R.I. nearly doubles charter schools cap

PROVIDENCE – State leaders have loosened the state’s cap on charter schools, nearly doubling the number allowed, as part of their effort to garner millions of dollars in federal education money.

Legislation approved by the General Assembly on Tuesday and signed by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri later in the day raised the limit on charter schools in Rhode Island from 20 to 35, a key part of the state’s $126.6 million Race to the Top application.

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Rhode Island is one of 16 states vying for a piece of the $4.35 billion available on a competitive basis to fund educational reforms. A delegation that included Carcieri, R.I. Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and Providence Supt. Tom Brady was scheduled to present Rhode Island’s application to judges in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon.

Ahead of that presentation and in a rare display of unity, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and Republican Carcieri took quick action on the charter school measure this week, approving it in both the House and Senate and getting it signed by the governor all in one day.

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“It is imperative that we offer students challenging environments in which to learn,” Carcieri said in a statement. “Charter schools provide our young people with creative options and spark students’ enthusiasm to acquire knowledge.”

“While other states talk about encouraging charter schools to reach out, we show them how it is done,” House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, said in the same news release. “By increasing the number of charter schools in the state, we are enhancing our capacity to transform our public schools, individually and through actions that benefit entire school districts.”

The state now has 13 charter schools – autonomous, publicly funded schools that aren’t required to follow some of the rules and regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Two charter school applications are pending before the R.I. Department of Education, and plans for two others are being developed.

Robert Pilkington, special adviser to the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools and principal of Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket, acknowledged that raising the cap was “largely symbolic,” since the state is still well below the previous cap of 20.
But he added that the new law calls for half of the state’s charter schools to be reserved for at-risk students, and gives the state authority to close schools where students are not making adequate progress.

Additional information is available at ri.gov.

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