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Even in union-free charter schools, leaders are embracing a virtual start to the school year

By James Vaznis on August 25, 2020

Jessie Mae Leger worked on a touchless hand sanitizer dispenser in a classroom at Boston Preparatory Charter School in Boston. The former high school cafeteria was converted into a classroom to allow for social distancing.

As teachers unions statewide continue their push to keep classrooms closed this fall, another sector of public education, largely free of unionized teachers, has also jumped onto the remote learning wave: charter schools.

All 15 of Boston’s independently run charter schools have decided with little public fanfare to start classes in cyberspace — a broad consensus that suggests the reluctance to reopen classrooms this fall goes well beyond teachers union agendas. Only City on a Hill Charter School in Roxbury has unionized teachers.

Some charter leaders who initially were hoping to kick off school with a mix of in-person and remote learning said they have noticed increasing hesitation about reopening classrooms in their surveys and virtual town hall meetings.

Read more via the Boston Globe >>