Leading Massachusetts Newspapers Endorse Question 2

15 Massachusetts newspapers have joined the chorus of support for Question 2, which would lift the cap on Massachusetts’ best-in-the-nation public charter schools. These editorial endorsements reflect the growing support across the Commonwealth for Question 2 headed into Tuesday’s election.

• The Boston Globe says: “Massachusetts has been a leader in public education for centuries; the commitment to cherish education is even written into the state constitution. In that spirit, the Globe endorses “yes” on Question 2, in the hope that it will write the next chapter in one of the Commonwealth’s great success stories.”

• The Bay State Banner says: “A “yes” vote on Question 2 is a vote for academic innovation. Vote “yes,” for the children’s sake."
• The Daily Hampshire Gazette says: “we urge voters to throw their neighbors an educational lifeline by voting yes on Question 2.”

• The Lowell Sun says: “charters are a kid’s civil right,” while denouncing the special interests opposing Question 2 for running a “race-baiting media ad campaign pitting the safe and secure suburbs against the gritty urban centers desperately in need of educational options.”

• The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune says: charters “give worried parents another option when they feel local districts are failing their children.”

• The Boston Herald says “There are 32,000 children stuck on waiting lists for enrollment in a charter school. There is a path out for those kids, but for too many families the existing enrollment cap is blocking that path. Question 2 deserves to pass.”


• The Springfield Republican says “a ‘yes’ on Question 2 is a statement that we know our children, especially but not solely from the inner cities, can do better. Lifting the cap is the way to answer what education should always be about by giving them that chance.”

• The MetroWest Daily News says: “We support more funding for education, distributed according to a more equitable formula. But we must not sacrifice the state’s neediest children on the altar of district school budgets. We urge a YES vote on Question 2.”

• The Sentinel & Enterprise says: “Vote "Yes" on Question 2 and be proud that a kid will get a choice to go to a better public school, rather than leaving it up to chance that it'll ever happen.”

• The New Bedford Standard Times says: “Because students need more opportunities; because public school districts need incentives for action; and because the Legislature hasn’t done enough, we recommend you vote Yes on Question 2 between now and Nov. 8.”
• The Gloucester Times says: “There are more than 30,000 children on a waiting list for a charter school in Massachusetts. It is time they had an opportunity to receive the education their parents wish for them.”

• The Boston Business Journal says: “For businesses whose futures rely on a strong talent pool in the state and a full pipeline of high school and college graduates in the years ahead, the choice on how to vote for Question 2 should be a simple one...We join AIM, Gov. Charlie Baker, the Alliance for Business Leadership, the Democrats for Education Reform, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, in hoping the ballot passes...”

• The Milford Daily News says: “We support more funding for education, distributed according to a more equitable formula. But we must not sacrifice the state’s neediest children on the altar of district school budgets. We urge a YES vote on Question 2.”

• The Salem News: “Massachusetts has some of the best charter schools in the nation, many of them situated here on the North Shore. At their best, they drive innovation at traditional schools and give worried parents another option when they feel local districts are failing their children.”


• The Providence Journal says: “Education has always been the path to achievement. Economic interests invested in the status quo have spent millions of dollars in a bid to defeat Question 2. We hope voters look beyond the scare tactics. Massachusetts should strive to use proven, creative means to help all students succeed. Charter schools are an important part of the mix.”



Massachusetts is home to the best public charter schools in the nation, with a proven, 20-year track record of providing an excellent education to all children, and strengthening Massachusetts’ best-in-the-nation public education system.

If passed, Question 2 would allow the state Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to approve up to 12 new charter schools, or expansions of existing schools, with preference given to lowest 25% performing districts. Nine communities that have reached their cap on charter enrollment, or have room for only one additional charter school, would be impacted by Question 2: Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Springfield and Worcester. The remainder of school districts in the Commonwealth would see no impact.