Providence Council president reverses course on Excel Academy deal
Reality check:
This is more of a value statement from Miller – one that keeps her closest political allies happy – than it is a nail in the coffin for Excel Academy.
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Excel started accepting fifth graders from Providence, North Providence, and Central Falls during the 2022-2023 school year, and it already has the approval from the Rhode Island Department of Education to eventually grow to a K-12 school. The council has no ability to block that expansion.
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But Miller has created an obstacle for school leaders because they believed they had negotiated a deal that would be beneficial to everyone involved. Now they'll need to find new space as their school continues to grow.
The bigger picture:
This is a bad look for Miller, and she's smart enough to know that. But opposing charter schools is not going to cost anyone their seat on the Providence City Council (the pro-charter movement is not considered a major player in city elections).
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Where Miller's decision could become a problem is with the state takeover of Providence schools.
Providence leaders were unsuccessful in convincing the General Assembly to return the school to local control this year, and Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green
already has approval to keep control of the district until October 2027.
One of Infante-Green's primary concerns about Providence is that the local government – the mayor's office, council, and school board – is too dysfunctional to oversee the school district.
Miller's flip-flop doesn't help with that perception.
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,
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Dan McGowan can be reached at
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