By Andrew Flamang and Joe Williams
(From the Boston Herald, Monday, May 30, 2011)
For the better part of two decades, there has been an uncomfortable relationship between the city of Boston and the public charter schools that have opened to answer a demand for more high-quality public education options.
But recently Mayor Thomas Menino announced that the city was prepared to sign a groundbreaking agreement with its charter schools that would create a harmonious and cooperative relationship among all public schools in Boston.
The compact will be one of only a handful across the country — and it has the potential to put Boston on the map as a leader in cooperation between a city and its public charter schools.
In three concise pages, the compact takes major steps toward alleviating some longstanding areas of disagreement. It is essentially a grand bargain that would allow public charters serving Boston students to share resources with the school district in exchange for these public charters making some changes to their student recruitment and transportation policies.