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A political swirl on charter schools

Bill Schechter Comment:

The Globe carried a revealing story today about the Gloucester
Charter school imbroglio. (See link below).
It was based on an email that Ed Secretary Paul Reville sent to Ed
Commissioner Mitchell Chester that newspapers had somehow acquired

Nothing in it will come as surprise, but it does pull back the
curtain, remove the veils, and reveal just how education policy is
made in this state, and specifically how political considerations
sometimes override the educational merits and what's best for kids.
Reville actually admits this, as he covertly moves through the
Internet shadows to do the Patrick administration's unseemly bidding.
Not that we didn't know the political lay of the land, but to
actually see all the machinations illuminated with a giant spotlight
is startling. Naturally, the Boston Globe and Boston Foundation
figured significantly in this little conspiracy.

Interesting that the Globe pulled the email off its web site sometime
in late afternoon.

By James Vaznis

The Patrick administration urged approval of a controversial Gloucester charter school earlier this year, over the fierce objections of city residents and the advice of state specialists, based not on its merits but because it would further the governor’s political agenda, according to a recently published e-mail.

In the e-mail, Education Secretary Paul Reville told the commissioner of elementary and secondary education that rejection of the Gloucester charter school proposal, along with the probable rejection of two other pending charter proposals, would send the wrong signal.

“Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we’ll get permanently labeled as hostile and that will cripple us with a number of key, moderate allies,’’ Reville wrote on Feb. 5. “It really is a matter of positioning ourselves so that we can be viable to implement the rest of our agenda. It’s a tough but necessary pill to swallow.’’

The e-mail - which caused a stir on Beacon Hill yesterday, even as Reville insisted it was being taken out of context - contrasted with the administration’s repeated denials that politics played a role in approval of the charter school and could potentially weaken its credibility as it seeks legislative approval of proposals to help the state’s worst schools.

Last night, as the controversy grew, Governor Deval Patrick sent a hand-delivered letter to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, asking for a reconsideration of the charter school’s approval, a request the commissioner had rejected this summer as unfeasible under state law.

In his letter, Patrick said he wished the e-mail “had never been sent’’ but said the board’s energies must now be focused on addressing the growing unrest in Gloucester.

“Rather than defending that process and leaving the community feeling unheard and disrespected, it would seem the better course for everyone just to start over,’’ Patrick wrote.

In an interview yesterday, Reville said the single e-mail should not be read in isolation and that he would be providing more information at today’s board meeting.

“It’s an unfortunate distortion of what actually happened,’’ said Reville, who is a board member. “We cannot make a judgment about this entire discourse from one e-mail. . . . The commissioner makes up his own mind and his own recommendation.’’

The e-mail has drawn sharp criticism from charter school opponents and supporters alike since it was first reported Saturday by the Gloucester Daily Times.

“We are deeply troubled by this apparent political interference in the charter process,’’ said Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. “Whether this influence is exerted by supporters or opponents, it is wrong and has no place in this process. This kind of political interference demeans the work of charter applicants who are put through a rigorous and expensive process.’’

The approval of charter schools is designed to be devoid of politics, with applicants required to go through a six-month process and prove that their school meets an array of strict criteria. Each February, the commissioner makes recommendations for approval to the state board based on a staff analysis.

In his February e-mail, Reville expressed concern about alienating potential supporters of the governor’s public education overhaul who are also strong charter school supporters. He mentioned as examples the Boston Foundation and the Globe, whose editorial page has advocated for more charter schools.

Despite the e-mail, the Patrick administration and the Elementary and Secondary Education Department have remained steadfast in their denial of any political meddling. The agency’s commissioner, Mitchell Chester, emphasized in an e-mail to state board members Saturday that he recommended approval based solely on the charter school’s merits.

“I felt no undue pressure from Paul or the governor’s office regarding my recommendation,’’ he wrote in the e-mail, which was obtained by the Globe.

The uproar is the latest twist in a saga that has been creating a political headache for Patrick, who has sent mixed messages on charter schools. He initially resisted an expansion of charter schools, but now is embracing them as a centerpiece of his latest education proposals, which are currently before the Legislature.

The process that led to approval of the Gloucester charter school was the subject of a legislative hearing this summer. In July, Patrick made his first request for reconsideration, but Chester refused, arguing that state law would only allow for revoking the charter if there was just cause, such as a material misrepresentation of facts in its application. The school is scheduled to open next fall.

“I think the commissioner and the secretary must come to terms with the contents of these documents,’’ said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and a charter school critic.

At the time of Reville’s e-mail, there were three charter school applications before the board: in Gloucester, Waltham and Worcester, which is Reville’s home town. In the e-mail, Reville said he was not inclined to push for a charter school proposal in Worcester. Instead, he said he preferred the Waltham proposal, but knew that Chester had concerns about that application.

“My inclination is to think that you, I, and the governor all need to send at least one positive signal in this batch, and I gather you think the best candidate is Gloucester,’’ Reville wrote. “Can you see your way clear to supporting it?’’

In an interview yesterday, Chester reiterated his assertion that politics played no role in his recommendation. “It was based on the merits of the proposal,’’ Chester said.

Gloucester school and city leaders, many of whom plan to attend today’s state board meeting in Malden, voiced outrage.

“It shatters what I believed about the Patrick administration, that we have a new era of government where decisions would be made on the merits and not a political agenda,’’ said Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who urged Patrick to order the state board to reconsider its decision. “This clearly reveals a greater political agenda at work, rather than what’s in the best interest of Gloucester.’’

The city stands to lose $2.4 million in state aid to the charter school because a school district must send a portion of state aid to a charter for each student who chooses to attend.

School Superintendent Christopher Farmer said in a statement that the e-mail confirmed what many Gloucester residents long suspected, that the charter deliberations were a “politically orchestrated charade.’’

“It’s a bad day for democracy,’’ Farmer wrote.

— James Vaznis
Boston Globe
2009-09-22
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/09/22/a_political_swirl_on_charter_schools?mode=PF

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