There will be a public hearing tomorrow   to discuss the mayoral academy proposed by Cumberland mayor Daniel McKee.  The school would initially educate children in kindergarten and first grade, gradually expanding up to fifth grade, and have students from Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls, and Pawtucket.  The academy would be similar to a charter school, but it wouldn't be required to pay a prevailing wage, contribute to retirement funds, or offer tenure protection.  From what I can see, it will be allowed to be operated in the same way most businesses are operated.

     As you can imagine, unions are not  thrilled with the idea, to say the least.  The two big arguments are that teachers would be paid wages similar to private rather than public schools, and funding would divert money from public schools.  Neither argument makes any sense.

     There are several reasons why the mayoral academy was suggested and supported.  One reason was probably to have better control over employee compensation.  If you can find qualified teachers willing to work for $40,000, then why would you want to pay $60,000 for someone with the same qualifications?  It only makes sense if you're a politician trying to gain union support.  If you're actually trying to run a school properly by keeping labor costs down in order to spend money in other areas, then it doesn't make any sense.  I would rather see the money spent on smaller classes, technology, and interesting educational experiences.

     The next argument is my favorite: Mayoral academies and charter schools take money from the public schools.  This seems to be the union's major argument against charter school and vouchers.  Sending children to charter schools removes the money from the public school budget.  The unions are absolutely correct about this, but they forget one thing.  The money is taken out of the budget, but so are the children!   If it costs an average of $10,000 to educate a child and 100 children go to charter schools, then that $1 million shouldn't be missed because the children aren't there!

     From my experience as a teacher, I see a lot of demand among parents for charter schools, particularly in urban areas.  With the exception of teacher's unions, I don't know who would possibly oppose mayoral academies.  It seems like a great opportunity for families to have a choice, and it should be allowed to proceed.