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Patrick questions charter school OK
By James Vaznis

Controversy over a new charter school in Gloucester is emerging as a flashpoint in a statewide debate over a proposed expansion of charter schools that is now pitting the state’s education commissioner against the governor.

Governor Deval Patrick took the unusual step last week of sending a letter to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education asking its board to reconsider its approval of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School in February, after Gloucester officials and residents deluged him with complaints over the approval process.

In that letter, the governor expressed concern that the “deep division within the Gloucester community’’ was erupting at a time when people need to come together to support his efforts to expand charter schools and launch other efforts to overhaul education.

“For any of these innovations to launch successfully, it is important that the community members feel that their concerns have been heard,’’ he wrote.

But on Tuesday, Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, and Maura Banta, the board’s chairwoman, rejected the governor’s request for a revote, arguing that it would be illegal under state law.

Because the charter was granted, the only action the board could take would be to revoke the charter for cause, such as a material misrepresentation of facts, according to the letter, which was obtained by the Globe.

Chester and Banta did not respond to requests for interviews.

Finish reading Boston Globe article by clicking here.

Board: Gov. off base on charter
Education panel: Patrick's call would violate state statute
By Patrick Anderson

State education officials have refused Gov. Deval Patrick's call to reconsider the approval of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School, saying that such a move is illegal.

When Patrick's call for charter nullification was made public Tuesday, Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester and state Board of Education Chairwoman Maura Banta responded with a letter, acquired by the Times yesterday, arguing that his suggestion would violate statute and further inflame tensions over their controversial February vote.

They said legally, once approved by the board, the charter could not be reconsidered, only revoked for cause.

Chester and Banta said they would, as suggested by the governor, schedule another public hearing in Gloucester on the charter "as expeditiously as possible."

The fledgling, arts-focused independent public school in Gloucester, whose founders have been looking for a downtown site and executive director, has appeared this week to fall in the middle of a larger political battle over education policy in Massachusetts.

Finish reading Gloucester Daily Times article by clicking here.