Speaker DeLeo backs charter school options for districts

BOSTON – Massachusetts school districts should be allowed to pursue charter schools if they want, Speaker Robert DeLeo told his colleagues in the House of Representatives Wednesday, stirring up an issue in his annual address to the House that has been mired in the Senate where charters are viewed with skepticism.

"Districts that want charters should be given the chance to pursue them, or any other option that they may deem necessary, in order to do right by their students," the Winthrop Democrat said. "We may not always agree on how we get there, but we must respond collectively to students who call out for opportunity."