Bill would require R.I. Auditor General to assess fiscal impact of charter school growth
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Proposed legislation would require the state auditor general to analyze the fiscal impact of any new charter school or new charter expansion and submit those findings to the General Assembly and the Council for Elementary and Secondary Education.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Jeremiah O'Grady, D-Lincoln, a longtime charter critic, would also require the education council to place "predominate weight" on the financial impact of a new charter school on the sending city or town. The current language only says that the education council has to place "substantial weight" on the financial impact on the sending school districts.
O'Grady said he filed the bill "due to the lack of enthusiasm the Rhode Island Department of Education showed during the recent Achievement First charter school expansion review process for living up to their statutory obligations under last year's (Senate bill).
"In particular, I was struck by Commissioner Ken Wagner's explanation for why RIDE made no attempt to assess the programmatic impact of the expansion on the underlying districts _ despite a clear statutory obligation to do so," O'Grady said.
And yet, O'Grady said, RIDE had no problem accepting a report by the Rhode Island Center for Innovation, which, as several policy experts pointed out, was "about as recklessly speculative as you can get."
He said taking these responsibilities away from RIDE and giving them to a "disinterested party" such as the auditor general increases the likelihood that the reports will present a less biased conclusion, "as problematic as those projections may be."
Timothy J. Groves, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools, said his organization is working with O'Grady and other sponsors to explore issues raised by their legislation, adding that the statute governing charter school expansions was just amended last year.
A RIDE spokeswoman said the department was reviewing the legislation.
The proposal to expand the Achievement First charter school was one of the most contentious public education issues here in years. The Providence-based charter school, part of regional network, was seeking to add more than 3,000 students by 2025. Critics, including both state teachers' unions, the Providence City Council, the Providence School Committee and others, said the expansion would have a disastrous financial impact on the traditional Providence schools.
Achievement First could not be reached comment.
A RIDE study estimated that the city's schools would lose about $35 million a year once the charter reaches full capacity.
The final decision rests with Mayor Jorge Elorza, who chairs the charter school's board of directors. Elorza has said that he will defer acting on the full expansion until Achievement First demonstrates that it will offset any financial losses to the city. The mayor does support a smaller expansion that will allow the charter to include middle and high school grades.
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