he Portfolio of Schools model is proven not to work in mix income communities like Brockton. It devastates a community, and the middle class to move out to a suburban community that uses a unified school district model so their children can attend a neighborhood school. You do not see Lexington or Wellesley opening charter schools or moving to a "€œportfolio of schools"€ model. A community using a "portfolio of schools model" lacks predictability. It creates a two-tier school system and creates a community of "haves" and "have not's!" It doesn't answer the "middle class" question "where will my child go to school?" Boston Public Schools is a fine example of what happens when a community moves to a "portfolio of schools" model. Boston is trying to move back to neighborhood schools to reduce the $80 million they are spending on busing and to attract more middle class families. The traditional public schools in the East Zone (Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan) are the lowest scoring schools in the city. Why? Boston Public Schools allowed charters to saturate those communities with charter schools. This has devastated traditional schools in those areas. Charter schools "cherry pick" the higher and more motivated students (read active parents). They purport to accept students by lottery, but they don't tell you about the 15-page application to get a ticket! Charter school populations never match the demographic of English Language Learners or Special Education Students of the sending traditional public schools. Charters counsel out those students if, by chance, they make it thru the lottery and get a charter seat. Massachusetts state law states charters don't have to take the severely handicapped. Charter schools don't "backfill." Those seats remain empty when students leave, usually before MCAS when they are returned to the traditional schools. Filling empty seats would "change their community" and their test scores. Charter schools have the highest suspension rates in the state. How much work time can a Brockton parent lose to charter "school conferences" before they pull a kid out and send them back to a traditional public school? Charter schools are "city-wide" and transportation costs are paid for by the sending school district. Then there is the money from the Federal and State breakfast and lunch programs, look at the state "cherry sheets!" Boston Public is paying the ed vendor "Unlocking Potential" over half a million dollars to "manage" 1 school, UP Academy Dorchester with a proposed 750 students. Boston does not pay the superintendent that and she manages 128 schools! How much is Sabis going to charge Brockton Public Schools to "manage." Look, Sabis is just a Poverty Pimp on the stroll and Brockton looks like an easy target. If Sabis is so popular in Springfield, they should open another school there and leave Brockton alone! Brockton sent Sabis packing 5 years ago and should send them packing now!