CRANSTON — By traditional measures such as reading scores and math scores, the city’s schools are generally doing well.

Mayor Allan W. Fung is hoping a dose of competition from a not-so-traditional setting will encourage them to do better.

The Republican mayor, pointing to twin goals of higher achievement and better use of taxpayer money, is courting the idea of a new charter school in Cranston — one that would follow the model of the mayoral academy that opened this year in Cumberland.

It’s too soon to speculate on details, but if the school is anything like the Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley school, the ingredients could include a longer school day and a longer school year, in addition to the freedom to work outside traditional rules on staffing and teacher pay.

Fung’s reasoning?

“We can’t just keep doing things the same old way,” he said. “Whether it’s in the schools or any other department, I don’t want to hear that we’ve done it a certain way, this is the way we’re going to do it.”

Fung has recently made some firsthand observations at charter schools, visiting Democracy Prep and the KIPP Academy Lynn charter school, in Lynn, Mass.

In both cases, he said he was impressed by the high expectations and the focus of the students.

“Every time we walked in, not a single student strayed from the teacher and what was going on,” he said of his classroom visits at KIPP Academy.

While Democracy Prep Blackstone Academy is one of 13 publicly funded charter schools in Rhode Island, it is unique in that, as a mayoral academy, it is required to accept a mix of urban and suburban students from more than one city or town, and its oversight board consists of the mayors and managers from the sending communities — Cumberland, Central Falls, Lincoln and Pawtucket.

Like other charter schools, it operates outside traditional rules and regulations, but it is free even from some rules that other charter schools must follow, such as those on prevailing wages.

Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee, who spearheaded the mayoral academy idea in Rhode Island, said the setup allows a school to innovate, boost performance and spend money more wisely than schools in a traditional setting.

Traditional schools are “encumbered by a certain amount of barriers,” he said, “and it’s difficult to really reinvent it or innovate as quickly as we need to.”

Not everyone is thrilled with the idea of bringing a mayoral academy to Cranston.

Francis J. Flynn, president of the Cranston Teachers Alliance, questioned why Fung is looking out of state for good practices in elementary schools when he can find them in the city.

“To just create another elementary school in the city defies logic,” he said, “especially with the economic situation and the shortage of funding.”

School Committee Chairman Michael A. Traficante — who is also chairman of the board that oversees the New England Laborers/Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy charter school in Cranston — was more guarded.

“It’s very difficult for me to criticize another charter academy in Cranston, since I am intimately involved in the charter school in Cranston,” he said.

Still, Traficante said Fung should at least sit down with Supt. Peter L. Nero to make sure the new school would not be “duplicating efforts.” He also said Fung should meet with Flynn and other union leaders, if for no other reason than to seek harmony with city teachers.

How far the mayoral academy plan goes may depend on money.

Rhode Island has 13 charter schools and is limited to 20 under state law. In addition to the 13, another 4 have preliminary approval. State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has voiced support for more charter schools, but whether those and others become a reality also depends on the willingness of the state to pay for them, said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The schools typically receive local funding, in the form of per-pupil allocations from sending districts, as well as money from the state, he said.

Fung said it is too soon to say what communities a mayoral academy in Cranston might serve, though he did say he would extend an invitation to Warwick. He said the first step is to find the right organization to run the school. McKee and the others who oversee Democracy Prep in Cumberland chose Seth Andrew, founder and head of the first Democracy Prep Charter School, in New York City.

As for a school theme, Fung said he likes the idea of a school that prepares students for college while placing an emphasis on the basics — reading and math.

“This is where it all starts,” he said.

redgar@projo.com