Funding: The tuition of charter school students is collected by the state directly out of the Chapter 70 education funds designated for Salem. In FY 2002,
Charter School students received $8,541 per student,
Choice students received about $5,000 per student depending on program needs,
Salem Public School students received $2,364 of Chapter 70 aid.
As the Chapter 70 monies are re-directed, the Salem taxpayer makes up the difference in funding to maintain programs in the 9 Salem schools. State cuts to Chapter 70 funds will directly impact the Salem allocation but Charter School tuition will not change for a year.
State law provides for partial reimbursement of charter school tuition costs to school districts; however, this year (FY2003) marks the first year that the reimbursement mechanism was not funded under the state budget. Built into the formula are expenditures borne by public schools but not incurred by charters. For example, public school districts regularly pay educational collaboratives for services provided to severely disabled children. Charter schools have no such financial obligation. They are exempt by statute from supporting the children who need so-called "out of district placements." Yet, public school costs for collaborative-provided services are factored into charter school tuitions. For the tuition calculations, see “June FY02 Charter School Tuition Rate” elsewhere on this site.
Given the State's current fiscal challenges, the legislature is considering the O’Brien - Pacheco bill that would put a moratorium on new charter schools. (See elsewhere on this site.
MCAS: Of 297 school districts where students took the 4th grade MCAS, seven out of the lowest ten districts were charter schools. Indeed, the bottom four were charter schools in Cambridge, Worcester, Lowell, and Springfield. Of the twenty lowest performing districts in the state, half were charter schools. Put another way, 25% of the of the state's charter schools are grouped in the bottom 7% of all school districts in the state. Many of those charter schools only have a few hundred students and their results are being compared with entire urban systems. The Worcester Public Schools posted better 4th grade MCAS scores than one-third of all the charter schools in the state, and that number is actually more dramatic since many of the 39 charter schools don't have a 4th grade. Charter schools don't enroll nearly the range of students found in the public system. Compared to the Boston Public Schools, for example, Commonwealth charter schools in Boston serve a lower percentage of non-regular education students - i.e. students in bilingual and special education programs.
For more information, contact:
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David Driscoll Massachusetts Board of Education 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148 (781)338-3000 http://www.doe.mass.edu/ |
Michael Ruane/Frederick E. Berry Massachusetts State House Boston, MA 02113 (617)722-2000 http://www.state.ma.us/legis/ |
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Governor's Office Massachusetts State House Boston, MA 02113 (617)727-6250 |
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