Linda Borg|The Providence Journal
Charter schools have been a contentious subject in Rhode Island since the first charter-school legislation was passed in 1995.
More than two decades later, Rhode Island has 33 charter schools that enroll 10,076 students—6% of Rhode Island’s public school students.
A proposal that would place a three-year moratorium on new charters and charter expansions has passed in the state Senate and is now before the House Finance Committee. Gov. Dan McKee has vowed to veto the bill if it passes.
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Here is a look at some of the key questions about charter schools and how they work.
What are charter schools in RI?
Charter schools are public schools funded by public dollars.
Unlike traditional public schools, however, they are governed by independent boards and have much more latitude over such things as curriculum, length of school day, hiring and firingand salaries. Charter schoolteachers do not belong to a union, and the schools are freed from pensions and seniority rules.
In exchange for this autonomy, charter schools are held accountable for meeting student achievement goals and face charter revocation if they underperform. To date, not one charter has lost its license, although one closed on its own.
How are students chosen?
By law, public charter schools are expected to enroll students regardless of race, economic status or academic standing. Because demand greatly outstrips availability, charter schools select students based on a blind lottery.
A common criticism is that charter schools cherry-pickthe best students. Is that true?
There is only one known example of that happening.
In 2017, the Beacon Charter School in Woonsocket fudged its admissions process by denyingenrollment to at least 15 students who didn’t meet certain academic qualifications. The school received a three-year renewal instead of five.
What are mayoral charter schools?
A brainchild of Gov. Dan McKee when he was Cumberland mayor, mayoral academies are socio-economically diverse, regional public schools governed by mayor-led boards.Mayoral charters must enroll students from both urban and suburban districts.
Blackstone Valley Prep was the first mayoral academy to open, in 2009, enrolling students from Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincolnand Pawtucket. Since then it has expanded to serve 2,100 students in kindergarten through grade 12.
A second mayoral academy, Achievement First, opened in 2013 with 176 students. This network of schools serves students from a wider geographic area, but most come from Providence.
The network, which also operates schools in New York and Connecticut, serves 1,500 students in Rhode Island.If the latest proposal is approved, Achievement First would grow to include a total of five K-8 schools and two high schools here, which could bring enrollment to 5,700 students in 10 years.
A third mayoral academy, RISE Prep, is a K-5 school in Woonsocket that also enrolls students from Woonsocket, North Smithfield and Burrillville.
Do charters outperform traditional public schools?
That depends.
While Achievement First and BVP consistently outperform state averages on standardized tests, some of the smaller charters have struggled.
Former state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist threatened to close two charters — the Academy for Career Exploration and Highlander, both in Providence — over dismal test scores, only to face stiff opposition from charter-school supporters and members of her own Board of Regents.
Both schools were given additional time to improve their performance, although ACE later closed ofits own volition.
But proponents argue that charter schools were created to serve different populations and should not be held to one statewide standard:scores on standardized tests.
BVP, for example, calls itself a college-prep school, while the Sheila “Skip” Nowell Leadership Academy serves pregnant and parenting teens.
Charter supporters say the Rhode Island Department of Education holds charter schools to strict accountability standards, and says the agency has given charters deadlines by which they must improve.
National studies, however, have been mixed as to the efficacy of charter schools, which varies widely from district to district and state to state.
Why does charter expansion face criticism, here and elsewhere?
Charter schools were originally designed to offer parents a way out of failing public schools, and many parents today would say they have done just that— given them a choice.
The hope was that charters would also be models of innovation that traditional public schools could learn from. By and large, that hasn’t happened here.
No one complained when charter schools were small, one-off operations. But when Achievement First, a large, out-of-state network;and BVP, began to expand, the opposition was fierce.
Critics, including traditional public school leaders and the Rhode Island teachersunions, argue that charters siphon money away from the traditional public schools because the money follows the student from his or her sending school to the charter.
Charter supporters say that as districts “lose” students to charters, they can make economies of scale. But traditional school leaders say you can’t close a classroom, much less a school, because charter school students, as they leave, are spread across grades.
Charter critics also say that traditional public schools have to bear costs that charter schools don’t. Traditional schools, for example, enroll more high-cost special-needs students than charters.
Another popular objection is that charters, once they reach a certain critical mass, could create two parallel school systems —charter schools and traditional public schools.
That is one of the arguments against the latest expansion of Achievement First in Providence. Critics, including some parents, worry that resources will be drained from the district, and that students “left behind” in the traditional schools willsuffer.
Linda Borg covers education for the Journal.
