Letter
to the House Finance Committee in opposition to the
one year charter school moratorium
6/18/2004
The Honorable Representative Steven M. Costantino
35 State House
Providence, RI 02903
Dear Chairman Costantino,
On behalf of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools
I want to thank you and the House Finance committee
for fully funding the growth of our state’s charter
schools. These funds will ensure that our charters will
be able to continue to grow and succeed in serving at-risk
children, serving as educational innovators, and providing
real public school choice for low and middle income
parents unable to afford expensive private schools.
While we are very thankful for this appropriation, especially
during such a difficult fiscal year, we must state our
opposition to the one year moratorium on the granting
of new charter schools in Article 23 of budget.
The Rhode Island League of Charter Schools opposes the
moratorium because:
- Our charter schools are working.
They are providing real public school choice and are
outperforming their district peers on standardized
tests. Why would you want to slow what has proved
to be a tremendously successful innovation in Rhode
Island public education?
- The federal No Child Left Behind
Act (NCLB) requires districts to provide school choice.
Charter schools clearly fill this role. By denying
new charters for one year, several districts will
be unable to offer meaningful school choice as required
by NCLB.
- The moratorium jeopardizes federal
Department of Education planning and matching funds
for charter proposals that are nearing approval.
- Rhode Island’s 10 currently
operating charter schools educate only 1.1% of the
state’s public school population. There are
3 new charter proposals currently in the Department
of Education’s approval pipeline. Even if all
three were approved, charters would still educate
less than 2% of the state school population. In another
words, we are no threat to traditional district schools.
- The moratorium would take away
choice from districts that want and actively encourage
the formation of district charters. For example, the
towns of Coventry, West Warwick, and East Greenwich
have all collaborated and helped fund the planning
and development of the Accelerated Learning Community
High School sponsored by the Urban Collaborative,
and one of the 3 charter proposals now in the approval
pipeline. If a district wants a charter, it makes
little sense to take that option off the table.
We
understand that charter schools can be a lightning rod
for controversy. That’s because they challenge
the educational status quo, and that’s exactly
what the original charter school law intended. Our charters
are working, and we deeply appreciate the House Finance
committee’s willingness to fully fund our enrollment
growth. However, for the reasons stated above, we must
state our opposition to a moratorium on the final approval
of new charter schools.
Sincerely,
Robert Pilkington
Director, Rhode Island League of Charter Schools
cc:
House Finance committee members |
