Rhode Island Choice Advocates Seek Funding for Mayoral Academy, a Regional Public Charter School

http://www.projo.com/education/content/NO_CUMBERLAND_ACADEMIES_06-24-08_4UAK6II_v28.3f613a9.html

The 2009 Rhode Island state budget approved by the General Assembly includes a plan for a "mayoral academy," a new regional public charter school serving several communities. However, the budget makes no commitment that the state will pay for the academy. "We built our case to the General Assembly that we could raise money," said Mayor Daniel McKee. "We have said publicly that there is interest. Now we need to show evidence of that." McKee says he has met with a number of nonprofit groups that run public charter schools elsewhere in the nation, among them the Knowledge Is Power Program, Achievement First and Democracy Prep Charter School. These nonprofit groups, he says, have been successful in establishing their names nationally, but have never come to Rhode Island because of restrictions in the state's current public charter school law. McKee hopes that the mayoral academies, as approved by the General Assembly, will attract such organizations to Rhode Island. The academies would be unique under state law because their teachers would not be part of the state pension system and their salaries would not be subject to agreements between public school districts and teachers unions. It is a cost-saving step that McKee believes is crucial to the new school's flexibility and the state's educational future. "This is a huge step," he said. "This changes policy in Rhode Island and allows for innovation in education that is currently not allowed."

Source: Providence Journal (free registration required)
Date: 06/24/2008