Board Of Regents Votes Down Mayoral Academy - Leaders React
Friday, September 02, 2011
The Board of Regents voted 7-1 to reject the application of Achievement First, the nonprofit charter management organization that was seeking to run a set of Mayoral Academies in Cranston beginning next school year.
The decision came just minutes after the board’s Chairman George Caruolo read a letter from Governor Chafee, in which he stated he would like to first visit an Achievement First School in New Haven and then consider bringing it to Providence. The original plan called for the Mayoral Academy to serve students from Providence and Cranston, but they schools were expected to be built in Cranston.
“My main purpose in writing this letter to you is to inform you that I have noted the recent suggestion of Providence City Council President Michael Solomon to establish a mayoral academy run by Achievement First in Providence," Chafee said. "This school could draw students from communities such as Providence, Cranston, Warwick, East Providence, North Providence and Central Falls. Unlike Cranston, Providence has demonstrated broad support for a Mayoral Academy, with the Mayor, City Council and school board all endorsing the concept."
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After some deliberation, the Regents then voted down the proposed application from Achievement First. Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, who was expected to Chair the Mayoral Academy board, said he was disappointed by the decision.
“It’s an extremely disappointing vote that happened. I think Achievement First is a high quality school that should be operating to service as per the application we had. It’s a disappointing day for me overall.”
Rhode Island becomes the first state to reject Achievement First, which currently has a dozen states trying to recruit the organization, according to Reshma Singh, who was heading up the proposal in the Ocean State. Singh said her board would have to agree to build the schools in Providence before moving forward.
Rhode Island Campaign For Achievement Now Executive Director Maryellen called the decision shortsighted.
"The Board’s decision to deny the Achievement First application is an affront to the mayors who supported the school, the communities that need it and the children who deserve to get on the path to college,” Butke said. “This shortsighted decision is a win for the special interest groups who lobbied against it, and a loss for our children. The opposition to the application came from a vocal minority and it is clear by today’s vote that their voices were heard above the many parents who wanted a high-performing school in their community. This is not the correct way to make education policy decisions.”
Reasons For Optimism
But Rhode Island Mayoral Academies spokesman Bill Fischer said he had mixed feelings about the Regents vote.
“Clearly tonight we’re disappointed in vote and yet there are many positives that come out of it,” Fischer said. “This is the first time the Governor has gone on the record supporting a mayoral governance mode; being involved in education and I think that is an extraordinary step forward.”
Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said that while thing may have worked out exactly as planned, she still considered the Governor’s letter a step in the right direction. In a message posted to her Facebook, she called it a great night.
She wrote: “Tonight was another great night for our plan, Transforming Education in Rhode Island! Governor Chafee reached out directly to the Board of Regents and shared his commitment to charter public schools and their role as models designed to lift up performance of all schools. Exactly!”
GOP Rips Chafee
Others were more calculated with their criticism of the Governor. GOP Chairman Ken McKay called the Chafee’s letter bizarre and said the Governor is contradicting himself.
“He contradicts himself in his own letter, in a paternal manner he ‘expects’ the Regents to examine the Cranston Charter school proposal,” McKay said. “Then he notes that a ‘recent suggestion ‘by Providence officials on Charters would be possible ‘without unacceptable fiscal damage.’ The longest paragraph in his letter to the Regents Chairman is about a proposal that does not even exist it appears.”
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