Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker called for fast action on charter schools in his inaugural speech on Thursday.
Baker said traditional public schools will always be the backbone of the education system, but...
"We need more high performing public charter schools, especially in under performing school districts.”
Baker's predecessor, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick, had been cool to charter schools. Last year, the Massachusetts House passed a bill lifting a cap on the number of charters, but the Senate let the proposal die.
Baker has appointed a charter school advocate as the state’s new education secretary.
In the inaugural speech, Baker also praised the turnaround of the Lawrence school system, which is in state receivership. And he said closing the achievement gap between students of different racial and economic backgrounds is one of his top priorities.
