Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 1993

Number of charter schools: 73

Number of charter students: 48,200

Cap on the number of schools allowed: Yes; 120 total - 72 Commonwealth and 48 Horace Mann charters.

Virtual charters allowed: No, but education collaboratives, which are associations of 2 or more school committees or boards of trustees of charter schools, are allowed to submit proposals to establish virtual schools.

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is the sole authorizer for the main type of charter schools, called Commonwealth charter schools and Horace Mann charter schools, which are traditional public schools or programs which operate under a charter approved by the district board of education and the local collective bargaining unit in the district in which the school is located. They also must have secondary approval from the State Board.

GROWTH: The cap of 72 Commonwealth charter schools has been reached, and both legislative efforts and a 2018 ballot initiative to lift the cap were unsuccessful. Forty-eight charters are reserved for Horace Mann charter schools. Of that student headcount, 15,757 unique students newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2023-2024 school year but a funding cap also limits growth - districts may send no more than 9% of per-pupil funding to charter schools.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools operate free from most regulations that apply to traditional public schools, one of the main reasons for the success of charter schools in the Commonwealth. Regarding virtual charter schools, while they are not permitted by law, groups of 2 or more school committees or boards of trustees of charter schools are allowed to submit proposals to establish a virtual school.

EQUITY: Charter schools are supposed to have equal access to all applicable categorical federal and state funding, including for pre-K. School districts are eligible to receive full or partial reimbursement of charter school expenses from state appropriations. The General Appropriations Act now funds charter tuition reimbursements at more than 90% per legislation mandating it and facilities costs are fully reimbursed at $938 per student. Horace Mann charter schools receive a tuition amount that is determined annually as part of their local school committee budget process. Funding levels deemed inequitable can be appealed to the commissioner. Additionally, Massachusetts law requires school districts to provide transportation to charter school students on the same basis as it is provided to regular public school students in the district.

Fast Facts:

USE OF STUDENT DATA IN EVALUATING TEACHER PREP

"Massachusetts requires educator preparation programs to collect and report data on evaluation ratings of teachers, which includes student growth."

This is just one indicator from The National Council on Teacher Quality, which collects and analyzes states on how well their policies and practices lead to well-prepared teachers. They collect data on state laws and regulations concerning the preparation of teachers, the policies that govern their oversight and the contracts that guide their employment. Learn more about your state here.