Pro-Charter School Question Drawing Out-of-State Backers

BOSTON (AP) — A ballot question aimed at expanding charter schools in Massachusetts is being funded by a network of deep-pocketed groups and backers, with much of the money coming from out of state.

Nearly half of the $12 million raised to support the question comes from the New York-based pro-charter group Families for Excellent Schools.

There are strong ties between the administration of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, a long-time charter school proponent, and the groups supporting the ballot question.

Baker’s hand-picked chairman of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Paul Sagan, contributed $100,000 to support the question and James Peyser, chosen by Baker to serve as state’s secretary of education, formerly served as a trustee for Families for Excellent Schools.

The group said it’s organizing families desperate for a better education.