Questions and Answers
Definitions
Q. What is a charter school in Massachusetts?
A. A charter school is a public school that is governed by a board of trustees and operates independently of any school committee under a five-year charter granted by the Board of Education. It has the freedom to organize around a core mission, curriculum, theme, and/or teaching method and to control its own budget and hire (and fire) teachers and staff. In return for this freedom, a charter school must attract students and produce positive results within five years or its charter will not be renewed. There are two types of charter schools, Commonwealth charter schools and Horace Mann charter schools. They operate under the same set of rules as described above, with the following exceptions. First, a Horace Mann charter school must have its charter approved by the local school committee and the local teacher's union in addition to the Board of Education. Second, to the extent provided by their charters, Horace Mann charter schools may be exempt from certain provisions in local collective bargaining agreements. Third, employees of a Horace Mann charter school remain members of the local collective bargaining unit; continue to accrue seniority; and receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established by the local collective bargaining agreement.
Application Process
Q. Who may apply for a charter?
A. Any group or entity may apply for a public school charter, with the exception of for-profit companies and private schools. Typically, charter applicant groups include a mix of parents, teachers, non-profit organizations, and community leaders.
Q. To whom is the charter granted?
A. Charters are granted to the proposed school's Board of Trustees. While a founding group may also include individuals who do not intend to serve on the Board of Trustees, a proposed Board must be in place for the charter to be granted.
Q. How many total charters are available to be granted in February 2007?
A. Not more than 120 charter schools (48 Horace Mann and 72 Commonwealth) may operate in the Commonwealth at any one time. There are 18 Commonwealth charters available and 40 Horace Mann charters available1 to be granted in the 2006-2007 application cycle. Please keep in mind that only those applications that meet the criteria will be considered for charters; therefore, not all of the charters that are available in a given year will necessarily be granted.
Q. If we miss the August 4th deadline for submission of the Prospectus, can we still submit a final application in November?
A. No. Only those prospectuses submitted by the August deadline are eligible to receive a possible invitation by the Commissioner of Education to submit a final application in November.
Q. What are the limits on the number of charter schools that can be established in a given city or town?
A. Notwithstanding the number of total charters available, state law limits the number of charters by type and location that the Board of Education can grant as follows:
- In any one year, the Board may approve only one regional Commonwealth charter school application to be located in a district where overall student performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) was in the top 10% in the preceding year.
- The Board of Education may not approve a Commonwealth charter in any community with a population of less than 30,000 unless it is a regional charter school.
- Not less than three charters approved in any year must be granted for charter schools located in districts where overall student performance on the MCAS is at or below the statewide average in the preceding year.
There is also a statutory limit on the amount of funds that can be transferred to charter schools from any one district for the purpose of charter school tuition. A district's total charter school tuition payment to Commonwealth charter schools cannot exceed 9 percent of that district's net school spending (NSS). Currently, several districts are at or approaching their cap for charter tuition spending. Please contact the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Office for further information if you have questions in regard to a specific district.
Q. Will the Board of Education give preference to certain kinds of applications and applicant groups?
A. The Board of Education will give preference to those applications and applicant groups that demonstrate the greatest probability of creating public schools of the highest quality by meeting the comprehensive criteria of the rigorous application process. The Board of Education may also give preference to applications for charter schools located in low-performing districts.
Q. Who will review and evaluate charter school applications and the capacity of applicant groups?
A. Each charter school Prospectus and Final Application will be reviewed by Charter School Office and other Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff as well as review panels comprised of individuals outside the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education who have education, business, non-profit, financial, legal, and organizational expertise. The Charter School Office will then interview applicant groups that submitted final applications. The Commissioner of Education makes a final recommendation to the Board of Education regarding the award of charters.
Q. What role do external reviewers play in the application process?
A. The role of external reviewers is solely advisory. Teams of reviewers - current and former teachers; researchers; charter school founders; and school, business, and public policy leaders - evaluate the prospectuses and final applications against the stated criteria. The questions raised by review panels regarding final applications serve as the basis of the applicant group interviews.
Q. How much weight will be given to written comments from superintendents and testimony at public hearings?
A. All public comment, including written comment from superintendents, will be considered in the review process. Public hearings on the Final Applications are conducted during December. Written or oral opposition alone is not reasonable grounds for denial of a charter. Similarly, strong public support alone does not constitute reasonable grounds for granting a charter. Any substantial issues raised in public comment that demonstrate weaknesses in a specific final application as measured against the stated criteria will be taken into account and addressed during the applicant group's interview with the Charter School Office.
Q. By what point in the application process should an applicant secure a facility?
A. During the application process, applicant groups must describe a process for identifying a potential facility for the proposed charter school. Applicants who enter into lease or purchase agreements in advance of receiving a charter from the Board of Education, however, do so at their own risk.
Q. On what grounds may a charter application not receive approval?
A. Applications that are submitted after the deadline or those that do not meet the submission criteria will be immediately rejected. Applications and the capacity of applicant groups to establish a successful charter school are judged on the application materials, the final interview, public comment received, and comment at public hearings. The Commissioner of Education will not recommend that the Board of Education award charters to applicant groups whose applications do not meet the stated criteria for a charter in the application, as corroborated in the final interview of the applicant group by the Charter School Office.
Q. Can the Board of Education's decisions on charter applications be appealed?
A. No. A decision of the Board of Education on a charter application is final. The application process leading up to the Board's decision has been designed to afford applicant groups and others several opportunities to clarify the proposal made in an application and to make the case for, or against, the award of a charter. Applicants who are not awarded a charter in 2007 may reapply in the future.
Q. Are preferences given to applications for charter schools that plan to open in 2007?
A. No. Applicant groups that propose to open in 2007 or 2008 will be evaluated using the same criteria. However, the Board of Education may award a charter conditional on the school opening in 2008 even if the applicant group applies to open in 2007.
Q. How soon after a charter is granted can a school be opened?
A. Applicants groups may propose to open in 2007 or 2008. The Board of Education decision on the awarding of charters occurs at the February 2007 meeting. Schools that are awarded charters and elect to open in the fall of 2007 must then submit data by mid-March, approximately two weeks later, on the number of students who have been admitted to the school through the charter school enrollment process. Schools that elect to open in 2008 have until March 2008 to report this information. This fact and other requirements surrounding opening procedures have lead many applicant groups to take a planning year and open the year after receiving a charter. As previously noted, the Board of Education may award a charter conditional on the school opening in 2008, even if the applicant group applies to open in 2007.
Funding
Q. How are Commonwealth charter schools funded?
A. For each child that a Commonwealth charter school enrolls, it receives a tuition amount from the state equal to a per-pupil amount calculated by the Department's School Finance Unit. The state then deducts the same amount from the sending district's (school district pertaining to the municipality in which the student resides) state aid account. Like other public schools, Commonwealth charter schools are eligible to receive federal and state grant funds. Commonwealth charter schools may apply for private grants and receive contributions. For more detailed information about how the state calculates tuition payments for Commonwealth charter schools, visit http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/charter/.
Q. How are Horace Mann charter schools funded?
A. Funding for a Horace Mann charter school comes directly from the school district in which the school is located, through a Memorandum of Understanding with the district. An application for a Horace Mann charter school will specify a total budget allocation that the School Committee has approved for the charter school's first year. Each year thereafter, the Board of Trustees of a Horace Mann charter school will submit a budget request for the following fiscal year to the superintendent and School Committee of the district. Under the law, a Horace Mann charter school cannot receive less than it would have under the district's standard budgetary allocation rules. A school may appeal a disproportionately small budget allocation to the Commissioner of Education. Depending upon the terms of its charter and the Memorandum of Understanding, a Horace Mann charter school may receive its share of federal and state grant funds from the district or receive the funds directly. Horace Mann charter schools may apply for private grants and receive individual contributions.
Q. Will charter recipients be given start-up funding?
A. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has received funding for FY07 from the federally funded charter school grant program, through which new charter schools are provided start-up funding in their planning period and first two years of operation. The availability of future start-up funding beyond FY07 is contingent upon continued support through this program or new state appropriations. A number of charter schools have also received start-up funding from non-governmental sources.
Q. Are charter schools eligible for School Building Assistance funds?
A. The charter school statute states, "no school building assistance funds shall be awarded to a Commonwealth charter school for the purpose of constructing, reconstructing, or improving said school." The Massachusetts Legislature, however, has included a facilities component as part of the tuition paid to charter schools. For more detailed information about how the state calculates tuition payments for Commonwealth charter schools, visit http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/charter/. Some charter schools may be eligible to apply for qualified zone academy bonds. The qualified zone academy bond (QZAB) program allows school districts and charter schools to obtain interest-free financing for the purpose of establishing "qualified zone academies." Qualified zone academies are schools, or programs within a school, which are located in economically distressed areas and whose curriculum is designed through school/business partnerships. See http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/sbuilding/qzab_rfp.html for more information.
Q. How does transportation work for charter schools?
A. Charter school regulations state "school districts shall provide transportation to charter school children on the same basis as it is provided to regular public school children in the district. In providing such transportation, districts shall accommodate the particular school year and school day of the charter school… If a district and charter school cannot reach agreement about the service to be provided, and if the charter school finds an alternative that costs the same as or less than the average cost of transportation per student in the district, the charter school may provide its own transportation…" (603 CMR 1.08 (11)). There are two mechanisms in place for charter schools to receive reimbursement for costs associated with transporting children to school. The first reimbursement mechanism applies to the transportation of children residing in the district in which the charter school is located. If a charter school chooses to provide transportation for their students in this category, it is eligible for transportation reimbursement from the local school district only for the students for whom the charter school is accruing transportation costs and who are eligible for transportation according to the local school district's transportation policy. The charter school statute expanded reimbursement eligibility for regional charter schools transporting children that reside outside of the district in which the charter school is located, but within the boundaries of the charter school's regional designations. Schools will be reimbursed by the state, subject to appropriation, in the fiscal year following that in which costs were incurred. For more information about transportation reimbursement rates and the process for receiving reimbursement, please contact the Coordinator of Research and Finance in the Charter School Office at (781) 338-3228.
Q. Are charter schools entitled to federal funds?
A. Yes. Charter schools are eligible for federal funds that go to public schools such as Special Education, Title 1, and Safe and Drug Free Schools. Please visit http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/ for specific details about each grant program, or contact the Coordinator of Research and Finance in the Charter School Office at (781) 338-3228 if you have questions.
Laws and Regulations2
Q. Do charter schools serve students with special needs and students who are English language learners?
A. Yes. Charter schools cannot discriminate in admissions on the basis of special need or English language proficiency. Once admitted, students who are special needs or English language learners must be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and state requirements. For special education, this requires a full- or part-time special education administrator and additional staff to meet the needs of student's Individual Education Programs. The number of staff required varies by level of services required and by the size of the school. See http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/laws.html for more information on special education laws and regulations. English language learners must be identified and supported in their acquisition of the English language through a program of sheltered English immersion and instructed by appropriately qualified and certified staff. See http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr14.html for more information on the laws and regulations relating to English language learners.
Q. Are laws and regulations waived for charter schools?
A. Charter schools must follow the same state educational standards, administer the same state tests, and abide by almost all the same state and federal laws and regulations as other public schools in the Commonwealth. Commonwealth charter schools however, are not subject to local school district rules and may operate without collective bargaining agreements. Horace Mann charter schools, depending on the terms of their charters, may be exempt from some local school district rules and some provisions of the local collective bargaining agreement and regulations. (As is the case for other public schools, charter schools may request waivers from state regulations.)
Q. How do we know if our proposed charter school should serve a region?
A. If the charter school intends to enroll students from a number of cities or towns or be located in a small and/or rural town of less than 30,000 in population, applying for regional status is appropriate. A regional charter school is authorized to serve, and give preference in enrollment to, students residing within a specified region of more than one municipality. In applying for a regional charter, applicants should specify all of the school districts, including regional districts that comprise the geographic region to be served as well as the cities/towns within the region, and a rationale for the proposed region.
Q. May we give our applicants an entrance exam?
A. No. State law prohibits a charter school from discriminating in its enrollment process on the basis of academic achievement. Charter schools may create eligibility thresholds for enrollment that are consistent with their areas of focus or grade levels, but a school's methods for determining eligibility for enrollment - including meetings, interviews, and recommendations - cannot be designed, intended, or used to discriminate on the basis of a child's knowledge or skills. For instance, a charter high school may deny admission to students who have not completed the 8th grade but it may not deny admission to students on the basis of their inability to do 8th grade level work. Diagnostic exams may be given once the students are enrolled.
Q. How does the federal No Child Left Behind Act affect Massachusetts charter schools?
A. Because Massachusetts charter schools are public schools, the NCLB requirements are applicable to charter schools in the Commonwealth. See the federal No Child Left Behind Act home page at http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=pb, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Technical Advisory The Impact of NCLB on Massachusetts Charter Schools at http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/tech_advisory/03_2.html, and the Opening Procedures Handbook at http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/guides/ophandbook.pdf or http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/guides/ophandbook.doc for further guidance.
Q. What are the certification/training requirements for charter school teachers?
A. State law requires that all Massachusetts charter school teachers hired after August 10, 2000 must either be certified OR pass the appropriate Massachusetts Test(s) for Educator Licensure (MTEL) within one year of their date of employment. For more information on this requirement or alternative certification, please contact the Department's Office of Educator Quality at (781) 338-6600. Additional information on determining Highly Qualified Teacher status may be found online at http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/tech_advisory/03_2.html and through the federal No Child Left Behind website at http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/teachers/hqtflexibility.html.
Q. What do the state curriculum frameworks and state tests mean for charter schools?
A. All public schools, including charter schools, must administer the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests. These tests are based on the curriculum frameworks adopted by the Board of Education. Charter schools must also administer any other assessment the Board of Education may require. MCAS results are used in the charter school accountability process and are central in evaluating whether a school is an academic success.
Q. Are for-profit companies allowed to manage charter schools?
A. Yes. While for-profit education management organizations (EMO) may not apply directly for a charter in Massachusetts, state law explicitly allows charter school Boards of Trustees to procure education management services from non-profit and for-profit entities. The Board of Education must approve all contracts between charter school Boards of Trustees and EMOs for substantially all educational services, prior to the contract taking effect. If any application for a charter proposes a school that would be managed by a non-profit or for-profit contractor, it should describe why the particular entity was selected, describe what due diligence the applicant group has performed in choosing that entity, and provide a draft of a management contract.
Q. What types of resources are available on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website?
A. Many guiding documents for charter schools are available on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's general website (http://www.doe.mass.edu/) and the Charter School Office web site (http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter), including but not limited to the Charter School Administrative and Governance Guide; the Opening Procedures Handbook; charter school news and headlines; contact information for all Massachusetts charter schools including school and district profiles; application for a public school charter; charter school laws and regulations; technical advisories on specific topics; individual charter school reports; Charter School Office staff contact information; the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks; Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System statistics and information; school finance; teacher certification; and a calendar of Department of Elementary and Secondary Education events. See the Resource List for additional information. The Department encourages charter schools to visit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Charter School Office websites on a regular basis for updates.
Q. What is a charter, and how does a school amend its charter?
A. A school's charter is made up of certain material terms that are described in the charter application. If these terms are modified significantly by a charter school's Board of Trustees, they must request approval of the change from the Department, through the amendment process, before the changes may be implemented. These material terms are the school's educational philosophy and mission; governance and leadership structure; a contract with an education management organization that is providing or planning to provide substantially all of the school's educational services; curriculum models or whole-school change designs; location of facilities, if such change involves relocating or expanding to another municipality; districts specified in a regional school's charter; bylaws; schedule (e.g. length of school year, school week, or school day); enrollment process; code of conduct; school name; or membership of the board of trustees. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Technical Advisory on Charter Amendments is available on-line at http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/tech_advisory/05_2.html.
1 Schools whose charters have been revoked or non-renewed as of June 30, 2005 pending appeal are included in this analysis.
2 The Charter School Statute and Charter School Regulations are available on-line at http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/71-89.htm and http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr1.html. Please also see the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Administrative and Governance Guide for a more thorough explanation of the laws and regulations that apply to charter schools. Please visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/governance/ or contact the Charter School Office at (781) 338-3227 for a copy of the guide.
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