To: Governor Charlie Baker, Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, Senate President Stan Rosenberg, Mitchell Chester, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Paul Sagan, Chair of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Bostonians say NO to Lifting the Charter Cap (Question 2)

We, the undersigned students, parents and residents of Boston, urge Massachusetts voters to vote NO on ballot Question 2. If passed, Question 2 would lift the current charter cap and permit up to 12 additional charter schools each year, indefinitely, with no additional funding.

Question 2 will hurt our city and our children. Its passage will
• Significantly reduce district, school, and wider municipal budgets;
• Increase segregation and diminish resources for English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities;
• Decrease student and parent voice in the governance of our schools;
• Lead to public school closures, with a disproportionate impact in communities of color.

We believe that passage of Question 2 would significantly weaken families' choices for good schools in Boston, one of the top performing urban districts in the country. It would harm the public system the majority of us choose, the system that serves the largest number of our city students, including our most vulnerable children.

Vote NO on Question 2.

Why is this important?

The YOUNG Coalition (Youth Organizers United for the Now Generation) and the Boston parent group QUEST (Quality Education for Every Student) ask you to join us in expressing our concerns about the rapid expansion of charter schools via Question 2. We reject the notion that all Boston students, parents, and community members want is to escape our district public schools, the system that serves the vast majority of students in our city and one of the top urban school districts in the country. We say "Vote NO on Question 2."