The Failed State Takeover-Or Rather The Subjugation-of Providence Public Schools
The Providence School Department Today is a Barometer of What Our Education System Cannot and Should Not Be...Suggested Readings Section Too.
Another premature, early release of a newsletter article-or editorial whatever these can be called. Fortunately, it is my last one before the upcoming Fourth of July break so let me wish you all of you now a Happy and Safe Independence Day.
Suggested Readings:
Former US Labor Secretary and University of California Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, who was in President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, was in Gerald Ford’s and Jimmy Carter’s administrations, and ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Reich is also a very knowledgeable progressive commentator who has discussed Biden Administration economic policies and GOP culture wars on CNN and MSNBC.
Strategist Ruy Teixeira who writes for The Liberal Patriot. Although much more centrist and middle-of-the-road than Secretary Reich, he offers rather unique and intriguing insight into “the working class problem,” whether you generally agree with his analysis or not.
While Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren use Twitter and Medium more-and so do President Biden and Vice President Harris-there’s one fascinating figure who has Substack-Edward Siedle. Mr. Siedle-similar to Bernie 2016 & 2020 adviser David Sirota-has conducted several investigations and reports on state pension systems across the country-including in my home state.
While I may recommend other readings and profiles later on, I am still surveying the landscape to see who else uses Substack, who uses Medium, and who only goes on social media even now. Meanwhile, it’s been a busy week at the Supreme Court to close out the month of June.
Anyone doing summer reading? Seabiscuit might be one novel worth reading. Somewhat long, but very informative.
Take of the Weekend-The State Subjugation of Providence Public Schools:
Today though, I will mention a local, personal story. For full disclosure-my older brother and I were former Providence Public School District students. In other words, our ties to the district are strong and deep even today.
My brother and I were diagnosed with Autism when we were very young. While he caught up faster in the academics and other ways, I struggled a little bit longer. I was three years behind in reading, writing, and mathematical skills by the time I was in kindergarten and in the early elementary school grades. As it turns out from here, it went fine in the end, but it took a lot of work. Beyond the support of family and outside tutoring after school, I also relied heavily on the compassion of teachers, special education assistants, social workers, guidance counselors, other faculty, and even fellow classmates to close the gap that existed on an academic level and reinforce the basic communication skills that were much rustier than they are now. It wasn’t easy. Sometimes, it was anything but. But it worked in the long term for my pursuits. And it gave me a connection to the people who helped me and others over the years; even when times were tough.
Not to say everything is roses in the Providence Public Schools-which I can attest to from my 14 years of being in the district. Like many urban districts, it is a tough setting for students who struggle academically, who aren’t feeling well emotionally and socially at school or at home, who have to learn in unhygienic and even hazardous facilities, and who don’t get the services they need in an antiquated and outdated school system. Just one example: I was lucky to be in a middle school building that was renovated two or three years before my class came in, when most facilities are not. I’ve seen students under stress(including myself), teachers who burnt out and were never the same, faculty members underpaid and under-appreciated, parents juggling between their jobs and picking their kids up at the bare minimum, and administrators-at least the good ones-who tried to keep everyone on track and deter chaos(such as brawls or shouting matches). These are the many documented struggles in Providence Schools from 1993.
In 2019, a John Hopkins Report laid out a telling tale of the Providence Public Schools-a city school district under pressure. A school district whose academics lagged behind many larger lower-income and economically distressed communities. A school district known for buildings with leaky ceilings, wet floors, rat holes and rat dung, mold, mildew, and even asbestos. A school district with low student and teacher morale alike. Little input from parents and faculty in city district decisions. Struggled badly with lack of real discipline, low-quality curricula, and adequate staffing, money, and resources. This report-following up on findings from twenty plus years ago-made the headlines of several national newspapers-including the Washington Post itself. We were really desperate.
That was when in my junior year, the state takeover of Providence Public Schools officially commenced with the support of then Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and current Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green. State leaders promised a change in how the district functioned. They promised a streamlining and condensing of the bureaucratic process that plagued the School Department at a time when students and teachers alike needed more collaborative, compassionate, competent, and efficient leadership. We were promised real district transparency and openness with all stakeholders at the table. We were promised better school buildings, greater district morale, needed support that was not there before, more promising extracurricular activities, and gradual improvements in curriculum development and other indicators of academic achievement. Even with the pandemic aftermath and its impact on education, the state government and its Department of Education has failed abysmally and pathetically in addressing any of these issues in a concrete way.
The curriculum quality, test scores, and other academic statistics are no better now than they were prior to the state takeover-if not worse actually even years after remote learning ended. And even with tenuous professional development days and virtual learning snow days, the city’s academic indicators are not any better now than they were in 2019. Sure there was the pandemic. But there’s much more than that. There is a crippling teachers shortage in the public school district that keeps expanding as the state takeover continues (it was extended for several more years recently). This includes a vortex of experienced teachers who could have helped train younger ones if they were also present, but are now on their own. The Education Commissioner-with notable, controversial support from the pro-corporate, private for-profit charter school movement-has aggressively pushed efforts to expand charter schools in the city of Providence, which drives money and other resources away from students struggling the most and who usually can’t get into those schools anyways. At the same time, services are being withdrawn to help ESL students and students with disabilities (which has been the subject of a Target 12 investigation). The department has even enforced new mandatory courses (like computer classes) that shut down elective classes and extracurricular projects; which is a personal case for me with this Nathan Bishop Middle School story.
The district is now proposing a longer school day by 30 minutes. Let me say this from my middle school and high school experience: with 6 class periods, each class really gets 5 minutes of extra time. Does anyone really believe 5 extra minutes of class makes that much of a difference in whatever class lesson is being taught or which class topic is discussed? I mean seriously? Especially with the regular standardized testing and testing practice sessions, AP exams during the month of May, fire drills, lockdowns, and the other distractions? Highly doubt it.
The morale problem isn’t any good. Students and teachers alike highly dislike the leaders in the state takeover-especially Commissioner Infante-Green. The Student Union has opposed many of RIDE’s policies, and the Teachers Union has put in a Vote of No Confidence in Infante-Green. I do remember a teacher telling me before the pandemic that the Commissioner called them “racist” merely because most of the Classical High School teachers proportionally were white. The school buildings remain antiquated and old. Indeed, RIDE has made it clear they’re not even intending to fix several of those school facilities. The bureaucratic layers of command have now expanded with district leadership and higher up structures formed for state leadership coordination-with people like AIG who quite frankly don’t care that much about the fate of our Providence Public Schools.
The bureaucratic hoops have been most problematic and disingenuous. The state and district failed to disclose its hiring practices, which came to a head when a PPSD official was caught toe-popping after similar incidents were reported years back in Tampa, Florida. The superintendent who failed to disclose those incidents was forced to resign. Secret backroom deals were made in contract processes for offices on Niantic Avenue, and for private companies doing construction work in the school district. Even more recently: Commissioner Infante-Green and RIDE have unilaterally-and autocratically-shut down 4 city schools without consultation with state lawmakers, city officials, or the communities themselves. Some of these schools are being turned, without much consensus and agreement at all, into for-profit charter school networks. Similar incidents have occurred with state institutions responsible for the care of children with disabilities, like the Sherlock Center. Additionally, there is a personal case here of intentional bureaucratic obstruction and truly blatant ignorance to state transparency norms that at a later point may be brought to the general public’s attention in detail.
Finally, in regards to the public school closures and the subsequent expansion of charter schools at this locations, one must wonder whether the Education Commissioner has an agenda to purposefully sabotage the Providence Public School District from within to make the case for more charter school expansion. With deep ties to Jeb Bush, Campbell Brown, Deborah Gist, McKinsey, Chiefs for Change, and The 74, it would not be too hard of an argument to make based on all of the actions made in the entire duration of this state takeover. The web of the state charter school movement in this state is deep enough where that kind of agenda would be in place for our city schools.
The state takeover results speak for themselves. But their methods and processes more than anything speak to what this really is. This is no partnership, or joint venture between city and state. This is a hostile relationship towards the city. An oppressive disregard for the well-being of the city’s stakeholders. And a tyrannical, heavy-handed subjugation of our city’s schools. Infante-Green is delusional and way over her head to think there has been any progress whatsoever, and we can no longer trust RIDE to tell us the truth about our schools.
That is why many people are calling for action now. Independent of the major stakeholders, I am calling for several major reforms and proposals to the state’s subjugation of PPSD that can be taken by city and school officials, and the Rhode Island General Assembly, which you can check out right here. It is time to rein in this state takeover as it is structured right now.