Under the leadership of Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island is a very charter-friendly state. Raimondo was a venture capitalist before she entered politics. Her husband was TFA.
The welcome mat is out for charter schools in the state. The latest proposal for a new charter comes from Excel Academy in Boston.
Linda Borg of the Providence Journal writes:
PROVIDENCE — Critics of a new charter school application say the Boston-based school will draw millions of dollars away from the traditional public schools and, combined with a proposed expansion of Achievement First, create two parallel school systems.
Excel Academy hopes to enroll 2,100 students in kindergarten through grade 12 by the time it reaches full capacity in 10 years — at a cost of $7.4 million in lost local revenues to the Providence school district.
“Frankly, it could be the best school in the universe,” said state Rep. Rebecca Kislak of Providence. “I want to know why the mayor signed off on more than 6,000 additional charter seats at Achievement First and Excel. It’s a quarter of Providence’s public school students. I am incredibly concerned about what happens to the 75% of students left in the district’s schools…”
Kislak said the charter application speaks to a larger concern.
“As a parent, it feels to me like the policymakers, the governor, the mayor and the education commissioner, are giving up and saying, ‘We can’t fix your schools. The best we can do is let a quarter of our kids go to these other schools.’ ”
State Sen. Sam Bell, at a public hearing Monday on the Excel application, said the charter’s attendance and discipline problems amount to “child abuse.”
He noted language in the 2019-2020 student handbook that states: “All student absences, including illness, suspension, appointments, vacations, excessive incomplete days, etc., count as absences.” Any student who exceeds 15 absences in a school year may be held back, according to the handbook.
Bell said the student handbook listed 35 reasons to give demerits to students. Excel, like Achievement First, is a “no excuses” charter school. He wondered whether its punitive discipline violated state law.
The school objected to his criticism.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“As a parent, it feels to me like the policymakers, the governor, the mayor and the education commissioner, are giving up and saying, ‘We can’t fix your schools. The best we can do is let a quarter of our kids go to these other schools.’ ”
As a Rhode Islander, I follow education news in my state. This entire situation could have been easily predicted since the mayor of Providence, the governor and her education commissioner are all in favor of charter schools and have shown by their actions that they are unwilling to commit to (a) adequately funding the Providence public schools, (b) adequately staffing the public schools and (c) bringing the buildings up to code and safety regulations. The teachers union requesting one of the middle schools be closed due to unsafe conditions relating to Covid-19 and was refused. Given the fact that so many of our “leaders” are pro-charter and unwilling to do what is needed and required for the public schools, it is no wonder that they are touting the chargers – they don’t have to spend the money for these. The state legislature knows no better and far too many of folks in “leadership” positions seem to send their children to non-public schools so are completely unaware of what is going on.
Correction…touting the charters…
A student can’t always prevent illness. There are too many airborne germs out there. STDs are another factor, with kids having sex at younger ages these days. ☹️
Appointments and vacations can always be done during summer, school closure days, etc., so there’s really no excuse for that. 😐