‘Academy’ plan needs G.A. support

Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee says he’s close to securing $4 million in grants, loans and training resources for charter schools he says will revolutionize education, but the state’s fiscal woes may force the project to be put on hold, at least for this coming school year.
McKee said last week that he is ready to move forward with his controversial idea for so-called “mayoral academies,” possibly launching an elementary-level school in the Valley Falls section of Cumberland as soon as September – but only if state leaders assign about $700,000 in next year’s state budget for the academy.
The mayoral-academy proposal garnered the blessing of the General Assembly last year when it was made part of the 2009 state budget, but lawmakers did not commit any tax dollars to it.
McKee’s plan has drawn the ire of teacher unions, in part because the academy is free from having to pay prevailing wages or offering standard benefits to teachers and support personnel.
Union leaders, who also objected to the use of an out-of-state organization to run the academy, have characterized McKee’s proposal as an attempt to privatize public education.
But without those labor restraints, McKee has argued, the nonprofit school operators could be flexible in teaching methods and time.
The changes would make mayoral academies a variation of traditional charter schools, which are autonomous, publicly funded schools that are not required to follow some of the rules and regulations that apply to conventional public schools.
Like other charter schools, the mayoral academies would be financed through a mix of state and local dollars. But unlike other charters, mayors would take a leadership role in operating the academies, leading the schools’ governing boards.
Pawtucket Mayor James Doyle, Central Falls Mayor Charles Moreau and Lincoln Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond all have endorsed the academy model, agreeing to send students to the Cumberland school when it opens.
Organizers already have selected a nonprofit to operate the academies – Democracy Prep, which runs a charter school in Harlem in New York City – and a charter school application has been submitted to the R.I. Department of Education (RIDE).
In order for the school to open by September, a principal needs to be hired. But McKee said the biggest obstacle to overcome now is state funding.
With the state wrestling with how to close a projected $360 million deficit this year, and a possible similar-sized hole next year, it would seem unlikely that state politicians would insert funding for the first mayoral academy.
But McKee has spent a lot of time at the Statehouse in recent weeks, lobbying Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, House Speaker William J. Murphy and House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox.
Yes, the financial situation is dire, but Larry Berman, Murphy’s spokesman, would not rule out the academy funding.
“This is an innovative project that could be groundbreaking,” Berman told Providence Business News last week. But he added that legislative leaders are waiting to see what is contained in Carcieri’s proposed fiscal 2010 spending package due to be released this week.
McKee is not the only one looking for state money to open a charter school.
Elliot Krieger, spokesman for RIDE, said two schools already have been approved by the R.I. Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. But both schools have been in limbo as they wait for state funding.
In this year’s budget, state leaders set aside $32.26 million to pay for Rhode Island’s 11 charter schools, according to RIDE. And the department has requested an additional $2.6 million for fiscal 2010, but only to fund expansion of existing charter schools.
With a line of charter school applicants waiting, what will be the criteria for which schools receive the go-ahead first?
“There’s no law governing that,” said Krieger. “It’s something that the regents are going to have to wrestle with.”
In the meantime, McKee says his mayoral academies are gaining attention beyond Rhode Island.
He said last week that he is close to garnering $4 million in low-interest financing, grants and other resources from local and national foundations and other organizations to cover the startup costs of several schools over the next few years. Much of it is contingent on the schools getting financial support from the state.
In one case, he said he has a pledge that the academies would receive up to $500,000 in leadership training and development for every school that opens. McKee acknowledged that the economic slowdown has made fundraising difficult.
“It does make it a little [trickier], but we’re looking long term,” he said.
Democracy Prep was selected from among several groups to operate the academies. The nonprofit has run a Harlem middle school since 2006 using “rigorous academic expectation and firm behavioral standards,” the Democracy Prep Charter School’s Web site says.
McKee said the school, which serves children from low-income families and has a high rate of special-needs students, is one of the highest-performing charter schools in New York City.
A similar curriculum would be instituted in Cumberland, McKee said. “This is not an experiment,” he added. “These are high-level schools.”
The tentative plan is to open an elementary school with 200 students at the former Our Lady of Fatima School in the southern section of Cumberland. McKee’s Office for Children, Youth and Learning currently rents the space part time for an after-school program for $25,000 annually. Because of increased usage, that figure might double if the school moves in.
Organizers have identified another building in Valley Falls for a 300-student middle school academy, slated to open in fall 2010.
It remains to be seen whether the elementary school will open in September or in 2010, McKee said.
“We will have to find the right [principal] to operate it because we don’t want to open up a school that’s not going to perform at a high level,” McKee said. “And the state would have to step forward and do some funding, too.” •