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October 21, 2016

Op-ed: Vote ‘yes’ on Question 2

This excerpt is from an op-ed published on Oct. 18, 2016 in The Boston Globe, authored by Thomas Birmingham and Mark Roosevelt, co-authors of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act. “We included charter public schools in the 1993 law to provide poor parents with the...
Education
October 21, 2016

Op-ed: Mass. charters fight racial oppression

By Sephira Shuttlesworth By 1959, my late husband, the Birmingham, Ala. civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, had been beaten with bike chains, brass knuckles, and baseball bats by a segregationist mob, had his church bombed twice and survived his house being...
Education
October 19, 2016

Study: Massachusetts Charters Enrolling More English Language Learners

Charter ELLs have lower attrition rates, better academic outcomes than district counterparts BOSTON – Massachusetts charter public schools are enrolling more English language learners (ELLs) in recent years, and those students have lower attrition rates and better academic outcomes than their district...
Education
October 13, 2016

Charter School Special-Needs Students Achieving Excellent Outcomes

Percentage Of Charter School Special-Needs Students Is Rising, Outcomes Improving 2010 law required more extensive outreach to students with special needs, provided means to enhance recruitment Read coverage of this report in the Boston Herald: Report counters argument that charters don’t serve special-needs...
Education
September 27, 2016

How Phoenix Academies Transform Potential High School Dropouts into College Grads

Study Explores How Phoenix Academies Transform Potential High School Dropouts into College Graduates Network combines second chances and individualized support with academic rigor BOSTON – A network of three Massachusetts public schools is using “relentless support” to help at-risk students not only...
Education
September 26, 2016

More Mass. Charter Public Schools: Daughter of Brown v. Board of Ed Plaintiff Makes the Case

Last Monday, Pioneer hosted the event “Equal Access to Excellence: Charter and District School Reform,” which was co-sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Center for Education Reform, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association,...
Education
September 21, 2016

Op-ed: Charter and district schools need not be adversaries

By Thomas Birmingham This op-ed appeared in the New Bedford Standard Times, The Lowell Sun, The Springfield Republican, and The MetroWest Daily News. In the run-up to a November ballot initiative that would allow more charter schools to open in Massachusetts, charter and traditional...
American Citizenship, Education
September 19, 2016

Education Access Event to Feature Daughter of Lead Plaintiff in Brown vs Board of Ed

As Massachusetts debates raising the charter school cap, school district reforms, and how to close achievement gaps, Pioneer Institute will host “Equal Access to Excellence: Charter and District School Reform,” at which a diverse group of nationally recognized education reform experts will...
Education
August 23, 2016

Join us 9/19: Equal Access to Excellence: Charter & District School Reform

As the Commonwealth debates lifting charter school caps, district reforms, and strategies for closing achievement gaps, Pioneer is hosting an event featuring Cheryl Brown Henderson, daughter of the late Rev. Oliver Brown, namesake of the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education. A diverse...
Education
May 12, 2016

Charter Funding Study Calls For Money To More Closely Follow Students

State should fund “target aid,” increase funding that follows special needs students, and reduce district reimbursements BOSTON – Massachusetts’ charter school funding formula should maintain the shared responsibility of state and local governments to fund education, but improvements could address a number...