Massachusetts voted against expanding school choice on Tuesday, as ballot initiative Question 2 was voted down with approximately 62 percent opposed.
If passed, the initiative would have authorized up to 12 additional charter schools or charter school expansions per year.
The vote was hotly contested, with teachers’ unions pouring money into the state to oppose charter school expansion. As of Oct. 31, they’d raised more than $12.5 million to oppose the proposal, with various campaigns in favor raising a combined $21.9 million.
Despite being outraised, polls showed the proposal faced long odds of passage on Election Day, with an average of 47 percent opposed in the last two polls and 43 percent in favor.
Charter school expansion enjoyed bipartisan support, with Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, and Democrats for Education Reform in favor. United States Secretary of Education John King also said he would vote in favor if he lived in Massachusetts.
But opposition was strong, including by famous politicians such as former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and former Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. Many labor unions and NAACP groups were also opposed.
A study by the centrist Brookings Institution found that the cap on the number of charter schools in Massachusetts hurt disadvantaged students. The study found that “the evidence is that for disadvantaged students in urban areas of Massachusetts, charter schools do better than traditional public schools.”
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
