Educators and community activists have sprung into action to oppose the opening of a new charter school in New Bedford.
The state is considering the application for the Innovators Charter School, which would have 735 students in sixth through 12th grades at full capacity. The proposed charter would siphon about $10 million annually from districts in the region from which it would draw students, based on that enrollment, with the New Bedford Public Schools likely experiencing the greatest impact.
New Bedford Educators Association President Thomas Nickerson and Fall River Educators’ Association President Keith Michon have criticized the proposal as lacking innovation. Instead, they note, it will copy existing programs and take away resources from students attending public schools.
"Beyond duplicating existing programs, Innovators brings with it all of the troubling aspects of charter schools that voters in Massachusetts overwhelmingly rejected in 2016 when the charter industry went to the ballot seeking a massive expansion in our state," the local presidents wrote in a joint statement.
State education officials have received the full ICS application, which was under review as MTA Today went to press. A hearing is expected soon.
Educators and their allies in the New Bedford area most recently fought the expansion proposal by the existing Alma del Mar Charter School to take over a public building and automatically enroll students from designated neighborhoods. Although activists beat back Alma del Mar’s attempt to convert a public building for a privately operated school and guarantee its enrollment, the charter received approval for a large expansion.
The coalition that took on that privatization scheme, however, has remained in place and is aggressively challenging the Innovators proposal on several fronts.
The New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools, co-chaired by MTA Executive Committee member Cynthia Roy, a city resident, has been regularly canvassing in neighborhoods, explaining the harm the proposed charter would cause by draining funds from local districts.
Both the NBCSOS and educators’ unions have been revealing the illusion of the so-called "innovations" promised by the charter school.
While ICS proponents are promoting early access to college courses and credits at no cost to students, such programs already exist and are expanding in the New Bedford and Fall River public schools. The charter school’s attempt to pull away students interested in early access to college, coupled with the expected draining of resources, threatens to undermine early college opportunities for the larger population of students attending the districts’ public schools.
In a commentary published in regional newspapers, Roy, an educator at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School, sharply criticized the lack of services anticipated for students with special needs, pointing out that the school says in its state application that it will only hire one part-time counselor and two adjustment counselors. In comparison, a similarly sized school in New Bedford has about 40 staff members on-site who are dedicated to addressing student behavior and special needs.
Yet the ICS application is spearheaded by former public school administrators and supported by well-connected political and business figures in the region.
MTA President Merrie Najimy condemned this further privatization attack on schools in the New Bedford area.
"New Bedford public schools have been grossly underfunded for decades, and thanks to the effort by educators and public education advocates to win passage of the Student Opportunity Act, millions of dollars in state aid are finally flowing into the public schools that serve largely Black and brown populations," she said. "It is completely reprehensible that a group of politically connected education privatizers is now trying to rob these resources from the students and the community."
