New Bedford School Committee Supports Cap On Charter Schools
With numerous efforts in recent years to remove the cap set on charter schools in Massachusetts, New Bedford School Committee member Josh Amaral wants to make sure that doesn't happen.
On Monday, the School Committee agreed to send a letter to the state supporting limits on the number of charter schools allowed in New Bedford and Massachusetts.
Charter schools receive funding out of the city school budget for each student attending their school. However, charter schools are allowed to keep the funding given for a student if they are expelled and sent to public schools after October 1.
According to Amaral, charter schools can be particular with who is accepted, and often have a zero-tolerance policy with discipline that is hard to enforce in public schools.
He also says charter schools can also "recommend that [students] go back to public schools" because the school can't meet their needs. This includes special needs students, English Language Learners, or students who are "difficult to educate".
"it's really got less to do with the work that they're doing in New Bedford Charter Schools. I'm sure that they do good work. But, the financial mechanism for these charter schools is quite questionable in my opinion," Amaral tells WBSM News.