DFER Rhode Island
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Rhode Island Update: The Politics of Successful New Schools
July 20, 2011
Kudos to the teachers, parents, and students who pulled together to make this such a promising development in education reform.
The politics here are important: the state's Board of Regents is set to vote very soon on an application from Cranston Mayor Alan Fung to open the second "Mayoral Academy" serving students from Providence and Cranston. We've come a long way from the initial concept papers and the movement to create a climate in Rhode Island which would "open the drawbridge" to high quality school operators who had previously ignored the Ocean State because of all of the red tape and restrictions on education innovation.
Few apply to open charter schools
March 4, 2011
(From The Providence Journal, March 1, 2011)
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island threw open its doors to charter-school operators last year, lifting a statewide cap and securing two federal grants to aid their ambitious expansion.
But few applicants have stepped through the threshold.
Massachusetts, which also took steps to encourage charter school growth, has been swamped with scores of applications. In mid-February, education officials approved 17 new alternative public schools to open this fall and next.
But despite Rhode Island's welcome mat, just three organizations have sent letters of interest or applications to the Rhode Island Department of Education to open charter schools in 2012-2013:
•Achievement First is interested in opening a mayoral academy in Cranston.
•The Meeting Street School wants to start the Grace School Mayoral Academy in Providence, combining students from local school districts with students who have severe and profound disabilities in inclusion classrooms.
•Three nationally board-certified teachers have submitted an application to open Ocean State STEM Academy, a high school in Providence or Cranston focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
A fourth applicant, Seth Andrew, founder of the New York-based Democracy Prep charter schools, has withdrawn his paperwork to open a K-12 school named Providence Collegiate, according to state education officials.
Andrew was hired by the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies to help run Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley that opened in 2009, but he and RIMA had a falling out over financial terms.
Joe Williams on WPRO
February 11, 2011
DFER-RI: 'Thoughtful Pause' on Charters Jeopardizes Race to the Top Funding
January 27, 2011
To read the press release, click here: Press Release -
Click here to read the full letter to Governor Chafee, click here: Letter - Thoughtful
Group urges Governor Chafee to support charter schools
January 27, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
(From The Providence Journal, January 26, 2011)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- For the second time in two days, an education advocacy group is appealing to Governor Chafee to push ahead with controversial school reforms, in this case the growth of public charter schools, an expansion the governor has made clear he does not support.
Joe Williams, the executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, hand-delivered a letter with his concerns to the governor's office Wednesday morning, said the organization's spokesman Bill Fischer.
"Democrats for Education Reform today called on Governor Lincoln Chafee to abandon his call to take a 'thoughtful pause' on the development of new charter schools," the statement said.
The promise to expand these alternative public schools was a key part of Rhode Island's successful Race to the Top application, which will bring $75 million to schools over the next four years.
Federal education officials have said that changing any part of the plan could jeopardize the entire grant.
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