Gloucester feels prod of political agenda
October 2, 2009
YOUR SEPT. 24 editorial (“A mistake, but nothing more - education chief should stay’’) confirms that Education Secretary Paul Reville was placating what he called “moderate allies’’ like “the Globe and the Boston Foundation’’ in pushing for a charter school in Gloucester. And it seems that action paid off with an editorial that lacks any attention to the long history of events and irregularities in the approval of the school. The Globe seems to subscribe to the same theory as Reville: The end justifies the means.
Furthermore, you praise Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s independence and credibility, yet the only documentation on this matter is a “do not recommend’’ report from the Department of Education’s own charter school office experts and Reville’s clear e-mail to Chester on Feb. 5th. The unfavorable recommendation said, “The founding group is not recommended to be chartered because overall they did not meet the criteria for the final charter application.’’ The report listed numerous weaknesses in the application and doubts about the school’s chances for success.
Chester claims that he had numerous discussions with his staff after the report, yet none are documented. It appears that the political agenda as stated in the Reville e-mail is the only motivation for approval, not the best interest of educating Gloucester’s children.
Our state and the city of Gloucester deserve much better.
Kathleen Clancy
Gloucester
Link to Kathy's Letter
And another letter:
Reville seems to have lost sense of the mission
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