This year, ballot question two gives citizens the choice whether to give charter schools more funding or not. This question will allow 12 new charter schools to open in Massachusetts at the expense of public schools.

Charter schools are public schools that are open to the public, but can only be entered by a raffle, if seats are available. Although charter schools must follow the same rules as public schools, they are not bound to the curriculum of a public school. They can change up the expectations of the students as they see fit for their population, similar to a private school.

As of now, only 8% of the Massachusetts school system are charter schools. This may seem like a small percentage of schools that are charter schools, but the amount of money spent on running schools that only 8% of  the Massachusetts population benefits from is shocking. This year alone charter schools took away $400 million from funding that could have been used for funding Massachusetts public schools.

According to US News, Massachusetts Public Schools are 5th in the US, charter schools don’t  bring a lot to the educational scene ofMassachusetts, the public schools are already some of the top performing in the US, what would it bring Massachusetts other than take away funding for public schools.

Sure maybe a few towns in Massachusetts have underperforming schools, but most of Massachusetts schools have some great public schools and do not see the benefits of charter schools.

Charter schools are only making public schools more underfunded and is just sucking money away form the main population to help a minority population in Massachusetts. Does it seem rational to spend millions of dollars to open schools that only less than 10% of the Massachusetts population can get into, according to Massachusetts Charter School Public Association, and will then decrease the amount of money public schools can use?

Maybe, some kids do well in a smaller environment setting, but is it really setting up a student for the outside world? Being with a larger group of people and teachers help one adapt to different settings and people. Having a smaller class size may help you focus better, but it doesn’t help you in the future when you don’t have the small class size in college and one on one help from teachers in college. No, it doesn’t. Being around different kinds of people and learning to adapt will help prepare a student for the outside world and college.

According to Massachusetts 2016 Ballot Questions, if this ballot question is passed the number of charter schools will triple in 10 years and take away from public school at least 1 billion dollars. Public schools are already underfunded as is and now they are going to be even more underpaid.

Think about this: What do you want for the future of education for students? What do you want for the future of education by public school?

Passing question two will decrease the fund for public schools, which will in turn impact the quality of education the students will receive. Vote NO for question two as it will only decrease the quality for the majority of student throughout Massachusetts.