One deserved rap on Boston’s charter schools is that they have not done their part to educate students with limited English skills. So the citywide campaign to recruit such children for the 14 charter schools is welcome, if overdue, news. Students whose first language is not English make up almost 20 percent of the district , but, except for one charter - Excel in East Boston - less than 4 percent of charter-school enrollment.
That’s way too low. English language learners are among the students most likely to drop out and score low on MCAS tests. In the state’s cities, however, charter schools have focused more on African-American students, and have achieved some impressive results. Now, however, Boston charter schools are canvassing in immigrant neighborhoods and distributing fliers in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese. On Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, the charter schools will hold a recruitment fair, with translators, at UMass Boston.
If there is any group that could benefit from the long hours and special tutoring at many charter schools, it is English language learners. It is high time that the charters reached out more aggressively to them.
