NEW: Charter School Opponents Form Website
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
A group of charter school opponents launched a website Monday to provide "research and findings that challenge the selective data offerings" of Achievement First, the charter management organization that hopes to open a Mayoral Academy in Providence in 2013.
The website’s name, We-Can (We-thepeople-Can.org), is a play on the Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now (RI-CAN) and its parent organization 50CAN.
The development of the website follows a press conference and rally that took place at the State House last week where several community groups, residents and public officials representing parents, students and taxpayers from every neighborhood in Providence hand-delivered a letter to Governor Chafee’s office detailing their opposition to the proposed Achievement First Mayoral Academies.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“We created this website as a gathering place for information that Achievement First’s lobbyists and employees won’t tell you,” said Matt Gabor, the website’s volunteer designer and a member of the West Side Public Education Coalition. “We are also calling attention by way of the site’s name, We-Can, that we are the people, the community, and the taxpayers of Providence, and we do not support the power grab and loss of public accountability implicit in a Mayoral Academy. A new school district with mixed academic results in NYC and Connecticut is the last thing we need here in Providence.”
Providence City Councilman Bryan Principe accused supporters of the Mayoral Academy are falsely advertising Achievement First.
“Corporate-funded lobbyists supporting Achievement First have millions of dollars to spend and have been using those resources to falsely advertise their product to Providence’s citizens,” said Bryan Principe, a Providence City Councilor. “With this website, we hope to cut through the spin and share the truth about Achievement First with our community.”
