Keller @ Large: Charter School Battle A Civil Rights Issue

BOSTON (CBS) - Is there a public-policy issue in our time that has brought out more of the worst in some people than the debate over charter schools?

It's been more than 20 years now since the concept of public schools, regulated by the state but free from union work rules, was introduced here as an alternative to failing conventional schools and a spur to their reform. Not all charter schools succeed, but enough do to prompt overwhelming demand – the waiting list in Boston alone is nearly 20,000 names long.

But after many years of strong bi-partisan support for charters, the movement seems derailed. The teacher unions effectively lobbied last year to keep a cap on the number of charters, which means thousands of mostly-poor families are stuck in their struggling – but unionized! – conventional schools.

Some well-meaning liberal Democrats I know of who are sympathetic to concerns about funding and corporate involvement in charters tried to cut the kids a break, with no luck.

So now some big-name Boston lawyers are teaming up to take the state to court over the constitutionality of the cap. "This is…an issue of civil rights…which the Legislature…has failed to act on," one of them tells the Globe.

It's also a moment of truth for the local teacher union leadership, one of whom looked me in the eye awhile back and claimed families were fleeing charter schools in droves because the school day ran too long. They hate the charter movement, and want to kill it. But all their clout is with politicians. The public wants more charters, and the court may well agree they should have them.

And that would leave the union bosses in the catch-basin of history swimming alongside other infamous local civil-rights deniers who had to be stopped by the courts.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.