Charter schools at crossroads in R.I.?

Rhode Island has seen the number of public charter schools climb to 29, but proposed legislation coupled with the governor’s revisions to a funding formula will stifle continued growth, advocates say.

At the same time, proponents of the bills maintain the proposed changes are not efforts to undermine programs that have drawn hundreds of students out of public school districts, but rather are attempts to more fairly balance funding and growth and – as Kevin Gallagher, the governor’s deputy chief of staff put it – “level the playing field.”

So far, charter schools have gained a strong foothold across the state, operating with more autonomy than public school districts, and tending to have lower fixed costs, such as utilities, because they are generally smaller than district systems. But proposed changes to state laws threaten them, advocates say.

“Charter schools [are] under attack,” argued Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity. “The options for charter schools should be expanded, not restricted. Parents should be empowered with as many options as possible to determine the best educational path for their children.”

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Under the funding-formula revision in Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s budget, multiple adjustments would be made that enable school districts to save $350 per student to offset financial losses due to school choice, says Gallagher.

The impact, concedes Gallagher, is that charter schools will lose $3.6 million as districts are allowed to “hold back” $350 per pupil to cover district expenses that have been calculated and determined to be more than those of charter schools. The funding formula adjustments also provide $2.6 million in new state money to districts with high-density charter impacts, to address concerns about fixed costs.

“The governor wants all kids to have access to high-quality schools and believes one size does not fit all,” said Gallagher.

Cumberland Superintendent Robert Mitchell, whose district sends more than 400 of its 4,500 students to charter schools, considers the proposed changes necessary.

“The reason the funding formula was being revised is because it was unfair,” he said. “Cumberland [and] Lincoln districts are impacted more financially than other districts, because we have a significant number of students going to charter schools.”

Proposed legislative changes that have passed the House include the House and Senate companion bills to require city and town council approval from each sending district involved in a new or expanding charter school. In addition, Rep. Jeremiah “Jay” T. O’Grady, D-Lincoln, has proposed a bill in which a finding of “no negative impact” on school districts would be required before establishing a new charter school or expanding one.

O’Grady notes that Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy’s Lincoln school received local district funding of $57,000 in 2009-10 for eight students, but by 2015-16 was getting $1.9 million in local money for 168 students.

“My constituents have consistently demanded a consolidation of services, so it strikes me as being totally at odds that we are creating a ‘parallel’ system [of public education],” he said. “It’s not like we’ve created a whole new pool of money; we’ve taken resources away from the existing systems.”

Achievement First Rhode Island, whose two elementary schools draw students from Cranston, Warwick, Providence and North Providence, is planning to add two middle schools and a high school. Their model has counterparts in Connecticut and New York.

“The state of school choice in Rhode Island at this moment is a fork in the road,” said Elizabeth Winangun, associate director of external relations for Achievement First Rhode Island.

Besides losing up to $240,000 this coming year – a “painful cut” – as a result of the funding formula changes, Winangun and founding principal Morgan Carter say that the legislation has the potential to prevent planned expansion.

Rep. Patricia Serpa, D-West Warwick, and Sen. Adam Satchell, D-West Warwick, counter that they want to see local control provided to cities and towns and their school districts, something their bills would ensure.

“This is about small and local government having a say in its finances,” said Serpa. Her bill ensures that “locally elected officials, who are the most intimately aware of the town’s fiscal condition, can weigh in on the decision.”

Instituting local control over growth “sets an impossible standard to meet,” argued Elsa Dure, CEO of the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies.

The Rhode Island Department of Education evaluates the merits of charter schools and mayoral academies before granting approvals to open or expand, but does not assess finances.

Education Commissioner Ken Wagner believes that the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, which currently has sole authority to approve new charter public schools, should continue to set criteria for charter approval, said Elliot Krieger, a spokesman in Wagner’s office at the R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. •

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