It’s too bad, Lisa Begley and the Haverhill Education Association (HEA) would rather see a successful school fail than do what they can to help improve education for all students. If the enrollment and lottery of Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School was truly the issue, she could've helped the school in their campaign to improve outreach to lower income-higher needs students. She could have led an effort to help the city get more Horace Mann Schools or, at the least, see what they might be doing that could help other schools. Instead, Ms. Begley changed the way the game was played. In the past, the union members of Silver Hill voted for or against the charter. For the first time, Ms. Begley opened the voting to the entire membership. In short, the charter-busting union that is the Mass Teachers Association (MTA), along with the HEA, and the National Education Association (NEA), gave Ms. Begley the direction of putting a nail in the coffin of charter schools in Massachusetts.
Horace Mann Charter Schools in Massachusetts do not receive additional funding from the state beyond their initial charter authorization. In terms of funding, Silver Hill has a lower per-student funding than any other school in Haverhill. They currently spend less per student than the rest of the city. Losing their charter means the city will need to more equitably split that pie, this will cause per-student spending to decrease for all the other schools in order to bring Silver Hill up to meet the new level of funding.
Horace Mann schools have a lottery system that is open to all students in Haverhill. Part of the job of the school, part of the requirements of the charter, is to actively recruit students from the entire community to enter into the lottery so everyone can have a chance to be part of this school. The only preferential treatment in the lottery is given to siblings of existing students. This preferential acceptance is the law. Aside from this, Silver Hill has been actively campaigning in the community to get a lottery that more closely matches the demographics of Haverhill.
Frankly, this action by the HEA and MTA was simply an act against charter schools. Just a few weeks ago, the MTA refused to honor Massachusetts’ first teacher nationally recognized as Teacher of the Year, Sydney Chaffee, simply because she taught at a charter school. In November, the MTA and Massachusetts Federation of Teachers (AFT-Ma) urged their members to vote against Commonwealth Charter Schools. The message though was and has always been, against all charter schools. I know this because I am a member of the AFT-Ma. I got the emails, I got the “used car” sales pitch. I saw what this was, a campaign against charter schools and against giving parents a choice in their child’s education.
Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School teachers are full, “card carrying” members of the HEA, MTA, NEA. They pay the same amount in dues but did not get the same representation. In fact, the money these teachers paid in dues was used to wage a campaign against the very place they teach at. The union, that is supposed to protect the teachers and serve what is in the best interest of their students, has failed both. Silver Hill School was on the brink of entering into receivership by the state. Since becoming a Horace Mann Charter School, Silver Hill has achieved Level-1 status on MCAS. The union, the mayor, the superintendent, each had no problem sharing in the accomplishment of this school then, but have since abandoned their cause.
Let’s do our children a favor, get politics and false narratives out of education. Let’s all strive for what works, and when we find it promise our kids we will do everything to keep it going - and even do it better.
-Michael Bowler
