Majority of State Legislature Voting No on Question 2

A majority of the state legislature opposes Question 2, the ballot question that would allow unlimited charter school expansion anywhere in the state, take millions of dollars away from successful local district public schools, and cause the elimination of music and art programs, increased class sizes, and other damaging cuts in the schools that most families choose.

“Many legislators have roots in local government, as school committee members, city councilors, and selectmen. They understand firsthand the harm Question 2 would do to our local school districts and the students in our local public schools,” said Juan Cofield, president of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP and chair of the Campaign to Save Our Public Schools. “We’re grateful for the support of so many elected officials, including supporters and opponents of charter schools, in our campaign to protect local schools from the billions of dollars in cuts that this irresponsible ballot question would cause.”

The legislators join a growing list of organizations who oppose Question 2, including the Massachusetts PTA, the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals' Association, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the NAACP New England Area Conference, Progressive Massachusetts, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, and city councils, school committees, and boards of selectmen representing more than 215 communities across the state.

Not a single school committee or city council has voted to support Question 2.

Charter schools are privately run schools that operate with taxpayer funding. Every time a new charter school opens, it takes money away from the public schools in that school district. This year, according to state data, 231 local school districts will lose a projected $451,338,729 to charter schools, even after state reimbursements.¹ That’s why more than 190 school committees across the state have voted to oppose Question 2.²

A statewide commission recently reported that public schools in Massachusetts are already underfunded by more than $1 billion, even before Question 2.³If passed, Question 2 would allow the state to approve 12 new charters schools a year, every year, forever, with no limit on how much money a single school district could lose. This would nearly triple the number of charter schools in just 10 years and take away an additional $1 billion each year from our local public schools. After 20 years, local public school districts would be losing nearly $4 billion a year to charter schools.⁴

Local communities and their school committees have no say in the approval or operation of charter schools. The state approves charter schools even when the communities where they will be located are opposed to them. This has happened in Brockton, Gloucester and many other communities.

1. Many Massachusetts cities and towns are represented by regional school committees that oversee schools in multiple communities.

2. http://saveourpublicschoolsma.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FY17-Sending-District-Money-Lost.pdf

3. http://www.mass.gov/legis/journal/desktop/2015/fbrc.pdf

4. http://massteacher.org/~/media/Files/charter_schools/simulation_of_funding_loss.xls

Full list of the legislators opposing Question 2:

Title	First Name	Last Name
Senate President	Stanley	Rosenberg
Senator	Joseph	Boncore
Senator	Mike	Brady
Senator	William	Brownsberger
Senator	Harriette L.	Chandler
Senator	Cynthia Stone	Creem
Senator	Sal N.	DiDomenico
Senator	Kenneth J.	Donnelly
Senator	Eileen	Donoghue
Senator	Linda	Dorcena Forry
Senator	James B.	Eldridge
Senator	Jennifer L.	Flanagan
Senator	Anne	Gobi
Senator	Patricia D.	Jehlen
Senator	John	Keenan
Senator	Eric	Lesser
Senator	Jason	Lewis
Senator	Barbara	L'Italien
Senator	Thomas M.	McGee
Senator	Mark C.	Montigny
Senator	Michael O.	Moore
Senator	Kathleen	O'Connor Ives
Senator	Marc R.	Pacheco
Senator	Mike	Rush
Senator	Karen E.	Spilka
Senator	James E.	Timilty
Senator	James	Welch
Senator	Daniel	Wolf
Representative	James	Arciero
Representative	Brian	Ashe
Representative	Bruce	Ayers
Representative	Ruth	Balser
Representative	Christine	Barber
Representative	Jennifer	Benson
Representative	Tricia Farley	Bouvier
Representative	Paul	Brodeur
Representative	Antonio	Cabral
Representative	Daniel	Cahill
Representative	Tom	Calter
Representative	Linda Dean	Campbell
Representative	James	Cantwell
Representative	Gailanne	Cariddi
Representative	Gerard	Cassidy
Representative	Tackey	Chan
Representative	Ed	Coppinger
Representative	Brendan	Crighton
Representative	Claire	Cronin
Representative	Dan	Cullinane
Representative	Josh	Cutler
Representative	Mike	Day
Representative	Marjorie	Decker
Representative	Marcos	Devers
Representative	Diana	DiZoglio
Representative	Dan	Donahue
Representative	Shawn	Dooley
Representative	Michelle	DuBois
Representative	James	Dwyer
Representative	Lori	Ehrlich
Representative	Mike	Finn
Representative	Carole	Fiola
Representative	William	Galvin
Representative	Sean	Garballey
Representative	Colleen	Garry
Representative	Carmine	Gentile
Representative	Thomas	Golden
Representative	Ken	Gordon
Representative	Stephan	Hay
Representative	Jonathon	Hecht
Representative	Paul	Heroux
Representative	Dan	Hunt
Representative	Louis	Kafka
Representative	Mary	Keefe
Representative	Kay	Khan
Representative	Peter	Kocot
Representative	Robert	Koczera
Representative	Stephen	Kulik
Representative	John	Lawn
Representative	David	Linsky
Representative	John	Mahoney
Representative	Elizabeth	Malia
Representative	Paul	Mark
Representative	Joseph	McGonagle
Representative	Rady	Mom
Representative	Harold	Naughton
Representative	James	O'Day
Representative	Jerald	Parisella
Representative	Sarah	Peake
Representative	Smitty	Pignatelli
Representative	Denise	Provost
Representative	Angelo	Puppolo
Representative	David	Rogers
Representative	John	Rogers
Representative	Jeffrey	Roy
Representative	Daniel	Ryan
Representative	Tom	Sannicandro
Representative	John	Scibak
Representative	Frank	Smizik
Representative	Theodore	Speliotis
Representative	Tom	Stanley
Representative	Ellen	Story
Representative	Benjamin	Swan
Representative	Walter	Timilty
Representative	Timothy	Toomey
Representative	Paul	Tucker
Representative	Steven	Ultrino
Representative	Aaron	Vega
Representative	John	Velis
Representative	RoseLee	Vincent
Representative	Tom	Walsh
Representative	Timothy	Whelan
Representative	Donald	Wong

NewsGillian MasonOctober 21, 2016Comment