Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

School choice controversies are not new, with cleavages in public opinion reflecting partisan, racial, and educational variables. Here, we examine factors predicting charter school support at the township level in the Massachusetts 2016 charter school expansion referendum. We test hypotheses developed from rational choice theory, political culture, and perspective theory by using ordinary least square regression models. The main findings include partisan, education, population, and wealth divisions in support of charter schools. Democratic, more educated, wealthier, and from bigger towns are more likely to support charter school expansion. Even though the study faces the limitation of external validity, the findings resonate with the current literature on political support for charter schools. The paper has many contributions to the understanding of voter behaviors and political theories. Practically, the findings may also benefit educators in their political debate over charter schools.

Keywords: charter school referendum, Massachusetts education reform, school choice, politics of education