The budget released by the House Finance Committee cut $1.5 million which was to be used to open two new charter schools.  The first is an elementary school in Cumberland, and the second is a middle school in Central Falls.  I have no doubt that teacher's unions had a role in removing financing for these schools.  It's no secret that the educational establishment doesn't like schools that aren't unionized.  Legislators may say they made the cut to save money, but the $1.5 million in savings may wind up costing much more.

     In a recent speech, Education Secretary Arne Duncan had this to say:

“Places like Rhode Island that are thinking about underfunding charters are obviously going to put themselves at a huge competitive disadvantage going forward. So we don’t think that’s a smart thing for them to do and we’re going to make that very, very clear,” Duncan told an audience of more than 3,000 people when he was asked about Rhode Island during a question period at the National Charter Schools Conference.

“Where states are considering underfunding charters, as appears to be the case in Rhode Island, they’re placing themselves at a strategic disadvantage for Race to the Top money. They’re going to hurt their chances,” he added moments later, according to U.S. Education Department officials.


     With the government ready to distribute $5 billion worth of aid based on innovation, and the Education Secretary stressing the importance of charter schools, you would think our legislators would wake up and restore funding for these two schools.  Failing to do so will cost far more than $1.5 million in the long run.