Charter school OK is defended

Maura Banta, the board’s chairwoman, defended the board’s approval, even though a recently published e-mail from the state’s secretary of education indicated that the Patrick administration had been pushing approval of the charter school to further the governor’s education agenda, aside from the merits of the proposal.

“I can promise you that politics played no role in how the board voted,’’ Banta said in an interview after the meeting, characterizing the 11 board members as “independent thinkers.’’

The uproar quickly spread through talk radio yesterday and seeped into the emerging race for governor with two challengers accusing Patrick of unnecessarily injecting politics into education.

Several high-ranking school and political leaders from Gloucester spoke out at yesterday’s board meeting, with one breaking into tears.

At issue is a Feb. 5 e-mail sent six minutes before midnight by Paul Reville, the education secretary, to Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, urging support of a charter school proposal as a way to advance the rest of the governor’s education agenda.

In the note, Reville, who is also a board member, expressed worry that a lack of movement on new charter schools could portray the administration as hostile toward charter schools and “cripple us with a number of key moderate allies like the Globe and the Boston Foundation.’’

Reville apologized for the e-mail yesterday morning, after Gloucester officials pleaded with the board to reconsider its closely divided vote on Feb. 24. He reiterated his assertion from a day earlier that the single e-mail was taken out of the context of a broader conversation between him and Chester, who has denied there was any political calculation in his favorable recommendation.

“I made a mistake, and I want to apologize,’’ said Reville, who later said, “My communication with the commissioner was as a board member. It was not in the nature of an order.’’

Reville then asked for a show of hands from board members on whether they had received any e-mail or other communication from him or the governor seeking a favorable vote on the charter school proposal. Not a single hand went up.

The other board members remained silent through the discussion. When Banta suggested holding a meeting in Gloucester, she simply asked members if they agreed with that idea, and members nodded their heads.

The board ignored Patrick’s request, delivered to the board Monday night, to reconsider its approval of the Gloucester charter school. It was the second time in two months that Patrick had asked the board for a revote after opponents bombarded him about the approval process. Banta and Chester initially turned down that request in August, arguing it was not allowable under state law. But yesterday after the meeting, Banta said the board will reexamine the legality.

Upon leaving the meeting, Gloucester officials said they were disappointed that the board had not rescinded its vote and questioned whether another public hearing would make any difference.

“My fear is that they will come to Gloucester and do another dog-and-pony show,’’ said Greg Verga, the city’s School Committee chairman.

State Senator Bruce Tarr, Republican of Gloucester, implored the board at the meeting to make public all written communications regarding the Gloucester charter school, as well as two other proposals, in Waltham and Reville’s hometown of Worcester, that were under consideration at that time.

If the board failed to take decisive action to remedy the issue, Tarr said, he will pursue the matter with the state’s inspector general’s office.

“The integrity of this process has been seriously damaged, and that’s close to being irreparable,’’ Tarr said in an interview.

The e-mail, first reported by the Gloucester Daily Times on Saturday, ignited the gubernatorial campaign trail yesterday.

“Through their deception and mismanagement, Governor Patrick and Secretary Reville have woven a tangled web, and the only way to untangle it is through a change in leadership,’’ Charlie Baker, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, said in an e-mail.

Kevin Sowyrda - spokesman for Christy Mihos, another Republican gubernatorial hopeful - said in an interview that it was unfortunate that Reville attempted to inject politics into children’s education, saying the e-mail read like something that could have been written by a campaign strategist, rather than an education secretary.

“It shows how the governor has politicized an area of state government that should not be politicized,’’ Sowyrda said. “It should be about the kids.’’

By late yesterday afternoon, Patrick’s reelection campaign fired back with an e-mail to supporters, reaffirming the governor’s support for education and his belief that the approval process was sound.

Nevertheless, the e-mail reiterated Patrick’s call for reconsideration of the charter school because of a lack of confidence in Gloucester and a desire to maintain integrity in the system.

In an e-mail response to a reporter’s question, Patrick’s spokesman, Kyle Sullivan, said that “the governor has complete confidence in Secretary Reville.’’