Seeking calm after charter school storm

Calls for his resignation were intensifying after a politically charged e-mail he sent months earlier had been made public over the weekend. The governor’s attempt that night to still the uproar had failed.

Then as Paul Reville drove home close to midnight, his seven-year-old Volvo got a flat tire. But, as fate would have it, he found himself stranded not far from where he began his career four decades ago, at a Somerville school for former dropouts.

“It reminded me of the origins of my commitment,’’ Reville reflected later, as he played back the events of a week ago Monday.

“The young people who dropped out of school in Somerville had no hope of achieving the American dream, and I came from a relatively privileged background. . . . As a child of the ’60s, I thought that was unfair and wanted to do something about it.’’

Reville, 60, is trying to remain focused on that goal as he works to overcome accusations that he played politics with the approval of a Gloucester charter school last winter. His critics have seized upon a recently released e-mail from February, in which Reville appears to recommend the approval of the school, despite negative reviews from state education staff, because it would advance the governor’s education agenda.

“Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we’ll get permanently labeled as hostile, and that will cripple us with a number of key, moderate allies,’’ Reville wrote.

Reville apologized for the e-mail last week, but emphasized that it was taken out of context of a broader conversation between him and Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, who denies that Reville influenced his recommendation. Reville has said any political considerations came second to the proposal’s merit.

Ironically, it was Reville who raised the alarm about the politicization of education six years ago, when Governor Mitt Romney proposed restoring the position of education secretary. Placing a gubernatorial appointee in charge of education, as well as other proposed changes, Reville told legislators, could allow political considerations to creep into decisions that should be based on the best interests of children.

While Romney failed in his quest, Governor Deval Patrick ultimately succeeded and named Reville his first education secretary last year to better coordinate policy development among the state’s three autonomous education agencies. He had previously served as Patrick’s appointee as chairman of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“To his credit, Reville’s created a model [for an education secretary] that could, or will, serve the state extremely well,’’ said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. “He’s operating it like a think tank for innovation, ideas, and thoughts, and he’s looking at the right issues, things like more district operating efficiencies and more innovation.’’

But to pursue these ideas as legislative proposals, Reville has had to delve into the world of politics, and he has met with resistance from both ends of the ideological spectrum. Many local school committees, superintendents, and teachers have been offended by proposals that would expand charter schools and bolster the state’s ability to take over failing schools; charter school advocates, in turn, say Reville has placed too many restrictions on the growth of charter schools.

“Education is an intensely political sector,’’ said Reville, a Worcester resident who grew up in Longmeadow. “You don’t make change unless you have broad-based support for what you want to do. The process of developing allies is critical for making reform.’’

Over the decades since his start in Somerville, Reville rose to become one of the most influential leaders in public education. He is considered an instrumental player in creating the state’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, has served under both Republican and Democratic governors, and has long been a consensus builder in the often bitterly fractured world of education as he led several nonprofits and research groups, including one affiliated with Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

That work has built him a tremendous goodwill as he wades through the current controversy.

“We think he made a mistake in Gloucester, but not one that should end a long and distinguished career,’’ said Nicholas Young, the Hadley school superintendent and president of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, which e-mailed a letter in support of Reville to its members last week. “He’s a fundamentally nice guy who means to do the right thing.’’

Some of his critics said the e-mail could be an indication of an academic who is politically naive.

“Maybe he didn’t realize the waters he was treading into,’’ said Mayor Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester. “You don’t mess with people’s kids.’’

The most heated controversies during Reville’s tenure as a state education leader seem to have their origin in the charter school debate, which he describes as a public education “war zone.’’

Charter schools, which were created under the education reform act, are independent public schools that receive a portion of state aid from local districts for each student who attends. Many charter school proposals spark intense opposition, with district school leaders predicting dire budget cuts because of state aid lost to charter schools.

Last year, several charter school supporters lashed out at Reville when he was chairman of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for rejecting a charter school proposal in Brockton that they viewed as promising. It was the first time the board had ever rejected a commissioner’s recommendation for a charter school. Then this year, the day before Reville sent his e-mail to Chester, the state’s own education specialists informed Chester they were not recommending approval of any of the three charter school proposals on the table, including the school proposed for Gloucester. Reville said last week that he couldn’t recall if he knew that development before sending the February e-mail.

As he attempts to put the charter school turmoil and the turbulence caused by his e-mail behind him, Reville said his top priority remains improving Massachusetts schools for all students, whether they are in charter schools or not.

“The governor has asked us to start a new chapter of education reform and make it bold,’’ Reville said. “You get blow back and push back and controversy. We view that as part of the change process.’’