Gloucester Charter School Defies State And Opens

[Recursion]

The opening of Gloucester Community Arts Charter School sounded more like a pep rally than the first day of class. After a year-and-a-half battle over the school, Thursday was a celebration for the parents, students and the school’s executive director, Tony Blackman, who held a framed copy of the charter.

“The bottom line is that this document, this charter, this is a legally chartered school, empowered by this state to educate these children,” Blackman said.

The charter is signed by Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester, who earlier this week wrote a letter to the school warning it not to open because he no longer believes it’s viable. Last year, e-mails revealed Chester pushed for state support — against the advice of the Charter School Office — as a way to advance the governor’s education agenda. Now he says the school’s opening has been mismanaged and may have violated the state’s construction and procurement laws.

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Now, parents believe the state will have little legal reason to shut down the school. The temporary modular buildings have passed inspection and it’s staffed and almost fully enrolled with 85 students. But pressure is still on to close the school. State Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, has written to Gov. Deval Patrick to ask him to pull funding because he says there are too many irregularities in the process.

http://www.wbur.org/2010/09/24/gloucester-charter