Cranston is one step closer to bringing in a mayoral academy, thanks to last week’s appointment of Mayor Allan Fung to the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies Board of Directors.

“We’re making a lot of progress in making sure there’s the right organization that will be running the school in Cranston,” said Fung.

Fung is confident that a mayoral academy is inevitable, with his newfound access to the state board improving his chances. Fung has long been an advocate for the charter school and mayoral academy movement, and said his involvement with the other major players in the state fits within his initiatives here.

“I’m really honored to be part of the board and having the opportunity to make sure there are new and innovative opportunities and choices for students in Cranston,” he said, citing his legal and business background as assets he will bring to the table.

Fung’s efforts are not without opposition, however. In the beginning of December, he exchanged letters with Superintendent Peter Nero that showed a different point of view.

“I have heard elected and appointed officials, in the political and educational arena come up with lots of ideas and innovations that shot off like Roman candles. These ideas shot off high into the sky and burned brightly, but just as fast, they fizzled out,” Nero wrote.

Despite the public disagreement, Fung said he and Nero have the same ultimate goal in mind.

“With any type of change and innovation there’s always going to be uneasiness but our goals are not different at all,” he said. “It’s to provide a quality public education for the students.”

Now more than ever, Fung believes innovation is exactly what the district needs.

Over the past year, the mayor has visited alternative schools such as the KIPP Academy in Massachusetts. In his response to Nero, Fung pointed out that despite having a student population made up of 87 percent low-income minorities, 85 percent scored proficient in reading and 78 percent in math. There are currently 82 KIPP schools with 20,000 students nationwide.

Another school Fung has spent time observing is Democracy Prep in Cumberland, which was pioneered by Mayor Daniel McKee, who also serves as the RIMA board chair.

McKee said bringing Fung on board would help move the process along, and he thinks Cranston is a good fit.

“Cranston is located in a pretty good place where it could service multiple communities,” he said. “It has the social and economic diversity that the mayoral academy is focused on.”

Although Fung could not put a timeline on when a school might open, McKee believes September of 2011 is a realistic possibility.

That is not surprising, as Fung said he is making progress on some of the roadblocks he previously anticipated. On the issue of the state limits on charter schools, he believes there is a loophole where mayoral academies would be counted separately.

“The cap is still real, but the mayoral academy legislation does provide us flexibility to have a charter that would cover a K though 12 type of build out,” Mayor McKee said.

Moreover, there are no other officials currently seeking to bring a mayoral academy into their city or town.

In terms of finding a location, Fung is already on the hunt.

“I am actively looking for the right space to host a mayoral academy,” he said.

Funding, however, is the largest area of contention for proponents and opponents of charter schools and mayoral academies. How, opponents ask, can the state afford new schools when the ones it already has are faced with diminished budgets and deteriorating infrastructure?

With the ability to go after alternative funding sources, a mayoral academy has more freedom. Moreover, the mayor believes a new school will not detract from traditional public education – adding that a mayoral academy is still a public school.

“We really need a funding formula that follows the child. It’s not taking away from the public school it’s just allocating the resources for educating that same student,” he said.

For Fung, doing that will address the impacts being felt statewide.

“Overall if you have a sound funding formula then that would alleviate a lot of the issues that we have, at least in the City of Cranston,” he said. “What we’re doing is still educating a child in a public school education.”