(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A fourth applicant, Seth Andrew, founder of the New York-based Democracy Prep charter schools, has withdrawn his paperwork to open a K-12 school named Providence Collegiate, according to state education officials.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.
In December, RIMA severed its relationship with Democracy Builders, and the board changed the school’s name to Blackstone Valley Prep.
Complicating matters, Governor Chafee has called for a “thoughtful pause” on the expansion of charter schools, which are paid for by taxpayers, but are free from much of the bureaucracy of traditional public schools.
“There are lots of questions being raised outside the state about whether or not Rhode Island is as serious as it was a year ago in terms of support for education innovation,” said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform and a RIMA board member.
“Hopefully, the governor will send some more clear signs that Rhode Island isn’t opposed to creating great new public schools for families.”
The state extended its charter-school application deadline from Dec. 1 to March 1, and a few more letters could trickle in Tuesday, according to a department spokesman.
Rhode Island currently has 15 charters, 3 of which are run by school districts and are unionized. The schools serve approximately 3,900 students, and more than 5,000 students are on wait lists, according to the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools.
An application to open the Rhode Island Nurses Institute Middle College in 2011 in Pawtucket was preliminarily approved by the Board of Regents last year and is proceeding with its application, according to state education officials.