Mid-day Tuesday, Congressman Seth Moulton cast his ballot, begrudgingly voting in favor of Question 2 to support charter school expansion. “It’s a tough question, and I think it’s such a shame when clearly, people on both sides of this debate want better schools for our kids...no matter where they grow up,” Moulton said in an interview with Boston Public Radio. “It’s a shame that this has become such a partisan, acrimonious fight.”
We need Governor Baker and the legislature to do their jobs, then maybe a 'yes' vote will force them to do their jobs.
A ‘yes’ vote on Question 2 would lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts, authorizing the Mass. Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve up to 12 new charter schools every year. According to Moulton, the legislature has a responsibility to fund district schools as students transition into the charter school system— which it has failed to do. “We’ve made a commitment that we would fund district schools for that transition, and then Governor Baker and the legislature failed to do it. They failed to do it,” Moulton said. “That’s why a big charter-school supporter like [Mayor] Marty Walsh said that he’s going to vote ‘no’ on the question, because he’s worried about that funding gap.”
Moulton said he remains optimistic that his ‘yes’ vote will motivate Baker and the legislature to fund district schools. “The status quo hasn’t gotten the governor and the legislature to act, and voting ‘no’ is the status quo,” Moulton said. “We need Governor Baker and the legislature to do their jobs, then maybe a ‘yes’ vote will force them to do their jobs. Maybe it helps some of those kids in the poorest neighborhoods in our state who don’t have the option to move to a different community or go to a private school to get a better education.”
