PROVIDENCE — Experimental concepts like longer school days and 10-month academic years may be coming to Rhode Island with the advent of “mayoral academies” a new class of public schools free from union structures.

The measure has received preliminary approval from the House Finance Committee and is headed for a floor vote tomorrow.

Supporters say the endorsement marks the start of serious education reform in Rhode Island and is the biggest victory in more than a decade for alternative education in this state.

Supporters say the endorsement marks the start of serious education reform in Rhode Island.

But the teachers’ unions fiercely object to the change, which they call an excuse to gut teacher protections they’ve worked years to safeguard.

Driving the plan is Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee and a group of education experts who see the mayoral academy as a chance to “start from scratch” and design an entirely new kind of school to be used as a model for others like it.

The state already has 11 charter schools, alternative schools that increase options for students, often by using non-traditional teaching methods. Like those schools, the mayoral academy would draw students from several communities, in this case from the Blackstone Valley, and use a lottery to determine admission. It would be governed by a board of directors that would include mayors and town leaders and would be run by one of several established nonprofits including the Knowledge is Power Program or Achievement First, which advocates say have improved student performance in schools throughout the East Coast.

But unlike the state’s other alternative schools –– and indeed all its other schools –– the mayoral academy would not be required to follow the strict prevailing wage and retirement statutes and seniority rules.

The academy would also be free, for example, to offer merit-based pay and six-day school weeks that supporters say have led to improvements in similar schools around the country.

To do all this, it would depend on a combination of local education funding and private donations that must be approved by the state’s Board of Regents. The proposal itself does not include any funding.

The House Finance Committee last week gave preliminary support to the academy –– a plan unveiled oddly enough in the new state budget.

“It’s time to think outside the box,” said House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox through a spokesman. “As Franklin Roosevelt once said, ‘it is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something!’ I think it’s worth trying this mayoral academy.”

The state Education Department has said it is “satisfied” with the plan, provided it receives Regents approval.

In a striking reversal, the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools, which had previously expressed concerns about amending the state’s charter school law, last night changed course and endorsed the academy.

But Robert A. Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, said he was “blindsided” by the proposal.

“We’re kind of in shock,” he said “This is one of those last-minute surprises that you dread in the [budget] process.” Since then, Walsh, a usually powerful voice on Smith Hill, says he’s been unable to get Fox to return his phone calls.

Walsh and the American Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals have blasted what they call McKee’s plan to “experiment with kids,” while “ignoring decades of progress in setting standards for public education,” and sacrificing vital teacher protections that could lead to lower-paying jobs with greater turnover.

“Mayor McKee seems to be motivated by a myth that there’s some magic way to do it better,” Walsh said, “… but a group of mayors that have no background in education,” being given “carte blanche” to build a school is not the answer, he said.

Union critics are not alone. At last week’s budget hearing before the House Finance Committee, the proposal was the most fervently contested of the 39 budget articles. Five of the 15 committee members voted against the proposal, with two others saying they’re worried that it skirts labor practices and may siphon money from already struggling school districts.

When the measure hits the House floor tomorrow, lawmakers are likely to debate its merits at length.

But McKee calls the unions’ reactions “scare tactics.”

The mayor got the idea for the new school while earning a master’s degree at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government several years ago, soon enlisting help from Brown University education Prof. Martin West and Bryan Hassel, of the education research firm Public Impact, who authored a 19-page proposal submitted to lawmakers.

The report highlighted some dismal facts: school spending in Rhode Island is the seventh-highest in the country, yet Education Week ranked the system here 40th in the nation. It also noted that the state’s charter school law is among the most stringent. Until the end of this month, when a sunset provision kicks in, there is an all-out moratorium on opening new schools of this kind.

Mayoral academy supporters say it’s time to break away from that status quo.

“If these schools are bad for teachers, why would they get 20 teachers applying for every spot,” asked Board of Regents member Angus Davis, referring to an Achievement First-run school in New Haven, Conn., that saw a slew of teaching applicants when it opened several years ago.

Other Rhode Island leaders to support the program include Progreso Latino chief executive officer Ramon Martinez and Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce President Laurie White. Today the group will hold a rally at the State House to celebrate lawmakers’ willingness to give their idea a shot.

“Based on their desire to recruit the best teachers, engage parents as partners and put student achievement first, I believe it is important to give them the opportunity to develop their plan for ultimate approval by the Board of Regents,” Fox said.

cneedham@projo.com