceed the $17 million state assessment and the burden would be placed on the taxpayers. These are facts and something that voters need to think about before voting “No” on Question 2.

In reality, the voters should thank Lowell charter schools for educating 1,500 Lowell children and never asking for a penny of funding from the city.

Many anti-choice people who want to put a cap on the number of charter schools publicly criticize Collegiate. They say Collegiate does not reflect Lowell’s broader school population. These are the facts. The figures released from Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Sims Report) were results for October of 2015. We had only 500 students and had just finished our second year of operation. The new numbers being released in several weeks will show significant growth in our third year in ELL, disabilities and economically disadvantaged.

For those nonbelievers, these facts will be on the Massachusetts DESE’s site under District Profiles. Another fact not talked about is the 40 percent of our students who do not have English as their first language. Many also don’t understand that Collegiate and all charter schools have a lottery in March that is open to the public. How is it possible for Collegiate to have the “cream of the crop” when all registered students are chosen by lottery from a pool of candidates?

Efficiency in academics, costs

Charter schools do an outstanding job of serving these children and again, do so without financial harm to other public schools. They are entrepreneurial, operate efficiently, and revitalize their communities.

The ballot question is designed for communities like Lowell, where families need more high-quality educational options like Collegiate Charter but lack the resources to access private education. The initiative would allow 12 new charters to open or expand each year throughout Massachusetts in districts that score in the bottom 25 percent on state tests. The question does not directly affect Collegiate as we already have a Charter up to grade 12. We joined this crusade hoping to give the 32,000 children on a wait list in Massachusetts a charter school experience.

Charter schools may not be for every child but if Question 2 is passed, parents would have options. Why would anyone vote against choice in educational options for parents? Simply put, they shouldn’t. It’s a right all parents should have.

Our board of trustees is made up of local business people, professionals and educators who have spent the last five years deeply invested in Lowell’s educational future. With great elementary, high schools and colleges already in Lowell, it’s time to all come together for one common cause. Our kids. Not one school is better than another, it’s merely a choice.

A quality education should not be restricted to those who can pay for it or those lucky enough to win a place in an existing charter school. All Lowell families deserve the chance to enroll their children in charter schools. A “yes” vote on Question 2 this November will do just that.

Kathleen McCarthy lives in Lowell and is a member of the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell Board of Trustees