RI Mayoral Academies leader tapped for national school reform gig
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The co-founder of Rhode Island Mayoral Academies (RIMA) is leaving his job to join one of the country’s most well-known school reform advocacy organizations.
Dr. Michael Magee, who helped launch RIMA with lieutenant governor and former Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee, has been named the chief executive officer of Chiefs for Change, a national coalition of state and local superintendents known for supporting the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluations.
“Throughout his career, Mike has demonstrated a sincere commitment to improving education in this country,” John White, Louisiana’s state superintendent of education and chairman of Chiefs for Change, said in a statement. “He is a visionary leader who has a proven ability to turn ideas into action that benefit families, educators, and children. I’m pleased to have him as the first CEO of Chiefs for Change.”
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Magee, who earned his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, has become one of the leading advocates for charter schools in Rhode Island over the last seven years.
He is best known for working with McKee to pass the 2008 legislation that created mayoral academies, which oversee several publicly funded charter schools and are governed by a board chaired by a municipal leader. The schools are allowed to operate independent of a traditional municipal teachers’ union contract.
Magee has also played a vital behind-the-scenes role in the annual State House battle over charter school legislation, lobbying lawmakers to avoid placing restrictions on RI Mayoral Academies leader tapped for national school reform gig | WPRI 12 Eyewitness News:
