Legislation would lift caps on charter schools in lowest MCAS districts

BOSTON -- A bill that could double the number of charter schools in underachieving school districts was one of thousands submitted by lawmakers this month in advance of Wednesday's deadline for legislation to be considered during the 2005-2006 session.

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The expansion bill, sponsored by 11 lawmakers, would raise the existing cap on charter school spending from 9 percent to 20 percent of a district's budget in those districts whose average scores on the standardized MCAS tests are within the bottom 10 percent in the state.

Nineteen school districts, including most of the state's urban centers, fall within this category, and many have hit the cap or will soon.

Other bills submitted by Wednesday's deadline would remove the four Supreme Judicial Court justices that approved the gay marriage decision in November 2003, terminate the parental rights of a mother or father convicted of first-degree murder and require the Massachusetts National Guard to pay for the bulletproof vests and other body armor needed by members serving overseas.

Sponsors of the charter school bill, which comes just months after the Legislature approved a moratorium on charter schools, would provide choice to the parents and children that need it most. Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed the moratorium.

Since then, advocates say, the state has changed the funding formula that was the cause of the most concern within school districts, which argued that the charter schools were draining them of needed resources.

"Right now in these communities there is a clear need, there is tremendous demand, but there is no choice," said Dominic Slowey, spokesman for the Massachusetts Charter School Association. "If we want to expand opportunities in these low-performing districts, we need to do something now."

Opponents argue that more charter schools will simply drain more money from the districts that need it the most.

"I think that regardless of the city or town, it makes no sense to fund expansion of charter schools when we're having trouble adequately funding our existing schools," said Catherine Boudreau, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state's largest teacher's union.

During the past decade, 56 charter schools have opened in Massachusetts, as part of the 1993 education reform initiative. Three more have been approved.

There has been a legislative push for a charter school moratorium each of the past three years, sparked by lawmakers who believe that the schools have been imposed on communities that do not welcome them.

The bills submitted by lawmakers ranged from broad initiatives, such as health care reform and sentencing guidelines, to designating the official state ice cream.

Other bills would:

-- Mandate insurance coverage for the nicotine patch and anti-smoking programs.

-- Ban junk food from schools.

-- Promote stem cell research.

-- Strip the Legislature of its redistricting powers and create and independent commission to take over the duties.

-- Give state and municipal employees up to one month of paid leave a year if they donate an organ.

Filing a bill in no way means that it will become law. During the 2003-2004 session, House members submitted 5,312 bills. Only 579 have become law.