NEW: Council President Solomon Wants Mayoral Academies Built In Providence
Thursday, August 25, 2011
If Cranston residents don’t want Mayoral Academies built in their city, Providence City Council President Michael Solomon wants the schools to be located in the capital city instead.
In a letter to the Board of Regents, Solomon said the schools could be located in some of the city’s available buildings.
“I am a strong supporter of the Mayoral Academy application currently before the Board of Regents because I believe in its promise to serve as both an incubator for innovation in our public schools and a tool for economic development for our city and state,” Solomon said. “Locating the proposed schools in Providence would not only expand the high quality educational opportunities available to our city’s children, it would create new jobs and invite a responsible, community-oriented organization to occupy some of the city’s available properties.”
The proposed Cranston/Providence Mayoral Academy would be run by Achievement First, a charter management organization that currently has schools in Connecticut and New York. Solomon became the first elected official in Providence to publicly endorse Achievement First’s application, which has now been supported by Mayor Angel Taveras and the Providence School Board.
“While elected officials from other communities may feel differently, one of my main priorities is increasing high-quality educational opportunities for Providence children and their parents,” he said. “Considering four of our neighborhood schools were recently closed on the West Side, it is more important than ever that we give Providence children the option of attending an Achievement First Mayoral Academy. If moving the proposed Mayoral Academy to Providence is the compromise needed to give our students that option, then let’s get it done.”
