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Massachusetts Charter Schools
Questions and Answers

Q. What is a Commonwealth charter school?

A public school that operates independent of any school committee under a five-year charter granted by the Board of Education. It is started by parents, teachers, non-profit organizations, or community leaders. It has the freedom to organize around a core mission, curriculum, theme, or teaching method, and is allowed to control its own budgets, hire (and fire) teachers and staff. In return for this freedom, a charter school must attract students and produce results within five years or have its charter revoked.

Q. What is a Horace Mann charter school?

A former district public school or part of a public school that operates under a five-year charter approved by the local school committee, the local teacher's union president and the Board of Education. To the extent provided by the terms of their charters, Horace Mann charter schools may be exempt from local collective bargaining agreements, provided that employees of the school will remain members of the local collective bargaining unit, continue to accrue seniority, and will receive, at minimum, the salary and benefits established by the local collective bargaining agreement.

Q. How are Commonwealth charter schools funded?

For each child a Commonwealth charter school enrolls, it receives a sum from the state equal to the average cost per student in the school district in which that child resides1. The state then deducts the same amount from the sending district's state aid account. (School districts, however, receive additional state funds in order to partially or fully "reimburse" them for losses to charter schools.) Like other public schools, Commonwealth charter schools are eligible to receive federal and state program funds.

Q. How are Horace Mann charter schools funded?

Funding for a Horace Mann charter school comes directly from the school district in which the school is located. An application for a Horace Mann school will specify a total budget allocation the school committee has approved for the school in its first year. Each year thereafter, the Board of Trustees of a Horace Mann school will submit a budget request for the following fiscal year to the superintendent. 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 on the terms of its charter, a Horace Mann school may receive its share of federal and state program funds from the district or it will be eligible to receive the funds directly.

Q. Who may apply for a charter?

Anyone or any entity may apply for a public school charter, except for-profit companies and private schools. A Horace Mann application must have the approval of the local teacher's union president and the school committee in order to be valid.

Q. Are laws and regulations waived for charter schools?

No. Charter schools must follow the same state standards, take the same state tests, and abide by virtually all the same laws and regulations as other public schools. Commonwealth charter schools operate without the constraints of local school district rules and collective bargaining agreements. Horace Mann schools, depending on the terms of their charters, may also be free from some local school district rules and some provisions of the local collective bargaining agreement and regulations. Like other public schools, charter schools may request waivers from certain regulations, for good cause.

Q. Do charter schools serve children with special needs?

Yes, charter schools may not discriminate on the basis of mental or physical disability, special need, or academic achievement, and charter schools must comply with the same state and federal laws regarding the provision of special education services. Thirteen percent of charter school students have IEPs (which means they are officially classified as special education students), and many more receive special services at charter schools without IEPs.

Q. May charter schools give applicants an entrance exam?

No, state law prohibits a charter school from discriminating in its enrollment process on the basis of academic achievement. 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 cannot deny admission to students on the basis of their inability to do 8th-grade level work. Diagnostic exams may be given once the students have been enrolled.

Q. What do the new state curriculum frameworks and state tests mean for charter schools?

All public schools, including charter schools, must administer the new Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, which will be based on the curriculum frameworks adopted by the Board of Education. Charter schools must also administer any other assessment the Board may require.

Q. What makes charter schools different from other public schools?

One of the main differences is that charter schools have the freedom to pursue a mission, use innovative approaches, and create a budget, schedule, and curriculum without the constraints of collective bargaining agreements. Another difference is that everyone in a charter school-parents, students, teachers-has made the choice to be there; no one is assigned to these schools or compelled to attend them. Perhaps most importantly, charter schools must produce good results within five years or lose their charters. While different in these and other ways, charter schools must follow the same state standards, take the same tests, and abide by virtually all the same laws and regulations as other public schools.

Q. Is there any limit to the number of charter schools that can be established in a given city or town?

There is no limit on the number of schools that can be established in a given city or town, however, there is a limit on how much of a school district's budget can go to Commonwealth charter schools. Under the law, no school district's total charter school tuition payment to Commonwealth charter schools can exceed 6 percent of said district's net school spending. Currently, several districts are at or approaching their cap for charter tuition spending.

Q. On what grounds does the Board of Education deny an application for a charter?

Applications that do not meet the criteria listed in the application are denied. Examples of elements that would constitute failure as measured against these criteria: vague, muddled, or jargon-filled applications; discriminatory procedures or intentions; weak or scant evidence that there is demand for the school; lack of commitment to accountability; a school design or education program that is commonplace; founders without the necessary experience, resources, or wherewithal to start a school; and, weak or scant evidence that a charter is needed in order for the program to exist or succeed.

Q. Who is evaluating charter schools?

Charter schools are one of the most scrutinized elements of education reform. Formal evaluation is done by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which collects and analyzes reports, conducts annual site visits, and monitors the performance of charter schools. The Board of Education will use these data and reports in making decisions regarding the renewal of charters. At least six other governmental entities (not including the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) are auditing, investigating, and studying charter schools, including the state's Education Reform Review Commission. Other organizations are also collecting information and evaluating charter schools: the federal government; national research organizations such as RAND and Hudson Institute; schools of education; and Massachusetts think tanks.

Q. How is the state holding charter schools accountable?

The key elements of charter school accountability are three simple questions: Is the academic program a success?; is the school a viable organization?; and, is the school faithful to the terms of its charter? Each school must develop an accountability contract that describes the school's objectives as well as the measures the school will use to document progress toward those objectives, including credible student assessment tools that will demonstrate the academic progress of students. Charter schools must report on progress toward their objectives in an annual report due August 1 of each year (followed with an independent financial audit several months later.) In addition, charter schools are subject to an annual day-long site visit conducted by a small group of Massachusetts citizens who are not involved in the school. The purpose of these visits is to augment and verify the information contained in the annual report and to learn firsthand as much as possible about the school's performance. A charter school will be judged primarily on the academic progress of its students, not by how much it pays its teachers or how well it complies with conventional educational practices and assumptions.

Q. What types of interventions has the state made in charter schools with problems?

Several schools have had problems in terms of educational quality or governance that were so significant that the Commissioner placed them on probationary status. When this happens, Department staff work with the school to develop a plan to remedy the problems. While these staff cannot provide technical assistance, they convey what they believe needs to be addressed and point the school toward resources that may be helpful. In some cases, the problems have been rectified, in others, it is too soon to tell whether the problems can be solved, and, in one case so far, a charter school voluntarily returned its charter hours before the State Board of Education was going to vote to revoke it.

Q. Why are for-profit companies allowed to operate charter schools?

State law allows charter school Boards of Trustees to enter into contracts for the procurement of educational services, and so far nine schools have contracted with for-profit education management companies. Educational excellence and private sector management are not necessarily incompatible. Public education in Massachusetts is already a multi-million dollar industry for textbook publishers, test-makers, school-bus companies, computer manufacturers and other suppliers of goods and services. Companies can offer communities educational expertise, provide access to capital, and infuse significant private sector funds into public schools. Where a Board of Trustees has hired a private company to manage the school and achieve the goals of the charter, it can easily terminate the contract if the Board isn't satisfied with the company's performance.

Q. How does/will the Commonwealth judge which schools should have their charters renewed?

In order to have its charter renewed, a charter school will submit a renewal application that offers credible responses to the three evaluation questions: is the academic program a success?; is the school a viable organization?; and, is the school faithful to the terms of its charter? The application should also offer compelling answers to questions about the school's future plans. Following the receipt of a renewal application, the Commissioner of Education will appoint an independent evaluation team to conduct a 3-4 day site visit. Inspired more by the British school inspection model than by the typical accreditation association model, this renewal site visit will focus on the school's academic program. The Commissioner will review the renewal application, the site visit team's report, past annual reports, financial audits, and site visit reports. Based on this review, he will make a recommendation to the Board of Education for renewal or revocation of the school's charter.

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