Massachusetts
Charter Schools Movement State Timeline
The 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act opened the door to charter schools in Massachusetts.
1985
The landmark book Common Ground is published, sparking even greater discussion in Massachusetts and across the country about historical unfairness within public education and the failed efforts to improve conditions for all students, but especially those from historically underserved background. The book served to build increased urgency in the late 80’s and early 90’s within many in Massachusetts who were looking for new policy solutions to improve public education in the commonwealth.
1990
The McDuffy vs Secretary of Education lawsuit begins moving through the courts arguing that funding and educational opportunity provided by the State of Massachusetts was not comparable to what was provided in more affluent communities.
Spring 1991
Reflecting broad sentiment that a crisis in education had set in among Boston’s Public Schools, the Boston Globe ran a series of articles entitled “Schools on the Brink” highlighting the widespread, intractable problems within the school district.
Fall of 1991
The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education released a report entitled “Every Child a Winner,” which called for a broad agenda of reforms meant to systematically improve public education across the commonwealth.
1992-93
As state legislators discuss responses to the Every Child a Winner study, the idea of creating a charter school law begins to gain currency.
1993
Over two years of legislative effort, bill sponsors Democratic Assembly Member Mark Roosevelt, and Democratic Senator Tom Birmingham advance the Education Reform Act of 1993 through the Massachusetts legislature.
1993
Republican Governor William Weld signs the legislation into law on June 18, 1993, three days before the court announced its decision on the McDuffy case. Among a broad range of other reforms, the legislation provides significant new funding for under-resourced communities and it allows for the creation of 25 charter schools.
Spring 1994
The State of Massachusetts makes national headlines approving charter applications for 15 new schools, the largest number of new charter schools to be authorized to open by a state in the history of the still nascent charter school movement.
Spring 1995
Parents seeking different educational options, inundate charter schools across the state, with applications far exceeding spaces available.
Fall of 1995
Fall of 1995 – Massachusetts opens its first charter schools including: City on a Hill CS, Neighborhood House CS, Boston Renaissance CS, YouthBuild Boston CS, Atlantis CS, Boston University CS, Francis W. Parker CS, Benjamin Franklin Classical CS, South Shore CS, Community Day CS, Lowell Middlesex Academy CS, Marblehead Community CPS, Cape Cod Lighthouse CS, and Western Massachusetts Hilltown Cooperative CS.
1997
Responding to the strong response from parents and the perceived early success of charter schools, the legislature votes by a wide margin to double the allowed number of charter schools from 25 to 50. The law change also allows for the creation of “Horace Mann” charter schools which are locally authorized schools that often incorporate the local teacher union contract and other district policies and practices.
1998 and 1999
Brett Peiser founds Boston South Harbor Academy which is soon renamed Boston Collegiate Charter School. A year later John King and Evan Rudall found Roxbury Prep Charter School. Both schools become very successful and join forces to create Uncommon Schools, which goes on to be one of the largest and most successful charter management organizations in the United States. John King is ultimately appointed U.S. Secretary of Education by President Obama in 2016.
https://charterlibrary.org/library/a-school-founders-history-brett-peiser/
https://roxburyprep.uncommonschools.org/roxbury-prep-legacy/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/11/white-house-education-secretary/80262306/
2000
The state approves 14 new charter schools and increases the cap to 120 statewide, with strong support in the legislature, including a 101-50 vote in support happening in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
2000
The Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association is created becoming one of the earliest such member advocacy associations in the country. It immediately begins communicating accurate information about charter schools, including the demographics of students serves, and it begins advocating aggressively to secure funding needed to serve high need students.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/939675776/?terms=charter%20school%20association%20kenan&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/442401741/?terms=charter%20school%20association%20kenan&match=1
2003
Massachusetts educator Linda Brown founds Building Excellent Schools, a leadership development program helping to incubate new charter schools in Massachusetts and across the United States. By 2023, the organization had helped to open over 200 charter schools in 20 states across the nation.
https://charterlibrary.org/library/interview-of-linda-brown/
2004
Governor Mitt Romney vetoes legislation that would have created a moratorium on new charter school openings in the state.
The moratorium drive was motivated by teacher unions and other traditional public school interests displeased to see funding follow students to charter schools. Adjustments to the state’s education funding formula directs $37 million to school districts seeing students transfer to charter schools.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/951890222/?terms=charter%20school%20moratorium&match=1
2009
Governor Duval Patrick who had once expressed opposition to lifting the cap on charter schools, adopts a position supporting charter school growth as state legislators develop policy proposals aligning with federal Race to the Top priorities.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/443734161/?terms=deval%20patrick%20charter%20school%20blessing&match=1
2010
Governor Duval Patrick signs the 2010 Achievement Gap Act which among other reforms allows for the further expansion of charter schools, with preference going to schools with a demonstrated record of closing achievement gaps seeking to open schools in locations with large numbers of historically underserved students.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/443747408
2011
Despite approval of policies allowing for the expansion of charter schools in 2010, the state continues to see demand from parents far exceed charter schools’ capacity, resulting in oversubscribed lotteries and waiting lists. In total, 63 charter schools operate across the state, serving over 27,000 students. About one fifth of charter schools are located in Boston.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/444066912/
2013
Research from MIT showed that attendance in Boston charter schools resulted in a wide range of positive outcomes including higher college attendance races. These findings aligned with numerous other studies identifying Massachusetts charter schools, and specifically Boston charter schools, to be among the higher performing charter schools in the nation. Such evidence only intensifies calls for more rapid expansion of charter schools in the commonwealth.
https://seii.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Charter-School-Demand-and-Effectiveness.pdf
2015
A group of students files a lawsuit to lift the cap on charter schools in Boston. In response to strong results and high demand from parents, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker leads a legislative push to lift the cap on charter schools. When the legislature fails to act, a ballot initiative is prepared for the 2016 election.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/major-political-and-legal-push-underway-to-lift-mass-charter-cap/2015/10
2016-17
A ballot measure that would have lifted the charter school cap by as much as 12 schools per year was decisively defeated in the November election. The result effectively shuts off the possibility for increased charter school growth in cities like Boston where significant numbers of new schools had opened and where high levels of additional demand from parents was present. The following spring, the number of applications for Boston charter schools break records.
2020
During the pandemic, charter school enrollment continues to grow as enrollment in traditional public schools drops significantly. Despite a charter school cap preventing growth in several parts of the state, enrollment in Massachusetts charter schools stands on the cusp of 50,000 students
2022
A renewed sense of crisis takes hold within Boston Public Schools as a local advocacy organization and the governor’s administration push for a state takeover of the district. A takeover ultimately does not happen as a new mayor and a new superintendent aim to solve the district’s intractable problems, ones that are very similar to the ones that created the urgency to allow for the creation of charter schools in the first place over 30 years ago.
2023
New research from Stanford University again confirms that Massachusetts charter schools are generating strong academic results relative to traditional public schools. The CREDO Report 3 finds that students attending Massachusetts charter schools experience an additional 47 days of learning in both math and reading relative to their counterparts in traditional public schools. These results again place Massachusetts charter schools among the highest performing in the nation.
