Speakers at a Massachusetts legislative committee hearing urged changes to how the state reimburses districts for students who leave for charter schools and called for stronger fiscal review of charter expansions.

The testimony centered on bills before the committee that would change charter reimbursement schedules and limit or better account for charter expansions. Parents, local educators and academic researchers described lost local revenue, the distributional effects on district programs and evidence on charter school performance.

"Open enrollment can be a really important tool for creating more access to, equity and opportunity," said Dr. Kara Burke Powers, a Worcester parent and Massachusetts state director for Brown's Promise, adding that Worcester has entered the bottom 10 percent on the MCAS and is losing funds to new charter seats. "I hope that folks will consider favorably the bill on fixing the fourth, adding a fourth year and fixing the second year for charter reimbursement," she said.

Keith Michonne, president of the Fall River Educators Association, gave a local funding example: "In FY25, Fall River sent $34,000,000 to charter schools. The state reimbursed just $7,300,000 of that amount." He told the committee that if the reimbursement schedule in one bill had been in place, Fall River would have received about $1,800,000 more, which he said would support programs such as expanded pre-K and high-dosage tutoring.

A witness speaking about Amherst said local charter enrollments are small in headcount but represent meaningful tuition outflows: the witness said the region's two charter schools enroll 71 Amherst elementary students and estimated FY26 tuition payments of about $1,900,000 from the district with only $252,000 in expected reimbursement; the witness said House bill 512 would reduce Amherst's payments to charters by roughly $700,000.

Researchers offered contrasting but related evidence. Erin Heine, executive director of MIT Blueprint Labs, summarized lottery-based research: "The findings are clear. Massachusetts charter schools, particularly in urban centers, generate substantial benefits," and she said some urban charters show large test-score gains and increased college outcomes for students from underserved groups.

Elizabeth Setran, Gunnar Bridal Professor of Economics at Tufts University, described research on the 2010 achievement gap act and its aftermath in Boston, saying the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education tended to allow higher-performing charter networks to expand and that expansions produced positive effects on MCAS math and English scores in Boston.

Other witnesses urged the board to consider fiscal impacts before granting new charter seats. One committee participant asked for a favorable report on Senate 378, describing it as a bill to require the board to consider the effect of new or expanded charters on other students and to act within budgetary constraints.

No formal committee action was taken during the testimony portion; witnesses were presenting for the record and asking the committee to report bills favorably so the legislature can consider changes to reimbursement schedules and charter oversight.

The committee heard or referenced several bills during testimony, including House 632 (enrollment preferences for high-need students), H577 and S389, Senate 378 (financial impact of charter schools), House 512, House 521, House 4511 and Senate 2614. Committee chairs were referred to in testimony as "chairs Gordon and Lewis."