Senator Calls for “Dismantlement” of Achievement First in RI, Cites Abuse at Schools
GoLocalProv News Team
Senator Calls for “Dismantlement” of Achievement First in RI, Cites Abuse at Schools
“Dismantling the Achievement First Rhode Island network needs to begin with removal of the Achievement First Corporation from any managerial involvement with the schools. Closure would be too disruptive to the students, and converting the schools into public schools is a better approach,” Bell told GoLocal.
Bell sites a range of issues, including physical abuse of students. In Rhode Island, Achievement First operates under the names Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy and Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHis comments came as Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza this week suggested the possibility of closing a public charter school to allow Achievement First to expand -- which was met with strong rebuke by the League of Charter Schools.
RI Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green refused to comment on Bell's charges.
Issues of Abuse
One of the recent episodes of violence occurred at Achievement First’s New Haven school location.
In January of this year, the head of Achievement First Amistad High School in New Haven was caught on video shoving a student. This was one of a number of episodes linking faculty to physical contact with students.
“Morgan Barth, the school leader at Achievement First Amistad High School, decided to step down immediately," reported the New Haven Independent. The news outlet continued:
His resignation comes hours after the Independent posted a story and a video of him shoving a student and days after a former employee criticized the working environment he fostered at Amistad in a viral video.
The incidents touched off a broader community discussion about discipline practices at the nationally acclaimed Dixwell Avenue charter school. ‘It’s clear that he could not be the leader of the school right now, given his actions and the feelings of the school community,’ said Amanda Pinto, Achievement First’s senior communications director. "I think both of those things became clear to him."
Barth was also linked to a 2013 physical incident with an Achievement First student.
"The Achievement First network is in turmoil over revelations of abusive behavior at its New Haven high school," said Bell. GoLocal attempted to reach a range of administrators with Achievement First by social media and email. No one from Achievement First responded to questions about Bell's charges.
In 2016, students at Achievement First's New Haven school walked out and staged a protest over the lack of minority faculty.
Other incidents have made headlines at Achievement First schools -- a network operating in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island.
In another video (see below), former Achievement First faculty member Steven Cotton took to Facebook and outlined a range of concerns.
"No one in the building wants to hear the truth," said Cotton, one of the few African-American men on the faculty at the Amistad School of Achievement First.
Sixty-eight faculty members signed a letter which stated that they felt “disgust and disappointment” at the network’s lack of transparency after the Barth incident. The letter was first reported by Chalkbeat.
In 2010, the New York Post reported:
A Brooklyn charter school administrator who gave up his old gig in California amid charges that he had been physically and emotionally abusive to students is at it again, fed-up parents told The Post.
Just over a year into Chi Tschang’s role as assistant superintendent of middle schools for the Achievement First charter school network in Brooklyn, a student’s mother said he aggressively grabbed an 11-year-old boy he was kicking out of class last month.
“[Tschang’s] not supposed to do that,” said the AF Crown Heights mom, who asked to be identified only as Lorna. “He’s supposed to speak with his mouth, not grab him.”
Several other parents at the Crown Heights school questioned Achievement First’s judgment in hiring an educator who resigned as head of KIPP Fresno, part of the Knowledge Is Power Program charter network, in February 2009 after an investigation into his disciplinary practices.
Achievement First in RI
Bell cited the Rhode Island Department of Education's school climate survey -- and the results at Achievement First's Providence Middle School -- where students gave the school a 25% rating for school climate -- while the state average for students assessing their schools is 64%.
"These 5th grade school climate student survey results from Achievement First's Providence Middle School are just horrific. Sure, the other Achievement First schools also show bad results, but how can we tolerate this much human misery? Student morale is terrible in Rhode Island already, but these results are horrific, even for Rhode Island," wrote Bell.
Achievement First's Academics
While questions about discipline policies and hiring emerge at Achievement First schools, the chain of schools have repeatedly been cited for top academic performances.
The New Haven school is ranked 527th nationally and 12th in Connecticut by U.S. News and World Report, "Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® coursework and exams. The AP® participation rate at Amistad Academy is 100%. The total minority enrollment is 99%, and 73% of students are economically disadvantaged." In comparison, only two Rhode Island school rank higher nationally -- Classical #168 and Barrington High School #189.
In RICAS scoring, the two RI-based Achievement First schools score a combined 55% meet or exceed expectations for math and 56% for English Language Arts. In contrast, Providence schools as a district are 10% for math and 14% for English Language Arts.