Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

McKee says he will hire a charter school operator from Harlem to run the school, called Democracy Prep. The application says the school will eventually grow to 745 students in grades K-8.

"This is a tremendous leap forward for education reform in Rhode Island," McKee said in a statement.

Regent Colleen Callahan cast the lone dissenting vote.

"I think it's a great idea at a terrible fiscal time," Callahan said. "My concern is we are approving things when we have fiscal constraints."

Rhode Island is the lacks a school financing formula, so taxpayers, in essence, pay extra money to support charters. This year, school districts are bracing for cuts in state education aid.

The state's 11 charter schools are financed by taxpayers but are free from many of the rules and restrictions of regular public schools. Teachers often work longer hours, class sizes are generally smaller, and several require uniforms and a high level of parental involvement.

Mayoral academies are permitted additional freedoms. They are not required to pay teachers a prevailing wage, contribute to a teacher retirement fund or offer tenure protection, changes that teacher unions have fiercely opposed. A board, led by McKee, will oversee the mayoral academy.

Current state law caps the number of charters statewide at 20, making the last nine slots particularly precious, said Regent Angus Davis.

"We want to make sure students get high-quality educations and significantly better results than we are currently seeing," Davis said. The Regents recently passed a new set of criteria for future charters. Highest priority will be given to applicants that want to start schools in low-performing school districts and that have a plan to improve student performance.

Davis, who chairs the Regents' committee on charter schools, has been a vocal supporter of Democracy Prep, calling its disciplined approach highly effective in closing the achievement gap between low income, minority students and their wealthier, white peers.

In addition, the Regents also gave preliminary approval to two other charter proposals, giving the applicants another year to develop their curriculum and management structure before applying for final approval next year: Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts, a high school in Providence; and the Greene School, an environmental high school located on the University of Rhode Island's Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich.

The Regents also granted permission for the Paul Cuffee School in Providence, now a K-8 school, to expand into high school in the fall of 2010, provided lawmakers give the school an additional $800,000.

The Regents approved a new Basic Education Program, an updated blueprint of the bare minimum schools must provide to students.

Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teacher's Union, said he feared cash-strapped districts like Providence will use the new document, which goes into effect July 1, 2010, to make cuts in areas such as librarians and music.

"If you give Providence flexibility, there will be cuts," Smith said.

Thursday's meeting was the last for departing Education Commissioner Peter McWalters , who is leaving June 30 after serving as school's chief for 17 ½ years. Deborah Gist, who held a similar position in Washington D.C., will replace him.

In recognition of McWalters' long service and his leadership in instituting major reforms -- grade level expectations, a new testing system, and a more rigorous set of high school graduation requirements -- the Regents named their main conference room after McWalters and presented him with a plaque that will be hung in the room.