Last week we told you about the gathering held in Boston for the new
Boston Compact, a group that has come together to promote a greater give and take between our city’s public schools and the charter schools. Many observers view the relationship with the charters as the BPS doing a lot more giving than taking. (The Boston Compact has
scheduled community meetings.)
In any case, the question of whether to lift the cap or not is playing out in three separate arenas: some are contemplating a legislative move, some are threatening an initiative petition, and a few downtown lawyers have filed a lift-the-cap lawsuit. Now a new group,
Great Schools Massachusetts, has begun; they met at the State House with Governor Baker last week.
See a report from the State House News Service.
Here’s Great Schools’ call to arms:
WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR? Every child deserves a great public school in their community. And every parent deserves the opportunity to choose the school that’s best for their children.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Charter schools are public schools, providing longer school days, more personal attention, and great teachers. They are proving that every child can succeed, regardless of their race, zip code, or family income.
HERE’S THE PROBLEM: An outdated and arbitrary cap on the number of public charter school seats is stranding 37,000 kids on charter school waiting lists — almost all of them from low-income, urban communities.
HERE’S HOW WE FIX IT: Give parents what they deserve: the opportunity to choose a great public school. It’s time to make public charter schools available to every family that wants them.
The governor said that he doesn’t care how the cap-lift is accomplished, as long as it is. So we have our work cut out for us, and we are working with a host of allies in the Boston community to shine a spotlight on these groups which are trying to expand quasi-private charters at the expense of our wholly public schools.
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| “I don’t care how the cap is lifted.” |
Speaking of groups we are trying to shine a spotlight on: A group called Educators for Excellence is hanging around our schools, attending our meetings, and calling our members. What is Educators for Excellence?
You can learn more about who they are and what they have done in other cities by checking out
this teacher blog. Bottom line: they are yet another AstroTurf group funded by corporations and foundations like the Walton Foundation to join the likes of Stand for Children, Democrats for Education Reform, and
Families for Excellent Schools. They do not have permission to recruit in our lunchrooms or schools. If they show up in your school,
please drop us a line.
Negotiations: A series of subcommittees have been set up to discuss compensation, teacher assignments, paras, professional issues, substitutes, itinerant groups, and school climate issues over then next few months. Please take the time, if you wish, to submit an item (or items) of interest to you or your group. Items are due by October 15and will be carefully discussed by our subcommittees. Thank you.
BUILDING REPS: Don’t forget to Register
The Boston Teachers Union invites our Building Representatives and interested members to join us at our 2015 Annual Building Representative’s Conference, as we learn and grow together as an organization. This year’s conference is focused on member-to-member communication and will have a variety of workshops and skill-building opportunities to help you build membership engagement at your school. The conference takes place October 23-25 at the Dedham Hilton. Attendance is free but does require a registration check deposit that will be destroyed upon successful completion of the conference. Please register today.
BR Election Result Form: As we attempt to update our list of Building Reps in all of our schools, it is extremely important that all building reps complete and return the BR elections results form. You can do this in two ways:
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| Mr. Patriot attended the BTU party last week. |
