R.I. Governor Dan McKee has a charter school pickle on his hands.
McKee turned heads last month when he said he’d be open to imposing a moratorium on new charter schools, in part because he built his political career as the state’s leading advocate for the often non-unionized public schools.
But after taking another look at the actual legislation being considered by the General Assembly – which includes reducing the cap on total charters in Rhode Island from 35 to 25 – McKee isn’t quite ready to commit to signing the bill if it is approved by the House and Senate.
“The governor has previously stated he would be amenable to a moratorium provided it has a sunset,” spokeswoman Olivia DaRocha said in a statement. “Any bill with additional stipulations, such as a cap on the number of charter schools, would require further consideration if it were to reach his desk.”
The bigger picture: McKee has previously been the firewall preventing a charter school moratorium from moving forward, so his about-face this year has led charter school advocates to accuse him of becoming too cozy with public sector unions who largely oppose charter schools.
But McKee would prefer to reach a compromise that allows a moratorium but doesn’t reduce the cap, a move that would allow him to thread the political needle and say he gave the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals something it has long wanted while also not entirely abandoning charter schools.
In some ways, it’s a game of chicken with the union. The RIFTHP believes it can win support for the current legislation in the House and the Senate and that McKee has already publicly said he’d sign the bill. McKee’s bet is that the union has nowhere else to go in this year Democratic primary election because challenger Helena Foulkes has expressed support for the charters.
What’s next: The Senate Education Committee is holding a hearing on the proposed legislation at 4 p.m., and it’s expected to be held for further study. The Senate is widely expected to approve the bill this year, but the outlook in the House is unclear.
This wasn’t an issue former House speaker Joe Shekarchi had to spend much time on because he could always say McKee would veto the bill. New Speaker Chris Blazejewski is seen as more friendly to teachers’ unions when it comes to charter schools, but he might not want some of his members to have to take a tough vote in an election year.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.