Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Background/Footnotes: Massachusetts has several intradistrict choice programs. In 1980, Cambridge launched an intradistrict K-8 program. In this program, families choose three schools and rank them according to preference. The district then assigns the student to a school based on preference, school capacity, and racial composition.[1] Since 1989, the Boston school district had been divided into three school zones for kindergarten through 8th grade. Families choose a school and alternates within their zone. Half of a school's seats are reserved for students who live within walking distance.[2]

In 1991, then-Governor William Weld, a Republican, signed the Massachusetts interdistrict school choice law, allowing students to transfer to schools in other participating districts. The law specified that a student's former district must pay the tuition in the receiving district. In 1993, the law was amended to require districts that choose not to participate to opt out of the program through an annual vote of the local school committee.[3] The Massachusetts Board of Education established an information system to help parents choose from among schools within participating districts. Transportation assistance is provided for low-income children.[4]

A 1997 study of the interdistrict programs by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute found that those districts that lost large numbers of students at the outset of the program responded by improving their policies and programs to encourage students to return and to attract transfer students from other districts. Conversely, districts that initially lost only a small number of students made few improvements and lost more students in subsequent years. These findings provide evidence that a competitive market can have positive effects on the quality of public education.[5]

On the charter school front, Governor Weld signed the Education Reform Act in 1993. The law authorized the establishment of up to 25 charter schools for the 1995-1996 school year, with the stipulation that schools must be open to all students and could not charge tuition.[6]

In 1997, Massachusetts amended its 1993 charter school law, raising the cap on charter schools from 25 to 50. Half of the new schools were designated as Horace Mann Schools--schools that had converted from traditional public schools with the approval of the district, the teachers union, and the Massachusetts Board of Education.[7] The cap was raised again in 2000 to allow for the creation of 72 commonwealth charters and 48 Horace Mann charters.[8]

Since 1996, several studies of charter schools conducted by the Pioneer Institute have found that, compared with conventional public schools, the charter schools are more effective in meeting the needs of traditionally underserved student populations, serving a higher percentage of low-income, bilingual, and minority children. The institute also has found that most charter students had been average or below average in academic achievement at their previous schools.[9]

A 1998 Pioneer Institute poll found high parental satisfaction with charter schools: 60 percent of parents whose children were in charter schools gave their schools an "A," compared to 37 percent of parents whose children were in traditional public schools. Nearly two-thirds of the parents whose children had transferred to charter schools said that their child's academic performance had improved.[10] In addition, 78 percent of the parents of students in charter schools but only 50 percent of parents with children in traditional schools said that they would like to keep their children in their current schools. Charter school parents also reported twice as many meetings with their children's teachers, as well as more communication by phone and more written correspondence, and indicated greater confidence that their children could readily obtain supplementary academic assistance if needed.[11]

In 1998, the Home School Legal Defense Foundation won a major victory in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, ending a seven-year legal battle between parents and the Lynn School District. The judges ruled unanimously that school officials could not impose home inspections on home-schooling families.[12]

An October 2000 survey commissioned by the Pioneer Institute found widespread support for school vouchers: 58 percent of residents (including 64 percent of minorities and 57 percent of self-described liberals) favored vouchers.[13]

In 1998, a group of citizens filed a lawsuit challenging provisions in the Massachusetts constitution that prohibited citizens from petitioning the legislature to fund private schools. Later that year, a federal judge signed an order to allow a petition drive for signatures while this case was pending. The proponents of funding private schools did not acquire the requisite number of signatures on their first petition, but in 1999, they collected more than enough signatures and delivered the petition to Attorney General Thomas Reilly for certification so they could present it to the legislature.[14]

Attorney General Reilly refused to certify the petition on the grounds that the state constitution prohibited such voter initiatives on this subject. In 2000, the Becket Fund, which represented the plaintiffs, requested that a federal district court order the Attorney General to certify the petition before the May 10 deadline so that it could be considered by the legislature. U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole denied the motion.[15]

In 2001, Judge O'Toole dismissed a portion of the challenge to the state's constitutional provision prohibiting any referenda to change or eliminate the ban on aid to religious schools, but he also allowed the case to continue.[16]

The Massachusetts Department of Education ordered inspections of each of the state's charter schools using a consulting firm, SchoolWorks. The firm's findings indicated that the schools were generally well-run and well-staffed and that they had met education standards.[17]

An October 2000 Pioneer Institute poll indicated that 84 percent of parents with children in charter schools gave their schools "A"s and "B"s. Even though parents' ratings of conventional public schools had improved since a previous poll that was conducted in 1998, charter school parents were still more satisfied with their children's school experience.[18]

Private scholarships make it possible for low-income students in Massachusetts to attend private or parochial schools. The Catholic Schools Foundation has offered scholarships to low-income children to attend Catholic schools in Boston since 1983.[19] Give a Child a Choice is a scholarship program in Boston.[20]

Three choice bills were introduced during the 2001 session of the legislature. House Bill 1429 would have eliminated the provision in the state constitution that prevents public funding of religious institutions. The bill failed to pass in a committee vote. H.B. 1581 would have created a voucher program for students in failing schools in Boston, Holyoke, and Lawrence but excluded private religious schools from participating. H.B. 1699 proposed a private tuition tax deduction of up to 25 percent of the cost of tuition, not to exceed $5,000. Both H.B. 1581 and H.B. 1699 died in committee.[21]

According to an analysis by the Beacon Hill Institute, the state's $1 billion infusion of funding for its public schools has not improved student test scores. State reforms such as raising teacher salaries and reducing class size have likewise failed to boost student achievement. The report recommended vouchers as a more effective investment of funds to improve academic performance.[22]

In September 2002, the Newton Public School Committee voted to end the practice of granting diplomas to home-schooled students as of May 2003 unless they pass the state's 10th grade exam. Massachusetts state legislation does not require home-school students to take state tests.[23]

A bill proposing tax deductions for tuition payments, H.B. 851, was introduced in 2003. This bill would allow parents to deduct the full amount paid toward their child's tuition from their taxable income. The bill is in committee.[24]

H.B. 851, introduced in 2003 to provide tax deductions for tuition payments, remained in committee in 2004.[25]

The legislature passed a one-year moratorium on charter school approval as part of its Fiscal Year 2005 budget. In June 2004, Governor Mitt Romney vetoed the legislation.[26] In his veto message, Governor Romney wrote, "I am vetoing this section because charter schools provide meaningful educational choices and should not be limited... It is fundamentally unfair to penalize hundreds of students already enrolled in the schools named in this section while these issues are being resolved."[27] The House of Representatives failed to override the veto on a 77-78 vote.[28]

On April 1, 2004, the Federal District Court in Boston ruled for the defendants in Boyette v. Galvin challenging the state's Blaine and Religious Exclusion amendments. The Becket Fund appealed.[29] Because of a change in plaintiffs, the case has a new name. Michael Wirzburger, et al., vs. William F. Galvin, Secretary of State, et al. is now in the First Circuit Court of Appeals.[30]

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