Ouch from the Gadfly

By Jim Stergios
November 19th, 2009

The Education Gadfly has a sting today on the Senate bill that got passed and the lack of action in the House. I’d give the Senate a “B” but I know there are lots of people (especially charter operators) who are shaking their heads at the “backfill” provisions. From the Gadfly:

The education bill that made it through the Massachusetts state senate, replete with a whopping 95 amendments, late Tuesday is being lauded as the biggest reform bill since the 1993-wonder that brought charters and much else to the Bay State. And it does have some fine features: The rule limiting charter attendance to 4 percent of Massachusetts students was scrapped, and the 9 percent cap on local spending on charters was raised to 18 percent in low-performing districts. Also attached to this Christmas tree, however, are yet another faux-charter innovation school model (as if the Bay State didn’t have enough of these already) as well as a stipulation that the first two charter applications considered by the state each year come from low-scoring districts. Since the state only approves 2-3 applications a year anyway, that rule effectively maintains the cap for the other 90 or so percent of districts. The lesson here isn’t in these details, though; it’s that this bill, which moves to the House for consideration in January–a rushed session right before Race to the Top applications are due–is a prime example of 11th hour RTT covetousness creating policy fixes that may do more harm than good–or at least look better than they probably are. It was high time for Mass. to raise its charter cap, but let’s make sure the stimulus dollar cha-ching ringing in our ears doesn’t deafen us to faulty last-minute concessions.

Ouch.