Charter School Battle in Cranston
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
As we learned from former Central Falls teacher Dale Dearnley, teachers are very passionate about their jobs and “their kids.” By and large, teachers take great pride in educating the future leaders of our state and world. In Rhode Island, many of us chide teachers’ unions for often caring more about teachers’ paychecks than the kids that are being educated. Often our attitudes towards the unions that represent teachers extends further to the teachers themselves. For the most part, I believe this is unfair and that most teachers are committed to their jobs and educating our children as best they can with what resources they have.
Mayor and Superintendent at odds
That’s why the battle going on in Cranston is intriguing. In one corner you have Mayor Allan Fung who is pushing hard for a Mayoral Academy. The school’s
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST…governance is not bound to union contracts. Teachers are not unionized, and the hiring and firing process is at the leisure of the school’s board. That also translates into the ability to work longer days and take on responsibilities generally not expected of a traditional public school teacher.
Mayor Fung would also sit at the head of the school whereas he can only watch from the sidelines in Cranston. Further, parents and civil servants, who approve education budgets, have been talking about more accountability and results within our educational system for years. One of the concerns raised is that unionized teachers are less accountable because it’s difficult to terminate them. The mayor believes that with this type of increased flexibility and different approach Cranston schools can excel.
Superintendent Nero feels quite differently:
Mayor, did you know that this year our student population grew by 393 students at the elementary level alone? While other districts, as well as the state in general, are experiencing declining enrollment, Cranston is growing. Remember, we educate all students, from all places, with any need, who arrive at our doorstep at any time. We do not hold lotteries to select who gets an education, unlike charter schools and mayoral academies.
Paraphrasing Superintendent Nero’s passage above goes something like this – People, of all kinds, want to come to Cranston because of the success of our educational system. He’s right. I moved to Cranston because I didn’t trust the Providence educational system to educate my children, and the alternative was costly private schools.
Mayor seeks excellence
But, the bar the Mayor wants Cranston schools to set is not just better than average, but excellent. The Cranston teacher’s union has taken the Mayor’s perspective as a slap in the face and want to know what funds will be used to pay for the children attending the Mayoral Academy. Mayor Fung has stated that educational funds will follow the children.
It’s an interesting question. Relative to all other Rhode Island schools, Cranston schools are not failing. However, no Cranston school was named a Regent’s Commended school recently and that troubles the mayor. Meanwhile, Superintendent Nero and many members of the school committee believe that introducing a mayoral academy is a slap in the face to dedicated Cranston teachers.
Me? I like competition. I believe that there’s no negative side to a mayoral academy and only upside. A mayoral academy run by an organization that has been successful with charter schools should only be seen as a threat to Cranston school teachers if they fear the charter school will do it better than they have.
But that makes me think about how there is a prevailing feeling that teachers’ unions and, by extension, teachers are more concerned with themselves and not the students. If the mayoral academy figures out something, why not bring that to other Cranston schools. More to the point, why is the charter school conversation in Cranston a zero sum game? To me, it isn’t.
The end result is the best education for our children. Period. Cranston does a great job, but as the mayor said, we can do better.
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