The latest focus of the charter school debate is a ballot question that will ask Massachusetts voters on Nov. 8 whether the state should allow more charter schools, giving priority to underperforming public school districts. If voters approve, the state could allow up to 12 new charter schools a year.
Since 1995, 78 charters schools have been established in Massachusetts, and there are 32,000 students on waitlists. According to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association website, the majority waiting are in the lowest-performing districts, and are predominantly African Americans and Latinos.
Because Martha’s Vineyard is considered a high-performing district, director of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School (MVPCS) Bob Moore told The Times, passage of Question 2 would have no impact on the Island.
“The question pertains to underperforming school districts, so the districts that perform well won’t get new charter schools,” Mr. Moore said.
He said that underperforming districts like those in Springfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Holyoke, and Boston would have the opportunity to add a new charter school.
“I think, personally, we need more choice in public education, not less,” Mr. Moore said. “So charter schools, wherever they are, give people choice.”
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Principal Sara Dingledy told The Times on Wednesday that charter schools had different implications in different communities, but that ultimately it came down to choice.
“There’s no doubt charter schools have an impact when introduced into the community,” Ms. Dingledy said. “Here on the Island, I think the impact is allowing families a choice, which I think is always a good thing.”
Superintendent of Schools Matt D’Andrea told The Times on Monday that he didn’t anticipate that Question 2 would affect the Island.
“It’s really relevant to inner-city schools,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “The charter schools are capped by region, and the only regions in which they reached the cap are inner cities.”
The funding debate
The impact of charter school funding on district schools has been at the center of the larger debate. If a student attends a charter school, the money spent by the district follows the student.
“Every student who goes to the charter school, we have to pay the per-pupil cost for that student,” Mr. D’Andrea said.
Opponents of expansion say that charter schools siphon money from district schools, forcing budget cuts at the district level and increasing class sizes.
On the other hand, proponents argue that charter schools are public schools, and so money is not lost, it is reallocated and proportional to enrollment. A report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation for fiscal year 2016 showed that charter schools accounted for 3.9 percent of public school enrollment and 3.9 percent of public education spending.
Districts that send students to charter schools get some reimbursement from the state to try to soften the financial impacts on districts. The first year, the district is reimbursed for all new tuition costs, and then 25 percent of that amount for the next five years.
According to the most recent data available with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the per-pupil cost at the 176-student Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School was $23,835 in 2015, the third highest in the state. The charter school includes kindergarten through 12th grade.
The average per-pupil cost for the district is $23,656. This includes the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the Edgartown School, the Tisbury School, the Oak Bluffs School, and the Up-Island Regional School District, with a total of 2,460 students.
The state average that year for district schools was $14,936. For charter schools, the average was $15,546.
The high school and the Up-Island Regional School District have some of the highest per-pupil costs in the state, while other schools on the Vineyard are well above the average. Mr. D’Andrea said teachers here are paid more than on the mainland.
“Due to a higher cost of living out here on the Island, that subsequently results in higher per-pupil costs,” Mr. D’Andrea said.
‘One size doesn’t fit all’
Mr. Moore, director of the charter school, said that charter schools vary in what they offer to students. They are described as using innovative forms of learning, and each school is different in what it provides. Some schools offer longer schools days, and some are more thematic — one could be more science-based, while another focuses on international education, like the Sturgis Public Charter School in Hyannis, which provides an International Baccalaureate (IB) program for students.
“One size doesn’t fit all,” Mr. Moore said.
MVPCS, which opened in 1996, is a K-through-12 school, providing students with interactive activities between various age groups. Mr. Moore said the school focuses on project-based learning that is interactive, done in small groups, and often individualized.
Currently, students are working with the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on two different projects, one on weather and one on how tools were once used on the Island. Charter School students worked together with other Island students, Representative Tim Madden and Island Grown Schools (IGS) to draft a bill, which was passed last month, to support farm-to-school programs across the state.
Mr. Moore said the school aims to make sure that students get an equal amount of time with one-on-one learning, work in small groups, and whole-group participation.
Mr. Moore said that charter schools are largely supported by the Island community and that there remains a group of people who want choice.
“That’s the legacy of our charter school,” Mr. Moore said. “I think it’s remarkable in this community, where there are good schools, there’s still a certain population that wants choice,” Mr. Moore said.