Providence School Board Votes To Support Proposed Mayoral Academy
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Providence School Board unanimously voted to approve a resolution supporting the proposed Mayoral Academies for Providence and Cranston students Monday evening.
The endorsement came after two hours of public discussion and board questions regarding the application of Achievement First, the charter management organization seeking to run the Mayoral Academies.
Unlike previous events held in Cranston and Providence, public support and opposition for the proposed schools was split down the middle. In the past, Cranston residents and teachers dominated the conversation during hearings, suggesting Achievement First did not have the support of the community.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut since the last public outing, Mayor Angel Taveras and Council President Michael Solomon have endorsed the Mayoral Academy, with Taveras saying he plans to sit on the board with Cranston Mayor Allan Fung. But first, the Board of Regents needs to approve Achievement First’s application. That vote is expected to come at next Thursday’s meeting.
We’ve Brought Scores Up
Achievement First hopes to open two elementary schools in the two cities by 2016, with the first opening next fall. A second Board of Regents vote in 2016 would allow the organization to open two middle schools and a high school, bringing total enrollment in the five schools to nearly 2,000 students.
Speaking in favor of the Achievement First application, Central Falls superintendent Dr. Fran Gallo said her city has been able to raise its elementary school test scores thanks to collaboration with charter schools.
“In Central Falls, our elementary schools are not all high-performing, but they’re certainly not in the lowest-performing category either,” she said. “And yet, through the efforts of collaboration of the charters in our district, we have been able to collaborate, work together through professional development and teacher preparation and bring our students’ achievement score up nearly double what they were in a very short period of time.”
Opportunity For Partnership
Jeremy Chiappetta, Executive Director at Blackstone Valley Prep, the state’s first Mayoral Academy, said that school choice is a powerful tool for parents and students.
Chiappetta said he believes the Providence and Cranston school districts will be able to work together with Achievement First to help improve student achievement.
“I am very confident that an Achievement First Mayoral Academy would bring really great opportunities to partner, both for the district and for their leadership,” he said.
Opposition Speaks Out
But not everyone is sold on the Mayoral Academy.
Parent activist Osiris Harrell compared Achievement First to a Trojan horse, arguing that the organization needs to be vetted before opening in Cranston.
“I just think we need to slow it down a little bit,” he said.
“I’m not saying it’s a Trojan horse, but I’m saying it looks real nice in the beginning, talking about test scores, talk about reading proficiency, talk about math scores and all of that and see it looks really really good. But once you bring this inside the gate, is all hell going to break loose?” he asked.
Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith also opposes the proposal. He compared Achievement First to a corporation, using Wal-Mart as an example. He also said the state was misled as far as what it needed to do to earn federal funding through the Race to the Top program, with guaranteed the state $75 million last year.
“I’m not going to call this a charter school because there wouldn’t be a need to change the law if this was just a charter school,” Smith said. “This was founded on a falsehood. We were told in the General Assembly that this had to pass otherwise Race to the Top application would have been in jeopardy. That was not the case.”
Superintendent Supports Achievement First
Just after the public forum came to a close, new Superintendent Susan Lusi said she supports the plan because it gives families a choice. She said she hopes to see the Board of Regents approve Achievement First’s application.
“I support high quality choices for our students regardless of where they live,” Lusi said.
