New charter school opens; Unions unimpressed
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New Charter School
Cumberland celebrates the opening of a new charter school.Related Links
CUMBERLAND, R.I.—The ribbon was cut Tuesday on a new kind of charter school in Rhode Island.
The 76 kindergartners at Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley in Cumberland won a lottery to be admitted to the school. Eventually, the academy will educate students through 12th grade.
The school day is longer at Democracy Prep, and teachers are paid more than their counterparts in public schools.
Founder Seth Andrew has made the model work in Harlem in New York City.
The state’s new education commissioner, Deborah Gist, backs the mayoral academy.
“This is the reason that I came to the state of Rhode Island,“ she told an audience.
But teachers’ unions said they think it will strip resources from public schools.
“They talk about school consolidation. They want us to combine resources. And this is, essentially, a separate, stand-alone, quasi-public entity that’s draining time and attention and resources from the real battle we have to fight for all 150,000 public school children in Rhode Island,“ said Bob Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island. “They should be embarrassed they got involved in this project.“
Elected officials in Cumberland hope Democracy Prep will become a model for all public schools in Rhode Island.
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Reader Reactions
Does anyone really care what the teachers union has to say look at the test scores of the schools they represent…enough said!
Oh I can’t go that far. They get hundreds of applications from teachers willing to forgo those things to have a chance at really teaching. The unions, however, are another story.
Well, if the public schools was doing their jobs there would be no need for this school. All the public school teachers care about are there pay and free medical insurance.
Oh yeah, I am sure what the teacher’s unions are worried about are the kids. Keep trying to sell that one.
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