Policy Order O-1

WHEREAS: Cambridge spends approximately $10,500,000 annually on Charter School tuition; and

WHEREAS: Charter Schools such as the Community Charter School of Cambridge face an attrition rate of up to 59% of their students between grades 9 and 12, which is much greater than CRLS' average 10% class size reduction during grades between grades 9 and 12; and

WHEREAS: The City of Cambridge does not have readily available information about what Charter Schools its residents are attending, during what grades they attend Charter Schools, how successful their Charter School experience has been and how the cap on Charter School enrollment, and possible changes to it, impact both the City's budget and residents' educational options; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the School Committee with the view in mind to request the Superintendent of Schools to provide data, broken down by each relevant Charter School, about Cambridge students attending Charter Schools, to include demographic information, graduation rates, transfer rates into and out of each Charter school by grade, disciplinary actions if available by donating district, college attendance and graduation rates and any other information that might help the Council better understand the role of Charter Schools as an option for Cambridge residents, as part of the annual City budget presentation to the City Council; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back to the City Council on how this information might be structured; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back to the City Council with an enrollment report styled as requested for the School Year 2014-2015.