New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell wrote this letter to the Massachusetts education commissioner on November of 2018 opposing the renewal of a charter for the City on a Hill charter school in New Bedford.
Original Title
Mitchell's letter opposing City on a Hill charter renewal
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell wrote this letter to the Massachusetts education commissioner on November of 2018 opposing the renewal of a charter for the City on a Hill charter school in New Bedford.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell wrote this letter to the Massachusetts education commissioner on November of 2018 opposing the renewal of a charter for the City on a Hill charter school in New Bedford.
City OF NEW BEDFORD
JONATHAN F. MITCHELL, MAYOR
November 8, 2018
Joffrey C. Riley
‘Commissioner, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148
Re: Cit ill} iford's Application for. ewal
Dear Commissioner Riley:
L write to oppose City on a Hill-New Bedford's ("COAH-New Bedford's") application to renew
its charter, which the Board of Blementary end Secondary Education will soon take under
consideration. I believe COAH-New Bedford has failed to deliver the quality of educational
services that would justify the continued imposition of the schoo!'s signifieght cost to the City of
New Bedford. ’
In 2012, Boston-based City on a Hill approached me with the idea of establishing a state-
chartered high school of some 280 students. Although I did not then -- nor now ~ object
categorically to charter schools, as I believe under the right circumstance charter schools can
serve a valuable role in incubating innovation in education, I voiced my opposition to COAH's
application in a letter to then-Commissioner Mitchell Chester (attached hereto). As set forth in
the letter, I expressed grave concer about City on a Hill-Boston's track record, especially its
staggering student attrition rate of 55%. In my view, the fact that less than half of the school’s
freshman made it to their senior year belied City on a Hill-Boston's contention that its MCAS.
scores and four year graduation rate were a mark of success. Equally disturbing was the
evidence of college readiness of City on a Hill-Boston graduates, who had an Advanced
Placement test passing rate of a paltry 1.7%, Despite these concems, as well as the potential
financial imposition on the City of a new cherter school and a dearth of community support, the
Board allowed COAH-New Bedford's application.
‘After four years of operation, COAH!'s performance in New Bedford has turned out to be worse
than feared, Last Spring, the school graduated its first class of seniors. The class began with 88
students in 2014-15, and a mere 25 graduated, representing an attrition rate of 71%. As the chart
below indicates, this wasn't just a first year glitch. The next year’s class lost some 60% of its
students before their junior year, and the following year's class lost nearly 42% by their
Crry HALL + 133 WILLIAM STREET + NEW BEDFORD, MA 02740 + TEL! (508) 979-1410 + FAX: (508) 991-6189sophomore year. After leaving COAH-New Bedford, voluntarily or otherwise, many, if not most
of these students became the responsibility of New Bedford High School.
City on a Hill - New Bedford Enrollment
School Year Grade9 [Grade10_| Grade ti | Grade 12
2014-15 0 0 0
2015-16 0 0
2016-17 0
2017-18 107 cain
‘The data collected by DESE on student discipline at COAH-New Bedford tends to affirm
aneedotal evidence that the school is engaged in a practice of pushing students with disciplinary
problems out the door. Of the school’s student body, the percentage of students disciplined is
18.5%, compared with about 0.5% at New Bedford Public Schools (and 11% at New Bedford
High School). Perhaps more alarmingly, the school ranks seventh highest statewide in the
percentage of students suspended out of school (14%).
‘One would presume that with the significant attrition of lower performing students, the school's
overall performance would be artificially higher. Remarkably, this has not been the case, Most
notably, City on a Hill-New Bedford's performance, as measured by DESE’s new accountability
index, ranked in the fourth percentile statewide, the /owest among high schools in New Bedford.
Consider also the school’s latest MCAS scores, which across key categories pre either on par
‘with or below that of New Bedford High School, a comprehensive high setigol of more than two.
thousand students that has a higher percentage of English Language Leamets and special
education students than COAH-New Bedford. F
‘When COAH-New Bedford originally applied for its charter, one could have colorably argued
that a new charter high school would be in the Citys interest ~- despite the significant financial
burden that would come with it -- because the district's schools had yet to demonstrate that they
could make progress on their own. DESE had placed the district under monitoring in 2011 after
numerous warnings over many years. Although I made clear when I came into office in 2012
that we would push forward with school reform, there simply had not been a long enough
opportunity for me and our school committee to demonstrate the seriousness of our commitment
by the time COAH's-New Bedford's charter application came before the Board.
The same cannot be said today. Any casual observer of the education scene in New Bedford the
last five years would have to acknowledge that we meant what we said. The school committee
and I have pushed reform in New Bedford in ways and to a degree of intensity unlike anything
before. After COAH-New Bedford's charter was issued, the district hired an established
"tumaround” superintendent, whose aggressive reform efforts the committee and I backed, often
in the face of considerable political pushback. Every facet of the district has been reformed, and
a strong foundation has been laid for continued progress.
Asa result, the district has made undeniable progress, including in significant growth in MCAS,
AP testing, and the four year graduation rate. ‘The progress led DESE last year to remove thedistrict monitor, a momentous step given the state ofthe district in 2011. In explaining its
decision, DESE noted the district’s “culture of inquiry, accountability, and support reaches well
beyond the superintendent's office into the schools and key departments,” with school principals
and other instructional leaders acting as “authors and leaders of many of the important initiatives
contained in the plan." The report also acknowledged how the district has successfully responded
to significant challenges the district has faced, including the influx of English Learners, which.
now comprise 29.8% of the district's population.
DESE's assessment of the district's dramatic progress was punctuated by Laura Richane, the
Department's supervisor of district reviews and monitoring, in her presentation to the New
Bedford School Committee on August 24, 2017. She noted that the district’s progress “stands in
marked contrast to the concerns raised in the Department's 2011 district review report,” with
“the last report six years ago deseribfing] an exiremely different district than you have now...
[W]e are seeing things operate much more effectively, we're seeing decisions made in the best
interests of kids, resources are being used more: effectively, much more: coordination,
supervision, and support. I can’t emphasize this enough, there has becn a huge, huge step
forward here and I hope you'll really be proud of that progress.” (emphasis added). The School
Committee has emphatically reaffirmed its commitment to reform this year by hiring anew
cuporintendent with a track record of success to carry on the effort.
What may have made sense five years ago, does not make sense now. City on a Hill's foray into
New Bedford has not worked out. The schoo! has not produced results, despite its apparent
practice of weeding out lower performing students. Nor has it engendered anything resembling
strong community support, while the district, in the Department's estimation, ‘has'made a "a huge,
huge step forward." Given the significant financial cost -of the school to a city that has struggled
even to meet its net school spending obligations, and the lost opportunity of its students who
have attended COAH-New Bedford, | believe it is in the best interest of the City and its children,
not to renew the charter.
Adcration.
‘Thank you for Wh
(vio attachment): New Bedford School Committee
‘Thomas Anderson, Superintendent
Linda Morad, President, New Bedford City Council
New Bedford State Legislative Delegation
Kevin Taylor, City on a Hill Public Charter Schoo