Mayor Angel Taveras Issues Statement of Support for Achievement First Mayoral Academies

Mayor Angel Taveras has offered his full support for the application before the Rhode Island Board of Regents of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish Achievement First Mayoral Academies.

In his letter, Mayor Taveras wrote:

"I am doing this because I believe that our focus should be on student achievement and these schools have shown how to increase achievement, especially among minority students. But, the biggest reason I am supporting the application is that each child we fail to educate is a child that we are condemning to a life of poverty. I cannot accept that especially when there is a viable alternative to change it.

Providence is home to a robust group of community-founded public charter schools that consistently outperform our traditional district middle and high schools and many of our elementary schools. Given our outstanding community of public charter schools and Achievement First's track record of high student achievement and collaboration with other schools, the Achievement First Mayoral Academies will be a welcome addition and will advance my goal of building a portfolio of high quality options for Providence's children. I am confident the Achievement First Mayoral Academies can help achieve my vision for public education in Providence."

The Achievement First model of college preparatory education for students of all abilities and socio-economic classes has demonstrated the importance of students reading on grade level by the end of third grade as predictor of high school success. In 2010, fourth grade students at Achievement First Schools in Connecticut demonstrated grade level reading, writing and math proficiency at over twice the rate of students in urban districts of Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven--and surpassed the state proficiency average by 11.6 percentage points.

Achievement First schools all operate with an extended school day from 7:30AM to 4PM, and an extended school year with 195 instructional days compared to 180 in Providence Public Schools. Achievement First Mayoral Academies can also serve as learning laboratories for these best practices to help Providence create centers of learning excellence and turn around low performing schools.

The Mayor is joined by Providence City Council President Michael Solomon in public support of the application to the Board of Regents of Elementary and Secondary Education.