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Charter expansion defeated in Pioneer Valley
After hearing strong opposition from educators in the Pioneer Valley, the Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education took the rare
step in February of voting to reject
a charter school expansion proposal
supported by Commissioner of
Education Mitchell Chester.
The BESE voted 7 to 2 on Feb. 27
against adding 452 seats to the Pioneer
Valley Chinese Immersion Charter
School in Hadley. Although the school
could resubmit its expansion request in
the future, educators from the region
were elated by the vote.
MTA President Barbara Madeloni,
flanked by MTA members who held
up Save Our Public Schools signs at
the meeting, joined education leaders
from the region in testifying against
the expansion, arguing that it was
unjustified and would be harmful to
local public schools.
At the same meeting, the BESE
approved three new charter schools
and allowed increased enrollment at
several others.
The arguments against expansion
mirrored those against Question 2, the
ballot initiative defeated in November
that would have lifted the state’s cap
on charter schools.
Opponents described how
expanding PVCICS would hurt already
stressed local school budgets and
provided data demonstrating that the
charter school fails to serve nearly as
many high-need students as the sending
districts do. For example, Madeloni
noted that 20 percent of the students in
the Amherst-Pelham Regional School
District have special needs, compared
to just 6 percent in the charter school.
“Rather than rewarding this school
with an expansion,” she said, “this
board should launch an investigation
into whether it is violating the civil and
educational rights of its students.”
Dr. Michael Morris, interim
superintendent of schools for Amherst,
Pelham and the Amherst-Pelham
Regional School District, provided
additional data on differences in
demographics between his district
be transferring funds from more
underserved students to more
privileged ones, which is antithetical
to all notions of equity that we hold
sacred in the Commonwealth.”
Pelham School Committee Chair
Cara Castenson testified that doubling
the size of PVCICS could force the
closure of the only elementary school
serving her small town, which is one
of the highest-performing elementary
schools in the state.
“Were the school to be forced
to close, it would be a tremendous
loss to its students,” she said. “Our
school serves as the center of our
small semirural town. The school is
my children’s neighborhood. Many of
our town’s families moved to Pelham
specifically because of the school’s
small size and excellent reputation.”
Peter Gunn, an Easthampton
School Committee member, disputed
the claim that there is no harm to
students in the district public schools
because the money just follows the
students to the charter school. After
testifying that his district is losing
$313,000 to PVCICS this year, he said,
“I don’t know what we can save when
we only have one, two, four or five
students leaving from a grade. Other
than cutting hot water and toilet paper,
I don’t know where we can save.”
Normally, BESE members go out
of their way to say that it isn’t their
job to consider the impact of a charter
school on the local public schools.
In fact, BESE member Michael
Moriarty — who joined Secretary
of Education James Peyser in voting
for the expansion — said just that,
contending, “Charter schools should
be judged on their merits.” But in this
case, testimony about the impact on
the local public schools clearly seemed
to make a difference.
Gunn and Madeloni reminded the
BESE members of the overwhelming
opposition to Question 2 among
districts affected by the charter
school, with 78 percent of Amherst
and Northampton voters opposing
the ballot question and 76 percent of
Easthampton voters doing so.
“Why did communities with
the greatest experience with charter
Please turn to BESE/Page 21
Malden teacher Laura
Vago, left, and her
parents, Diane Mohney
and John Vago,
were among those
protesting against
the expansion of the
Pioneer Valley Chinese
Immersion Charter
School at a meeting in
February. The Board
of Elementary and
Secondary Education
voted 7 to 2 against
the expansion
proposal.
Photo by Sarah Nathan
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