Accord Reached by Senator Chang-Díaz and Representative Holmes on Charter School
Legislation
Senate Chair of Education Committee and House Sponsor of Charter School Bill Agree on Provision to Lift the Charter Cap
BOSTON – Today Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education, and Representative Russell Holmes, House sponsor of the bill to lift the state’s cap on charter schools, reached an agreement on how to achieve a cap lift and allow legislation on turnaround schools and charter schools to move forward. The compromise comes three days before the Education Committee’s Tuesday deadline for releasing a final bill for consideration by the rest of the legislature. The agreement comes after a tense two weeks, during which progress on an ambitious education reform bill seemed to stall over long-standing controversies about district and charter school financing. A compromise endorsed by both the sponsor of the original cap-lift legislation and the Senate chair of the Education Committee represents an eleventh hour life-line for both the cap lift itself and other reforms the committee has been working on.
“I’m proud and thrilled to announce a breakthrough, which increases opportunities for kids in charter and district schools alike,” said Chang-Díaz. “The children and families seeking a great education in our state need this and deserve it. I’m also relieved for what this breakthrough can mean for the other reforms the committee has been working on; there are so many important tools that I want to see make it through the rest of the legislative process. I hope the agreement reached today will break the logjam and allow the bill to move forward.”
Senator Chang-Díaz continued: “I’m deeply thankful to my friend Representative Holmes for working with me on a solution to get to ‘yes.’”
Senate Chair of Education Committee and House Sponsor of Charter School Bill Agree on Provision to Lift the Charter Cap
BOSTON – Today Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education, and Representative Russell Holmes, House sponsor of the bill to lift the state’s cap on charter schools, reached an agreement on how to achieve a cap lift and allow legislation on turnaround schools and charter schools to move forward. The compromise comes three days before the Education Committee’s Tuesday deadline for releasing a final bill for consideration by the rest of the legislature. The agreement comes after a tense two weeks, during which progress on an ambitious education reform bill seemed to stall over long-standing controversies about district and charter school financing. A compromise endorsed by both the sponsor of the original cap-lift legislation and the Senate chair of the Education Committee represents an eleventh hour life-line for both the cap lift itself and other reforms the committee has been working on.
“I’m proud and thrilled to announce a breakthrough, which increases opportunities for kids in charter and district schools alike,” said Chang-Díaz. “The children and families seeking a great education in our state need this and deserve it. I’m also relieved for what this breakthrough can mean for the other reforms the committee has been working on; there are so many important tools that I want to see make it through the rest of the legislative process. I hope the agreement reached today will break the logjam and allow the bill to move forward.”
Senator Chang-Díaz continued: “I’m deeply thankful to my friend Representative Holmes for working with me on a solution to get to ‘yes.’”
"Raising the cap on charter schools is a priority for me, and that’s why I filed An Act to Further
Narrow the Achievement Gap at the beginning of this legislative session," said Representative
Holmes. "This agreement fulfills my commitment to lifting the cap on charter schools across the
state, while also protecting district school students from the harm caused when funding of the
reimbursement line item falls short. I’m proud to have worked with Senator Chang-Díaz to fight
for all public school students and to achieve this important agreement. I hope it will provide a
way forward for this legislation."
The Holmes/Chang-Díaz compromise would enable the cap on charter schools to rise progressively over several years, as with past cap lifts. But it would freeze the phase-in in any year the district reimbursement commitment from the state is not fully funded.
The charter school cap lift put into law as part of the Achievement Gap Act of 2010 phases in that cap lift over the course of seven years from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2017. That process will continue to move forward regardless of the new legislation.
In the 2010 Achievement Gap Act lawmakers committed the state to reimburse cities and towns for tuition that they send to charter schools, to ease the transition costs for local school districts. The reimbursement monies also help balance out ways in which charter schools can disproportionately pull funds away from district school students. Over the last two years, however, the state has fallen short on the reimbursement commitment.
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The Holmes/Chang-Díaz compromise would enable the cap on charter schools to rise progressively over several years, as with past cap lifts. But it would freeze the phase-in in any year the district reimbursement commitment from the state is not fully funded.
The charter school cap lift put into law as part of the Achievement Gap Act of 2010 phases in that cap lift over the course of seven years from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2017. That process will continue to move forward regardless of the new legislation.
In the 2010 Achievement Gap Act lawmakers committed the state to reimburse cities and towns for tuition that they send to charter schools, to ease the transition costs for local school districts. The reimbursement monies also help balance out ways in which charter schools can disproportionately pull funds away from district school students. Over the last two years, however, the state has fallen short on the reimbursement commitment.
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