Accountability Mistake Impacts Charter Schools

MBAE has been a strong supporter of developing assessments that give students and their families an honest measure of whether a child is performing at grade level.  This is essential to ensure a student is on track to graduate ready to pursue college, career or other pathways without need for remediation before they start.  We believe that such assessment data is also of value in education – as it is in other sectors – to measure progress, inform decisions and drive improvements.

So, we were strongly opposed to the action taken by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in June to increase the weight of “growth” against “performance” for purposes of the district accountability system.  In our testimony, we argued that this move “gives the public a false impression about the quality of public schools”.  Because this action skews the classification of the districts performing among the lowest 10% in Massachusetts, it also had potential for significant repercussions for charter school caps in urban districts.

Unfortunately, our concerns became reality earlier this month when charter school proposals in Brockton and Fitchburg, already moving through the state’s rigorous application process, were summarily dismissed because the “growth” in those Gateway Cities disqualified them for additional charter seats.   As we told the BESE in June, “It is incomprehensible that some communities where students are scoring well but there is little growth could become eligible for charter school seats while underperforming communities where growth may be high because the starting point was so low, reach the cap limit.”

We agree with Boston Globe columnist Larry Harmon that “High growth on test scores is praiseworthy. But it shouldn’t be confused with high achievement on student tests, especially when the gains are measured from very low starting points. And in some cases, even those gains were insignificant.”  Look at the 2014 MCAS scores compared to prior years for Brockton and Fitchburg and decide for yourself.  Are you satisfied with this level of growth?  Does it warrant eliminating choices such as those offered by charter schools?

If, as some charter school opponents who hailed the move have said, there wasn’t a need for these alternatives in districts like Brockton and Fitchburg, then why should they fear giving parents this option?  The existence of charter schools is not a condemnation of district schools.  We need “both/and” not “either/or”.   The good news is that the BESE recognizes the absurdity of this situation enough to have placed a vote on waivers for the Brockton and Fitchburg applications on the agenda for the November 25^th meeting.  A public hearing will be scheduled in advance of that date.  Perhaps this is an opportunity not only to urge action in the interest of students and families in those two cities, but also to insist on reversal of the decision that caused the problem in the first place.