FOR MOST FAMILIES, August represents the dog days of summer. Temperatures are at their hottest. Camp is winding down. And the beginning of the school year is still weeks away.

But not for students at Massachusetts public charter schools, where students are already in the classroom and beginning their school year.

It’s no secret that our state’s public charters perform exceptionally well. According to numerous independent studies, from Stanford, Harvard, and MIT, our public charter schools are the best in the nation. And, according to the latest state data, Boston’s three Brooke Charter schools are the best performing public schools of any kind in Massachusetts.

There are a number of reasons for Massachusetts’ public charter schools’ success: individualized instruction, quality teachers, and a strong culture of learning.

But one of the biggest reasons our public charter students are succeeding is the time they spend in school. In addition to longer school years, school days themselves are longer. While a traditional district school day in Boston is 6.1 hours long, school days at Boston charter schools are 8.2 hours long, translating into real academic gains.

Compared to district school peers, charter students gain 1.5 more months of learning per year in reading and 2.5 more months of learning per year in math.  In Boston’s charter schools, these longer school days add up to nearly 10 extra weeks of school annually (48 days).

But additional time doesn’t just give low-income children the opportunity to do more math and reading. It also provides real opportunities for these students to study art and music, to explore science, and to engage in activities that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them.

In this way, public charters help close not only the academic achievement gap but also the “experience gap” that exists between children of means—whose families can afford to invest in these experiences during afterschool hours—and those living in or near poverty.

Unfortunately, across the state there are nearly 33,000 children waiting for access to public charter schools. Because of an outdated, arbitrary cap, many of these students are stuck in failing or underperforming schools for no reason other than their zip code.

The thing is, public charters don’t just boost student achievement – they also provide a financial boost for our educational system as a whole. Indeed, whenever a new public charter school opens, Massachusetts provides traditional public school districts with additional state aid. As a result, over the last five years alone, public charters have increased overall education spending on public education more than $236 million.

A longer school year, impressive results and additional funding are but three reasons why voting Yes on Question 2 on this November’s ballot is so important. By lifting the cap on public charters, we can give every child the opportunity to benefit from Massachusetts’ world-class public education system. We can give them the exceptional educational experience every child deserves. And most important of all, we can ensure no one is left out.

Jon Clark is the Co-Director of Brooke Charter Schools, which operates four public charter schools in Boston.

9 replies on “More time in school key to charter success”

  1. No, more time in school is not “key” to Brooke Charter Schools success. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has some interesting information on the Brooke Charter Schools’ K-8 operations. On 7/31/2015, Jon Clark acknowledged in an application to increase enrollment and add a high school that “Currently, all three Brooke campuses “backfill” students through 4th grade. If this amendment were to be approved, Brooke would be required under the existing statute to backfill through 6th grade.” Brooke Charter School’s success is all about not accepting students after 4th grade. How would that practice work out if every public school in Massachusetts didn’t accept students after 4th grade? VOTE NO on Question 2.

  2. Jon Clark is more than “the Co-Director of Brooke Charter Schools.” John Clarke is the president of Great Schools Massachusetts and one of that groups three founding directors.

  3. The Boston Globe’s article, “Donors behind charter push keep to the shadows,” dated 8/20/2016 had the following statement: “Great Schools for Massachusetts’ president is Jon Clark, codirector of operations of the Brooke Charter School network; the treasurer is Christopher W. Collins, a cofounder of First Atlantic Capital, a Boston real estate investment firm; and the clerk is Naomi Roth-Gaudette, managing director of organizing at Families for Excellent Schools. Clark and Collins did not return messages.” So while Jon Clark is taking time to write a glowing commentary on the charter schools he founded for CommonWealth, he “did not return messages” to answer questions from The Globe’s reporter on the dark money backing the Great Schools group he founded. Looks like Clark headed for the same shadows where the dark money backing his group lurks. VOTE NO on Question 2.

  5. If any of CommonWealth’s readers would like first hand information on Jon Clark’s organization, Great Schools Massachusetts, then go to the Secretary of State’s Office of Campaign & Political Finance’s website, click on “Browse registered filers & reports,” then click on “All Candidates” for the drop down box then click on “Ballot Question Committees,” then scroll down to “Great Schools Massachusetts” then click on “data” where you can choose either receipts or expenditures. The expenditures show up like a checkbook. For the 2015 year end report 8/20/15 – 12/31/2015 Great Schools spent $305,000 to collect the signatures to get the “lift the cap” question on the ballot making five payments to J.E.F. Associates, Inc. but then there are thousands of dollars in payments to individuals for gathering signatures – many don’t even live in Massachusetts: Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Montana, and Michigan. Did Jon Clark fly in professional signature gatherers? The cost for those clipboard holders was almost $100,000. And then there’s the $107,282.40 to National Ballot Access a “for profit” company that collects signatures for ballot initiatives. That’s a total of around $510,000. Doesn’t that work out to more than $5 for each signature collected? Is that some kind of record for Massachusetts? Great Schools gave the appearance the signatures were collected by parents and supporters of charter schools. Does that mean there were no parents and supporters of charter schools willing to stand outside supermarkets for their cause? Is support for charter schools a mile wide and an inch deep?

  6. About four or five years ago I came across an article stating charter schools get around 35% of their students from private and parochial schools. Has anyone looked into how many students attending charter schools in Massachusetts were previously enrolled in a private or parochial school? That’s a charter school cost that should be investigated.

  7. Anyhow, Jon Clark’s Great Schools Massachusetts hired another public relations specialist. The first one is Eileen O’Connor wife of Will Keyser, Keyser Public Strategies. The second is Josiane Martinez of Archipelago Strategies. Both names are now listed on Great Schools press releases along with their email addresses but no phone numbers. That way the conversation is one sided…all pro-charter chatter..all the time. Not providing a phone number gives them an edge and keeps them out of the spotlight. In newspaper articles Eileen O’Connor is referred to as the “Great Schools spokeswoman.”

  8. If local districts weren’t having state aid diverted to charters, they could likely afford longer days, too, don’t you think?

  9. Here’s a news flash: Jon Clark’s organization, Great Schools Massachusetts, may have flown in out-of-state professional signature gatherers to get its charter school question on the ballot. While it appears about $510,000 was spent in total to collect those signatures, almost $100,000 of that was paid to out-of-state people hailing from Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Montana, and Michigan. Did Great Schools also pay roundtrip air fare, hotel accommodations and car rental costs for those professionals? How is it possible for Great Schools to get Governor Baker to stand in the pouring rain at a rally for charter schools but couldn’t find volunteers living in Massachusetts to hold clipboards and solicit signatures for more charter schools? Doesn’t that raise a question on exactly how much public support there is for more charter schools?

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