Despite the increasing enrollment in charter schools and mayoral academies in Rhode Island, the topic of school choice has been not found itself often onto the front pages of the public discussion. But it will soon.
The free-market-espousing Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity last week unveiled Bright Today Educational Choice, a campaign that hopes to increase the volume of school choice options parents in the Ocean State will have for their children.
The center has a well-documented history of catching the attention of the political establishment, including its efforts to eliminate the state’s sales tax, which led to hearings and serious discussion of just how it might be accomplished.
Its most recent high-profile advocacy effort has been in opposition to RhodeMap RI, which was approved by the R.I. State Planning Commission, but which is likely to get a harsh reception in the General Assembly.
As for school choice, much of the initial opposition to expanding it came from entrenched interests in the public school bureaucracy, in large measure the teachers unions, who saw a challenge to their membership rolls, since mayoral academies especially have been given great latitude to create new working conditions and compensation structures for their teachers.
This line of reasoning loses sight of the most important piece of this puzzle: the children. And so far, at least, charter schools and mayoral academies are doing better than the state averages on quality outcomes. Any effort that moves that stuck needle of education quality in Rhode Island should be given more support to flourish. •