Statement on Senate Bill

For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Crawford, Crawford Strategies
March 31, 2016 857-753-4132
steve@crawfordstrategies.com
Save Our Public Schools <strong>Statement</strong> on Senate Charter School
Bill
BOSTON — Save Our Public Schools, the ballot committee formed to oppose the charter school ballot
question that would drain millions more in taxpayer money from Massachusetts public schools every
year, today released the following statement in response to the state Senate’s charter school bill:
“The Senate legislation attempts to fix some of the significant flaws in our charter school system, and in
doing so it exposes the serious problems charter schools present.
“The bill would perpetuate the very serious problem inherent in lifting the cap yet again: the expansion
of a separate and unequal system.
“Commonwealth charter schools are causing grave harm to the real public schools in Massachusetts,
taking hundreds of millions of dollars from our students and communities and putting these vital funds
under the control of private entities. Given this reality the state should not move to expand their reach.
“Our focus must first and foremost be on fully funding and supporting our local public schools so that all
students in Massachusetts receive the quality public education they deserve.
“We continue to oppose any bill that would lift the cap on charter schools and believe the voters should
have an opportunity to vote on this issue in November.”
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Save Our Public Schools is a grassroots organization of Massachusetts families, parents, educators and
students. We are committed to ensuring equal educational opportunity for every child; less testing and
more learning; stopping the state from opening additional charter schools that will drain millions more
from public education; increasing funding to provide high-quality public schools for all children; and
protecting local control over schools. We are united in opposition to the proposed ballot initiative to lift
the charter school cap in Massachusetts. Our public schools cannot afford to lose vital funding while we
are seeing programs cut and activities reduced. Sign up for updates at saveourpublicschoolsma.com.