Stand Up for Worcester Public School – Say ‘No’ to New Charter Schools
Commissioner Riley, MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
The privately run charter school that Old Sturbridge Village is proposing for the city of Worcester is unacceptable. The school as planned will not offer anything that is not already currently available in Worcester Public Schools yet will undermine the traditional public schools by siphoning away more than $7 million annually, resulting in possible staff and program cuts.
Show your support for the schools that educate the vast majority of Worcester’s students by signing this petition to demand that state education officials not approve OSV’s proposed “Cultural Academy.”
Sponsored by
To:
Commissioner Riley, MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
From:
[Your Name]
We demand that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education reject the application by Old Sturbridge Village to open a new charter school in Worcester.
After decades of underfunding from the state, Worcester Public Schools are finally back on track to receive the resources that students need thanks to the passage of the Student Opportunity Act in 2019. This charter school proposal will nearly wipe out those funds, leaving Worcester Public Schools students in the same predicament that the Student Opportunity Act was designed to correct.
Furthermore, Worcester Public Schools has a new administration which should not be hobbled by yet another charter scheme. Worcester Public Schools already lose more than $30 million annually to charter operators. As our schools emerge with new leadership following a period of intense trauma for the community, our public schools should not be forced to give one penny more to these privately run businesses that are not accountable to our elected municipal representatives.
The school being proposed by OSV does not offer anything that is not already available in Worcester Public Schools. By duplicating programs and destabilizing the schools that educate the vast majority of students, approving this charter school would likely lead to some students losing opportunities to access programs should the public schools be forced to make budgetary cuts.
The proposed charter school also will have minimal social and emotional supports for students. As our public schools contend with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, social and emotional services cannot be relegated to a secondary status, which they would be at the charter school given its proposed budget.
This proposed school brings nothing new to Worcester and will hurt the very students it claims it wants to serve. The best way to serve the students and families of Worcester is to protect the Worcester Public Schools’ programs, staff by denying this charter application.