It's students who matter

The battle for charter schools should have ended long before now. There's no way it should be raging after more than a decade.

And yet it is.

Once again, school superintendents, teachers unions, and the elected officials who depend on them have launched their annual assault on the schools that offer educational options to students and parents who, in many cases, would not otherwise have them. This year's challenge comes in the form of an ill-considered scheme that could cut in half the amount of money charter schools get per student from the state.

In the words of Michael Duffy, executive director of the City on a Hill Charter School in Boston, ''I think the intention of this is to gut the charter school law."

City on a Hill is in its 11th year of operation. Every graduate in its history has gotten into college.

That doesn't happen easily. Duffy said about 15 percent of the school's students disappear each year -- some because they leave the area but more commonly because they don't want to abide by the school's rigorous behavioral standards.

For those who stick it out, however, the school has been an unqualified success.

''I think if people were able to walk into charter schools, they would see the difference charters are making for parents who don't have many options," Duffy said yesterday. ''These are parents who can't afford to move to Lexington or Concord; these are people who can't afford to pay for private school."

Charter school opponents have never made any secret of what their issue is. This fight is all about money -- the public cash that, as they view it, is siphoned out of traditional public schools to pay for schools beyond their influence.

The bill under consideration would cut by half the amount charter schools receive per student, from $10,000 to $5,000. The impact would be huge.

But that's fine with many of the state's superintendents, who have lined up to support the measure. The way they frame the argument, you would think charter schools are publicly financed private schools. That's exactly what they want the public to think, even though it isn't true.

Noting the substantial percentage of students of color attracted to charter schools, Kevin Andrews, principal of the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, says publicly what some parents say privately. ''We have 1,700 kids on our waiting list, with the overwhelming number of them children of color. I can't understand why anyone would want to have this bill pass and take choice away from these parents who for years have been shortchanged. It's a travesty."

I've heard the complaints from superintendents and mayors that charter schools hurt conventional schools by draining resources. At best this is only half true: They get less money, but they also have fewer students to educate. Also, public school systems get reimbursed for students who leave district schools to go to charters.

It is striking how little the debate about charter schools has to do with education. It's all about the money, which is a perverse basis for deciding educational policy. Education reform has pumped billions of dollars into Massachusetts schools. But more money was never all that was needed. The schools have also been sorely in need of fresh ideas, and that is part of what is lost when the move for charters starts to wither.

But as long as the charter school battle is over money, no one has to debate what is best for the students and their families.

That's why it's refreshing to hear from Charlene Phillips, whose daughter is a junior at City on a Hill. For her, this isn't about appropriations; it's about education. She said the school has been a blessing for her daughter, Tempestt. She said her daughter's experience in a conventional public school would have been completely different, and that she benefited from the smaller class sizes and greater attention she's received.

''The Legislature has the wrong focus," she said. ''They should be focused on how we keep children in school, not how to cut funding for charter schools."

She's right.

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.