Brianne Hinchliffe

Charter schools already receive about $9,000 per student in state funding, compared to the average of $4,128 per student given to public schools. There’s no statewide evidence they outperform district public schools, making this priority hard to justify. 6,000+ public-school students are already approved to have their schools upgraded. This bill puts Charter Schools ahead of them. There is a ~$200M backlog in district school projects that need to be funded. Towns still must build and repair schools. When the legislature keeps voting down funding for public school building aid, that means that those costs fall on local taxpayers like myself. Charter Schools should NOT cut to the front of the line for these scarce funds. Charter schools are held to lower standards of oversight and accountability than public schools. And unlike public schools, which are legally required to serve all learners, charter schools can and do cherry pick only the best applicants. Public schools must come first.