A test case brews over a religious charter school
Oklahoma board’s OK of faith-based charter school is fundamentally flawed Jeff Jacoby’s argument about the creation of religious charter schools is based on a fundamental flaw (“Oklahoma says yes to a religious charter school. So does the First Amendment,” Ideas, June 11). Charter schools are not private entities. The US Department of Education states that a charter school is a public school that operates as a school of choice. Massachusetts law clearly states that charter schools are public schools, managed by public boards of trustees and overseen by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a public agency. Their faculty and staff are public employees. They are tuitionfree, operate on public funds, and are open to all students, with no entrance exams or selective enrollment processes. Under Massachusetts law, for-profit companies and private or parochial schools are prohibited from applying for, or operating, a charter. The public nature of charter schools was affirmed by the state Supreme Judicial Court in 2007.
Jacoby narrowly defines being “public” as being run by local school committees and local school districts. Charters were purposely created as public schools that operate independent of local government structures. In exchange for freedom to innovate around mission, curriculum, teaching methods, and staff, they are held to the strictest standards of accountability. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education exercises extensive oversight of every charter public school, assessing academic, financial, and organizational strength in order to ensure all schools are delivering the high-quality education the students and families of the Commonwealth deserve. We believe in equitable, high-quality public education, and charters are a vital part of the public education system. As public schools, they are subject to state and federal law inclusive of the US Constitution. The decision in Oklahoma, like Jacoby’s argument, is flawed.
TIM NICOLETTE Executive director Massachusetts Charter Public School Association Hudson