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Education chief Gist: Raising teacher retirement age would not affect learning
Posted Friday, November 4, 2011
By Katherine Gregg
Source: Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Opponents of the proposed pension overhaul warn that students would suffer if teachers were forced to work until they reach Social Security retirement age.
But here is what state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist had to say Thursday when asked about the proposed hike in the pension-eligibility age: "As to the specifics of the proposed changes...I have no expertise, I have made no recommendations, and I have full faith...in the legislative process for review of the proposal from Governor Chafee and Treasurer Raimondo.
"Having said that, I know that we have great teachers in Rhode Island at every age and at every stage of their career, so I cannot see how changing the retirement age for educators would affect learning and achievement.''
Chafee, Raimondo propose changes they say will put failing pension system on track for solvency
Posted Wednesday, October 19, 2011
By Katherine Gregg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island Governor Lincoln D. Chafee and State Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo on Tuesday called for a dramatic rollback in the pension benefits anticipated by more than 51,000 past and present government employees in Rhode Island, including state workers and public school teachers.
The legislation they delivered to state lawmakers at a historic, one-day special legislative session would: freeze cost-of-living increases for Rhode Island's retired government workers for up to 19 years, raise the retirement age and move most current employees into a new "hybrid'' plan that combines a traditional and much-reduced pension guarantee with a 401(k)-style plan, in which the only certainty would be the amount the employee and taxpayer are required to contribute.
Get the details on Chafee and Raimondo's pension proposals
A showdown was averted when the two state leaders -- and their allies -- reached an eleventh-hour agreement on the plight of locally run, municipal pension systems that are teetering on the brink of financial collapse.
If the General Assembly, dominated by Democrats, adopts the far-reaching pension proposal intact, Raimondo predicts it will shave $3 billion off the $7.3-billion taxpayer tab for the unfunded commitments that state and local leaders have made to their retirees and current-day workers.
It will also spare state and local taxpayers from paying almost double next year -- more than $600 million -- what they are paying this year to provide government employees with something many of them do not have: "a secure retirement.''
Next step: the House and Senate Finance Committees will schedule a series of public hearings before the final version of the massive pension bill, which came in at more than 200 pages, is put to a vote by the full House and Senate sometime in November.
In his speech to the lawmakers, Chafee said: "We all want economic prosperity for Rhode Island. However, our $7-billion unfunded pension liability hangs like a cloud over the state - causing uncertainty for economic development, threatening to crowd out state spending on other important government initiatives, and pushing many of our cities and towns to the brink of insolvency.
"The plan that the Treasurer and I present today is a comprehensive, long-term approach to Rhode Island's pension challenges. The fundamental goal throughout this process has been to provide retirement security through reforms that are fair to the three main interested parties: retirees, current employees and the taxpayer.''
Without reform, Raimondo told reporters that the required state and local contributions to the pension fund for state workers and teachers would soar from about $370 million this year to $615 million in the new budget year that begins on July 1, 2012, but the suspension of COLAs and other proposed steps will knock that down to $353 million.
She said that extending the state's current payment schedule out by another six years - also known as reamortization - would "absolutely add some cost in the out-years.'' She promised to provide more information on that point later.
But she acknowledged that the pension fund is still struggling to meet its new and reduced 7.5-percent rate of return on its investments. While the fund posted a 20-percent gain in the year that ended on June 30, 2011, it is down 8.27 percent so far this fiscal year. Taking all the ups and downs into account, the 10-year average is 5.74 percent.
"When we began, most thought meaningful pension reform was out of reach. The problem was too complex and the politics too challenging. But strong leadership, and the public will to build a stronger Rhode Island has prevailed, and now you are poised to enact comprehensive pension reform that fixes our problem and balances the interests of all these Rhode Islanders.''
The proposed legislation would lock in the benefits earned by all current employees through June 30, 2012. After that date, all state employees, teachers and municipal workers would move into a new world where some benefits would be guaranteed and others would hinge on the investment market.
But it would make most state and local workers, including public school teachers, work longer to qualify for a state pension.
Like the vast majority of workers in the private sector, they would have to wait until they reached the Social Security retirement age -- which hovers between 66 and 67 for different age workers -- to start collecting state pensions that they now can collect before their 62nd birthdays. (The vast majority of those already retired were allowed to leave with immediate pensions, at any age, after 28 years work.)
The legislation would also suspend cost-of-living adjustments for retirees until the state pension fund, now among the worst-funded in the nation, reaches 80-percent funding, a target that could take up to 19 years. And at whatever point these COLAs are reinstated, retirees could get an annual increase of up to 4 percent, depending on how the state's pension fund investments are faring.
This new "risk-adjusted COLA" would be applied to the retiree's first $35,000 in benefits.
But there could be a partial reinstatement of COLAs for those retirees with pensions that provide them with less than $20,000 a year in benefits, based on a complicated formula that multiplies the number of years they worked times $500 to determine how much of their pension was eligible for an increase. The state treasurer's staff was unsure how many people currently fall within this low-end category.
Other key details: The new hybrid plan would have two pieces: a much-reduced defined-benefit, or traditional pension, and a new defined-contribution, or 401(k)-style plan, that would shift some of the current taxpayer risk to the public employees themselves.
For each year of work after July 1, 2012, employees would be guaranteed 1 percent of their highest five-year salary average, which is less than the worth of each year under the current plan. But they would be entitled to a pension benefit after 5 years, instead of 10.
And their required contributions would also drop, from 8.75 percent for state employees and 9.5 percent for teachers, down to 3.75 percent, and from 7 percent to 2 percent for those municipal workers promised COLAs in retirement, and from 6 percent to 1 percent, for those for whom no COLAs have been promised.
In the new 401(k)-type plan, employees would contribute 5 percent in return for the "employer" -- which means the state, or, in the case of municipal workers, each city and town -- contributing another 1 percent on their behalf.
The proposal recognizes that a large number of public school teachers in Rhode Island, and a number of municipal employees, work in communities that do not pay into Social Security. Both they and their employer would pay an additional 2 percent into this savings plan on their behalf.
The minimum retirement age is currently a hypothetical age 62, but it actually varies for each employee, depending on how old they are and how close to retirement. That complicated, phased-in retirement rule will end, but in different ways for different people.
But different rules apply to small pockets of employees, including judges and state troopers.
The judges and troopers would also face a COLA freeze for an indefinite period of time, but they would not be moved into the new "hybrid'' plan. Veteran troopers could retire at age 52, and the newest judges could still retire with between 65 percent and 80 percent of their average earnings in the years leading up to retirement.
A side note: All judges would have to contribute to their pensions. For about a dozen of them, it would be the first time, and at 12 percent of their pay, it would be more than any of them are required to contribute now.
Heading into the final hours of negotiations on Monday night, it appeared that Chafee and Raimondo were still at odds over how much the state could legally do to help financially troubled, municipal pension plans outside the state-run system.
While Chafee pushed for the more aggressive approach, Raimondo and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed raised concerns that doing more would not pass legal muster, because local benefits are set in collective-bargaining agreements, not state law as is the case with participants in the state-run retirement system.
But Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung renewed their call Monday for a more aggressive approach that would include suspending cost-of-living allowances, or COLAs, for municipal workers who don't participate in the state-run retirement system.
Both mayors spoke to Raimondo on Monday about including these COLA cuts in the legislation. Paiva Weed paid a late-night visit to the treasurer's office on Monday to try to hammer out final details. Among the sticking points: when -- and for how long -- the COLA freeze would take place, and where the potential savings would go, with some mayors balking at the prospect that all of the dollars saved would get funneled back into their pension funds.
Details of the compromise were still emerging on Tuesday., but it appeared that COLAs for the local police officers and firefighters would remain intact, until and unless their community failed to provide a new solvency-review board with a satisfactory plan for addressing their pension-funding problems.
As explained by Chafee's Department of Administration director Richard Licht, that would trigger the suspension of COLAs when the current collective-bargaining agreements expire, and the potential withholding of state aid if a community then failed to meet its pension-contribution targets.
Raimondo has spent months attempting to educate public-employee groups and legislators about the magnitude and severity of the state's pension-funding problem that was unmasked when the state reduced its inflated, 8.25 percent investment return assumption last April.
The average return over the previous decade: less than half the assumed rate the state's Retirement Board - including its union members - adopted over the vehement objections of then-state Treasurer Nancy Mayer in the late 1990s.
If nothing is done, the state's pension consultants have put the state's pension-fund administrators on notice that state and local contributions will soar from roughly $300 million this year to more than $600 million in the new budget year known as FY2013 that begins on July 1, 2012.
Opponents are already lined up, including the state chapter of the AARP led by former Secretary of State Kathleen Connell, a $46,527 a year state pensioner.
Connell issued this statement: "We urge the Assembly to take the necessary time to examine alternatives and seek - and make available - guidance from experts who have not yet been a part of this discussion. Our elected leaders must make responsible decisions that do not hurt retirees by cutting benefits they have earned over a lifetime of hard work.''
During a recent briefing for state Senators, Raimondo said: "There will be no money for anything else unless we fix this."
Raimondo told the senators she is sympathetic to employees who "did nothing wrong," but she said the state pension system is "bleeding" money, paying out $300 million more in benefits last year than it took in, and there are "many scenarios," including another decade of ups and downs in the financial markets, that show the state pension system actually "running out of money."
Raimondo told the senators she is sympathetic to employees who "did nothing wrong," but "this is a financial problem we have to solve."
She also told them the state pension system is "bleeding" money, paying out $300 million more in benefits last year than it took in, and there are "many scenarios," including another decade of ups and downs in the financial markets, that show the state pension system actually "running out of money."
annual costs for taxpayers ... Pension fund could run out of money."
She said the crisis was decades in the making. Warnings were ignored. And now, the State of Rhode Island, already ranked as having the worst-maintained roads and bridges of any state in the nation and the third-worst climate for starting a business, is facing $6.8 billion to $9 billion in crippling pension debts that could bring the state to its knees.
Her report traced decades of decisions by Rhode Island lawmakers and others who had control over the state's $7-billion pension fund -- including decisions made "against the advice of actuarial experts" that masked the slow but steady slide into the current crisis.
She pointed to generous improvements in benefits, fictional rates of return on investments and failure to account for the simple fact that people are living longer and thus, collecting their pensions longer.
When the '60s began, the standard for retirement was age 60 or 38 years of work. At either point, a departing employee could leave with 1.66 percent of his or her five-year salary average for each year of work, without any promise of a post-retirement increase in the pensions.
Over the years, the rules changed. Employees could retire at any age, after 28 years of work, with a pension that paid them up to 80 percent of their three-year salary average, and the promise of 3-percent, compounded annual increases in their retirement checks.
In her report, Raimondo noted that "all of these benefit increases were applied retroactively to current employees," enabling them to retire younger with richer benefits. Since the employee and taxpayer contributions "needed to fund these improved benefits during prior periods of service were never made, the unfunded liability increased substantially."
Even after a series of recent pension-cutting efforts on Smith Hill, state retirees can still "earn retirement benefits that exceed 100 percent of their final average earnings by the time they are several years into their retirement," Raimondo reports.
Those who get a state pension and Social Security can earn more in retirement "than a current employee in the same job position earns today.''
N.Y. reformer touts testing, teacher commitment at R.I. fundraiser
Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — When Geoffrey Canada grew up in the South Bronx 55 years ago, the public schools were lousy. Five decades later, the schools are just as bad.
Nothing has changed. The schools start and close at the same times. They are not open on Saturday or during the summer. Teachers leave when the last bell sounds. And, there are few, if any, social services to support struggling families.
“No other business would allow that,” said Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone, a web of social services that supports families in Harlem. “Only in education is innovation a dirty word.”
Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most ambitious social-service experiments of our time.” Starting with Baby College, a series of workshops for parents, the zone offers a comprehensive network of services from childhood through college.
The project has one over-arching goal: college attendance for every child.
Canada recognized that you can’t get students to improve without changing the social fabric of the neighborhood. And he realized that you can’t make a difference in children’s lives without empowering the adults who raise them.
The Harlem Children’s Zone is the model for the Providence Children’s Initiative, which provides additional services to the children and families of Fogarty Elementary School in South Providence.
Canada was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s fundraiser for Family Service of Rhode Island, the lead agency behind the Providence Children’s Initiative.
Canada is a blunt, no-nonsense reformer. He has become a lightning rod for critics of high-stakes testing and charter schools. Born in poverty and raised by a single mother who believed in the power of education, Canada attended Bowdoin College and Harvard University.
From his perspective, poverty is not an excuse for poor student performance. Neither is racial inequality, the demise of the two-parent household, nor the language the child speaks at home. That’s not to say that fixing the public schools is easy or that it can be done in a year, even 10 years.
What’s lacking in cities across the country, he said, is a collective will to put aside 50 years of failure.
“Our system is destroying our children,” Canada told about 500 business leaders and educators. “No one is treating this as a crisis.”
One of the criticisms of the Harlem Children’s Zone is that it is too expensive to bring to scale. Canada concedes that his project wouldn’t be possible without a huge infusion of private cash. It took $48 million to operate the Harlem Children’s Zone in fiscal 2010.
Canada says that breaks down to $5,000 per child — a lot less than the $39,000 a year that New York spends to imprison one person.
“We don’t blink an eye at spending that much to send a kid to jail,” he said, “and we don’t get one thing for that investment.”
Canada dismisses critics such as Diane Ravitch, a leading author, professor and researcher, who thinks the current mania for high-stakes testing has undermined the ability of schools to provide students with a well-rounded education:
“I’m a believer in testing,” he said. “My kids are going to be tested their entire lives.”
Canada also believes that a teacher should be fired if he or she isn’t effective.
When Canada opened a charter school in Harlem, he told his investors that he would quit if, in five years, his school wasn’t out-performing the public schools.
It’s time to treat teachers like professionals, Canada says. If the job isn’t done by Friday afternoon, you come to work on Saturday. If your students or customers aren’t getting what they need in nine months, you work longer.
Canada concluded his speech by reciting a poem:
“When you love all the children
“There’s nothing to do
“But start a small army
“Of me and you.”
Providence superintendent says new teacher hiring process is intact
Posted Monday, October 3, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Supt. Susan Lusi says the new teachers’ contract does not dismantle the district’s new hiring process nor does it allow seniority to once again be the dominant factor in assigning teachers to classrooms. In an interview, Lusi tried to address persistent criticisms of the contract. Perhaps the biggest concern is that no one can be laid off to save money in the school budget during the length of the three-year contract. Critics say this will force the district to retain teachers who are no longer needed in a downsized district.
After the School Board closed five schools this summer, 28 teachers wound up without classroom positions. Because of the agreement negotiated by the Taveras administration and the Providence Teachers Union, the district “owned” those teachers. Lusi assigned them to individual schools, where some will provide support for classroom teachers, as well as to central administration.
Critics worry that the no-layoff clause will prevent the district from fully implementing the “criterion-based” hiring process, introduced three years ago, because it will have to find positions for surplus teachers.
The critics are at least partly right.
In January or February, Lusi said, teachers without jobs will apply for work through a matching process, where teachers submit their job qualifications to principals during a job “exposition,” where teachers have the opportunity to speak informally with principals. Afterward, principals rank their top candidates and candidates rank their top jobs. A computer sorts and prioritizes that information.
When vacancies arise after February, those applicants apply for jobs through an interview process in which individual candidates appear before a committee comprising the principal and five teachers.
Under this selection process, a veteran teacher can earn up to 10 points out of a total score of 100 points. In addition, the contract says that the five most senior teachers must be interviewed. Critics say this gives veteran teachers too much credit and undermines the district’s commitment to find the best teacher for each classroom.
Lusi concedes that the contract does give some priority to seniority but said that state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist never told districts to abolish seniority. Rather, Gist said that seniority could no longer be the sole factor in determining teacher placement.
The turmoil surrounding job placements this spring was “extremely atypical,” Lusi said, because of a confluence of events: the termination of all 1,900 teachers, closing five schools and a very short time frame by which 75 percent of those teachers had to be rehired.
This year, she said, the school department will begin looking at staffing needs as early as November or December.
Parents have also questioned why the new hiring process was halted in mid-June. Nearly 60 teachers were hired to fill last-minute vacancies without going through the interview process.
“I personally would like to see the criterion-based hiring process last longer but not forever,” Lusi said. “The goal over time is to have more and more teachers placed via this process.”
At some point, she said, you have to cut off interview-based hiring because empty classrooms have to be filled.
Schools identified as persistently low-performing must use the interview process all year to hire teachers, she said, and there is nothing to prohibit external candidates from applying for these jobs.
Ultimately, Lusi said, the department will have to do a better job of evaluating teachers and terminating ineffective staff.
“We need to do a better job of managing people who go out on leave,” she said. “We need to be human. But we can’t allow people to keep holding onto a job. If you see a pattern of poor attendance, you have a management responsibility to follow up on it.”
To critics who say the contract doesn’t go far enough, Lusi said you have to recognize how far the contract goes: it eliminates the teachers’ job fair, where teachers with the most seniority could automatically “bump” more junior teachers, and enshrines a new hiring process.
Why, Lusi said, would teachers give up their rights to seniority, sick days, longevity and step increases without getting something in return?
That something was job security for the next three years.
MLK School parents call for superintendent to add principal
Posted Monday, September 26, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Enrollment at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School has increased by 25 percent this fall and, yet, the school has only one principal.
Members of the Parent-Teacher Organization have sent a letter to interim Supt. Susan Lusi asking her to appoint an assistant principal to the East Side school. The letter closely follows one sent by a parent, Lorraine Lalli, to School Board President Niña Pande.
Parents said that enrollment at King has grown to more than 620 students due to the recent closing of five schools, specifically Windmill Elementary School. That represents an increase of about 120 students.
“While I am sensitive to the budget realities of the Providence School Department,” Lalli wrote, “I am disappointed by the failure to provide the administrative support necessary to ensure the success of the students at King School.”
Lalli is the wife of School Board member Brian Lalli.
PTO President Corey D.B. Walker said that the letter was also mailed to 500 King parents in the hopes of putting pressure on the School Department to change its policy.
During discussions this spring, Walker said that school administrators assured King parents that there would be an assistant principal at King. Assistant principals typically handle disciplinary issues, which frees up the principal to develop instruction, meet with parents and review student data, among other responsibilities.
“We’d like to have the requisite resources to help our students achieve,” said Walker, who chairs the African studies department at Brown University.
Walker said that the PTO’s executive board met with Lusi in August after she arrived to replace Supt. Tom Brady, who resigned this summer. Lusi, Walker said, was sensitive to their concerns and promised to appoint a teacher to assist principal Derrick Cielsa, which, in fact, she did.
“I hear the King parents,” Lusi said. “I don’t disagree with them. But we have to live within our budget.”
Lusi said she couldn’t revisit every policy decision made prior to her arrival in Providence: “Given the budget, given the teachers’ contract, I did what I thought was the best I could.”
In the past, the School Department has assigned an assistant principal when enrollments exceeded 650 students or the complex included a school annex, Lusi said. According to Richard Purnell, another PTO member, national guidelines recommend an assistant principal at schools with enrollments exceeding 400 students.
“From my observations, the school is doing a good job of dealing with the increased enrollment,” said another King parent, Richard Purnell, who taught school psychology at the University of Rhode Island. “But it’s more than one person should be expected to handle. What will happen is things won’t get done the way they should.”
Starting this year, principals statewide will be asked to evaluate all of their teachers, a time-consuming task in large school systems. King parents worry that Cielsa won’t be able to take on this responsibility in addition to the daily demands associated with running a large urban elementary school.
Lalli, in her letter, urged the School Board to adopt guidelines for the administrative staffing of schools.
“I, personally agree very strongly that we need a staffing formula,” Lusi said, “and we are working on that.”
Pande said the board had hoped to place an assistant principal in three elementary schools with large populations, but the city’s unprecedented fiscal crisis and Mayor Angel Taveras’ call for fiscal austerity limited the board’s options.
“At this point,” Pande said, “There is no money in the budget. We do have 28 teachers on special assignment. The premise is that they can provide additional support to the schools.”
Pande also announced that the School Board is forming a policy subcommittee that will meet monthly to discuss issues such as staffing. The public will be invited to participate in the discussions.
State mulls new teacher licensing
Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– The state Department of Education is proposing dramatic changes to the way teachers are certified, part of Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s plan to raise the quality of teaching throughout the state.
For the first time, certification would be tied to a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, based on the new evaluation system rolling out this fall.
Also, certification would be tiered, with new teachers receiving a three-year “initial” certificate, and advancing to a five-year “professional certificate” if their evaluations are satisfactory. To distinguish the top level, teachers who are “highly effective” would be eligible for a seven-year “advanced” certificate.
But the nine-member Rhode Island Certification Policy Advisory Board opposes some elements of the proposal.
Specifically, the advisory board, which includes teachers union officials, the heads of schools of education at the state colleges, and representatives of teachers, principals and superintendents, objects to the omission of a requirement that teachers take college courses for credit — as many other states require.
Instead, the proposal requires teachers to participate in professional-development courses or workshops as determined by their principal, based on their evaluation.
“You need to grow professionally,” said Alexander Sidorkin, dean of the School of Education of Rhode Island College. “The evaluation system is new and we, on the board, don’t believe that all principals in all schools will have their teachers do something significant in terms of professional development.”
The board has recommended the creation of a consortium of higher-education institutions and other organizations that provide professional development that would oversee the quality of the programs and ensure they are relevant.
Over eight years — the length of an initial certificate and a professional certificate — teachers would be expected to receive “a master’s degree or the equivalent,” which is approximately 30 graduate credits, Sidorkin said.
Mary Ann Snider, who is in charge of teacher certification at the state Department of Education, says the new approach would allow principals to target the areas a particular teacher needs to strengthen.
“We don’t want this to be an empty, bureaucratic exercise for teachers,” Snider said. “Through the annual evaluation process, a teacher could learn they don’t have deep enough content knowledge in mathematics, and it may be best that he or she takes a course at a college. For other teachers, it might be they have problems with classroom management, and it could be best for them to partner with a master teacher in their building, and learn from them.”
Arthur McKee, a managing director at the National Council on Teaching Quality, agrees, saying certification should be linked to teacher evaluation.
“By and large, getting a master’s degree in education does not increase effectiveness in the classroom, whatsoever,” he said.
“You want to find out what the teachers need and find the available resources” they need to improve, he said.
Tuesday evening, a handful of people attended a public hearing at the Providence Career and Technical Academy to voice concerns.
Debbie Scarpelli, a seventh-grade teacher at Slater Junior High School in Pawtucket, said the proposed changes do not emphasize specific skills middle-school educators need.
“It’s important that middle-level educators understand adolescents,” said Scarpelli, who is an adjunct professor at Rhode Island College. “The [RIC] students who take our classes say they really help them in the classroom.”
Karen M. Swoboda, director of teacher education at Johnson & Wales University, asked the Regents to consider allowing more flexibility for special-education teachers.
“Under the current system, someone with an elementary certification can have a secondary special-education certification built on,” she said. “But under the new design, that option would be eliminated and a secondary content area would be required.
“I think this has unintended consequences for an area that already has a shortage.”
Two more public hearings about the proposed changes to teacher certification will be held next week, both at 5 p.m.: Sept. 21 at the Community College of Rhode Island, 400 East Ave., Warwick, at the Bobby Hackett Theater; and Sept. 22, CCRI’s Newport Campus, One John H. Chafee Blvd., auditorium No. 134.
To see a copy of the draft regulations: http://www.ride.ri.gov/Regents/Docs/RegentsRegulations/CertificationRegulationsPublicHearing_9.13.11.pdf
KEY POINTSProposed changes
Create three tiers of certification: three-year initial; five-year professional; seven-year advanced.
Tie certification to effectiveness under state’s new annual evaluation system.
Establish new pathways to become a teacher “Expert residency” would allow someone with strong subject-matter knowledge to take exams and be hired; “visiting lecturer” would allow districts to hire individuals with specialized knowledge for a limited period.
Streamline certification areas from 78 to 59
Renewal based on performance in the classroom not on number of graduate courses taken
Providence mayor reportedly ignored new school hiring policy
Posted Tuesday, September 6, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– The former president of the Providence School Board says that nearly 60 teachers were placed into vacancies this summer in violation of the district’s interview-based hiring policy.
Kathleen Crain, who resigned last month after the board lost its power to ratify teacher contracts, claims Mayor Angel Taveras ordered the school district to stop external hirings while he negotiated the new teachers contract. That contract, which received tentative approval Aug. 2, recalled every one of the 1,934 teachers whose jobs were terminated by the mayor last winter.
According to Crain, in late June, Taveras told Carleton Jones, the district’s chief operating officer, to stop hiring anyone from outside the district while he negotiated a three-year contract with the Providence Teachers Union.
Acting School Board President Niña Pande confirmed Friday that 58 teachers were placed in openings without going through the district’s new hiring process. State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has ordered every school district to abolish seniority as the primary method for filling vacancies.
Two years ago, Providence, under order from the former state education commissioner, introduced a new hiring policy that replaced seniority with an application process that calls for the candidate to interview with the building principal and a committee of the candidates’ peers.
Last week, parents objected to the “forced teacher placements” during a School Board meeting. According to Pande, the board went into closed session to discuss the parents’ allegations, but postponed the conversation after losing a quorum.
The board met again in closed session Thursday night. At that meeting, members passed a resolution that approved interim Supt. Susan Lusi’s decision in mid-August to place 58 teachers into assignments without going through an interview process.
Pande defended the district’s decision to suspend “criterion-based hiring.” The School Department, she said, simply ran out of time. Because the department wanted to make sure that schools opened with a teacher in every classroom, it had to move quickly to fill the vacancies. The interview process, she said, would have been too time-consuming because it would have required each principal to convene his or her hiring committee during summer vacation.
Pande did say, however, that seniority was not the only factor used to place the 58 teachers. Teachers were hired based on their areas of certification and the professional judgment of department administrators.
According to Thursday’s resolution, the “forced placements” are only good for one year unless the principal and teacher mutually agree to continue the relationship.
What no one will confirm is whether Taveras ordered Lusi to hire internal candidates only.
The resolution, however, suggests that the issue was beyond the School Board’s control. It states that, in early August, the mayor and the union, without the involvement of the School Board, tentatively agreed that there would be no layoffs for economic reasons during the length of the contract.
The School Board resolution also refers to a bill, approved by the General Assembly in July, stripping the School Board of its power to ratify contracts and assigning it to the mayor.
Taveras was not available for comment Monday.
“I don’t want to speak for the mayor,” said Angela Romans, his senior education adviser, “but I will say that the school district, in June, was prioritizing internal candidates as part of the contract negotiations.”
Romans said, however, that about 30 teachers were hired from outside the district to fill positions at schools identified by Gist as chronically low-performing.
Romans also noted that the School Department has, in the past two years, filled last-minute vacancies by assigning teachers directly to a particular school. Last summer, she said, 69 teachers were placed that way.
“We are moving toward a situation where every teaching position is filled through an interview process,” she said. “In a short seven months, the mayor has moved toward his vision of putting an effective teacher in every classroom. We are no longer assigning teachers based on seniority and, starting this fall, we will be implementing an evaluation system.”
Providence schools open with few glitches despite tough trials
Posted Thursday, September 1, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE Imagine finding seats for 23,896 students, scheduling 143 yellow buses, moving 2,000 students from five closed schools and transforming a dilapidated building into a bright and shiny elementary school in less than two months.
Now, add a dash of the unexpected: Tropical Storm Irene, which knocked out power, downed trees, clogged roadways and delayed the reopening of three elementary schools.
It’s enough to leave most sensible adults trembling in their shoes.
Not Peter T. Gaynor, the city’s director of emergency management and a retired Marine commander. Last month, Mayor Angel Taveras assigned Gaynor to help the district prepare for opening day, a formidable task under normal circumstances.
But this year is far from normal. First, the School Board closed five schools this spring and the district scrambled to find new schools for those children. Secondly, since Supt. Tom Brady announced his resignation, nearly every one of his management team has decamped, taking a lot of institutional memory with them.
Taveras also fired all of the city’s teachers this winter. Although all were ultimately rehired, many teachers were reshuffled to new jobs, a process that left some teachers feeling abandoned.
No one does logistics like Gaynor, who has run the city’s Emergency Management Agency for 3½ years. In fact, fitting together pieces of the puzzle is what makes Gaynor tick.
“I made sure that everyone understood the mission,” he said Wednesday on his way to the new Asa Messer Elementary School at Bridg-ham. “And that mission is to put every kid in a seat.”
To meet that goal, Gaynor created a timeline with specific goals: the bus schedule will be done by this date, registration will be done by that date. He created bright orange “smart” cards with a list of who to call when the bus is late or if a child shows up without a school assignment. On the other side are 10 top commonly asked questions and the answers.
Perhaps the biggest challenge was renovating an entire school — Bridgham Middle — in a truncated time frame. Everything had to go, from the toilets to the interior classrooms. The building, which had languished for years, needed new windows, new paint, new (or re-purposed) furniture. And everything had to be downsized for elementary school children.
Tuesday night, parents worked side-by-side with construction crews to unpack boxes and put the finishing touches on the paint in the parking lot.
The school opened Wednesday morning to the ooohs and aaahs of astounded teachers, who never thought this Cinderella could be transformed into a princess.
“It’s such a wonderful surprise,” said Karen O’Callahan, a fifth-grade teacher at the new Messer. “This was so worth it.”
Last winter, parents felt betrayed when they heard that Messer was closing, the victim of budget cuts, declining enrollments and physical plant issues. They were pleasantly surprised to witness the new Messer, with its primary colors and light-filled classrooms.
“They did a great job,” said Ricardo Calderon, the father of a fourth grader. “This school has exceeded my expectations.”
Not everything went like clockwork, however.
First, there was this little interruption called Irene, which knocked out power to one elementary school and delayed roof repairs at two others. The Fortes-Lima complex will open Tuesday.
Irene forced Gaynor to switch gears from being the school logistics guy to the emergency management guy only three days before the first day of school, which was pushed back a day.
In this case, it helped that Gaynor wore two hats.
When the bus yard lost power, Gaynor shipped two generators from the city EMA to First Student. During a quick visit to the yard Wednesday, yellow power cords snaked from one office to another and a candle burned softly in one corner.
“How’s the AC?” Gaynor joked.
“We don’t have any!” said a bus monitor.
And there were other Irene-related headaches. Traffic lights were out. Trees collapsed on schoolyards. Water leaked through the roof at a school complex. Gaynor, who began his day riding a school bus with interim Supt. Susan Lusi, took care of each problem and moved on.
At 3:30 p.m., Gaynor and Lusi watched high school students catch buses at Kennedy Plaza.
“My job is to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” he said. “We got what we hoped for.”
Gist to report on use of Race to Top funds
Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — One year ago, Rhode Island won a portion of an unprecedented $4-billion federal grant program, securing $75 million over a four-year period to improve local schools — the largest single competitive grant in state history.
At a 10:30 news conference Wednesday morning at the Rhode Island Foundation, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist will update the public on how the funds are being spent. Accompanying her will be several political leaders who helped the state win the Race to the Top competition.
Work is already under way, including training hundreds of teachers and principals for the new evaluation system rolling out this fall, and introducing thousands of educators to national academic standards scheduled for 2014.
The state is also launching an induction and mentoring program for first-year teachers; developing a “virtual learning” program in math; and restructuring the way teachers are certified. Charter schools will also be expanded, under the plan.
Other projects are scheduled in future years.
“We are moving forward with the same enthusiasm and energy we’ve had from the very beginning,” Gist said. “We are following our plan … and making tremendous progress.”
But not everyone is happy with how the money is being disbursed. Some union and district officials are chafing against Gist’s tight control of the funds.
Every school district in Rhode Island — including the public charter schools –– agreed to participate in the grant, promising to institute dramatic changes. In exchange, they understood they would receive 50 percent of the money directly. The other half would go to the state Department of Education for statewide projects, such as building more sophisticated computerized data systems and improving oversight of teacher-training programs at local universities.
This 50-50 split is outlined in the grant guidelines and is being followed by the 10 other states that won Race to the Top grants. (Washington D.C. also won.)
Gist says that because of Rhode Island’s size and the statewide approach of its application, it makes sense for the state department to manage the money.
Some districts are so small, they would receive only a few thousand dollars, hardly enough to make a difference, the commissioner said. By combining the money, those districts will benefit from substantial improvements, she said.
“We submitted an application that was more like a large district’s plan, such as Dallas or Fairfax County, Virginia,” she said. Rhode Island has roughly 140,000 public school students.
“None of us would have been able to afford [these projects] on our own, but working together, we can build resources that will benefit every teacher and student in the state.”
At first, the U.S. Department of Education questioned Rhode Island’s unique approach, Gist told the Board of Regents. Federal officials approved the plan in April and money began flowing to the state. To date, about $1.6 million has been spent, much of it on 15 staff hired through the grant and training sessions on the evaluation system and the new standards.
Some people are disappointed with the state’s approach, says the president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. The union endorsed the application last year, critical support that helped the state win the grant.
“The money is not going to the local districts as people expected,” said Frank Flynn in an interview. “Until now, the money has been very tightly controlled by the [state] department, even controlling the [training] money for teacher evaluations, and not letting the districts decide how they want to spend the money.”
In Cranston, district leaders hoped to use some of their share for a new computer system that can analyze student data in more helpful ways.
But state education officials told Cranston they could not use Race to the Top funds for hardware or infrastructure updates, said Cranston Supt. Peter Nero. The $135,000 came out of the district’s general fund.
“I’ve talked to people in other states and we are highly restricted in what we can use it for, compared to other places,” Nero said. “But I guess it relates to the way the application was written.”
Jeannine Nota-Masse, executive director of educational programs for Cranston, said the district understood that the Race to the Top money could only be spent on specific projects that were approved by the state and federal officials.
“But there is some truth to the fact that we thought we’d get a lump sum of money and we would decide how to spend it,” she said. “I think people were somewhat surprised that the money allotment came and then we were told, ‘You will spend it on X, Y, Z.’ ”
Districts make some decisions, such as selecting who receives training and the number of training sessions, said Nota-Masse.
Gist said the department is simply following the application.
“But we remain open to feedback,” she said, adding that state education officials plan to meet with district leaders throughout the life of the grant.
Providence School Board endorses mayoral academy
Posted Tuesday, August 23, 2011
By Alisha A. Pina
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — With a daughter entering the seventh grade, Noemi Gonsalez dreams of her child’s college years. She said her best hope is with a proposed mayoral academy for Providence and Cranston students.
“My options now are very small and meek,” she told the Providence School Board Monday before a presentation from the organization that would lead the school. “This is an option I can look forward to.”
On the other end were opponents who believe the charter-style schools are accountable to no one and would take critical money away from the cities’ public schools.
“Instead of taking care of our schools, investing in our schools, the cities are throwing money at charter schools,” said Jean Link, a Providence parent. “Put it on the ballot. I bet the citizens will say no. We need to take care of our own.”
The board ultimately unanimously endorsed the proposal, as did Providence Mayor Angel Taveras; Cranston School Committee members previously rejected the plan. The decision lies with the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, who may vote on the matter early next month.
Although a site won’t be chosen until later and could end up in Providence, Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung’s application calls for the first school to be opened in Cranston’s Edgewood section in the fall of 2012 and grow to two elementary schools with as many as 920 students from both communities by 2016.
In a second phase — which would require a second vote from the regents in 2016 — two middle schools and one high school would be added, increasing enrollment to 1,800. All the schools would be managed by Achievement First, a nonprofit group that runs 20 similar schools in Connecticut and New York, and which, supporters say, have a track record of success.
Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, called it “one more excellent educational option for Providence’s students.”
Arika Sanzi, a member of the School Committee in Cumberland, home of the state’s only mayoral academy, said charter schools can help take a “high-spending, low-performing community to a top educational state.”
Unlike other schools, the academies are governed by a board of directors headed by a mayor. In this case, Michael Magee, leader of Rhode Island Mayor Academies, the organization backing the plan, said Fung would lead the board and Taveras also would also be a member of the board. Magee said seven other residents from the two cities would round out the board.
Contrary to what naysayers said Monday, Magee also said the administrators and teachers would adhere to all state and federal guidelines.
“The only ones who win are the business owners,” said Susan Friendson, a Cranston resident and Providence teacher. “They’re smooth-talking snake-oil salesmen. Please send Achievement First packing.”
Countered Magee, “I know that everyone involved in mayoral academies are in it for the right reasons, to help the children of Rhode Island.”
Judge rules unions can’t represent retired city workers in municipal disputes
Posted Monday, August 15, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court judge has reinforced a state Supreme Court decision that says public-employee unions can’t go to bat for retired workers if the former workers have a dispute with a municipality.
The ruling was made by Judge Bennett R. Gallo in a case involving the Providence Teachers Union and the school board.
“The Providence School board applauds Judge Gallo’s decision …” said Nina Pande, board vice-president. “The decision rightfully restores the purview of Providence school management to administer benefits for active and retired employees in a way that makes sense, financially and logically, while providing ongoing health-care benefits to its retirees.”
“This is a very good decision that represents a win for Providence schools and the city’s taxpayers,” said David Ortiz, a spokesman for Mayor Angel Taveras. “Judge Gallo’s ruling gives the school department discretion to manage health-care benefits in a manner that is responsible to retirees without jeopardizing the critical resources needed to educate our children.”
The union filed a grievance in 2006 on behalf of retired teachers, saying the school board had no right to create two health-care premium rates –– one for working teachers and another for retirees. As a result of the change, premium rates for retirees increased by about 55 percent, compared with 10 percent for active employees.
The school board’s rationale was that retirees use health insurance at a higher rate than their working peers, and that retirees did not contribute as much to the system as they use.
In its grievance, the union argued that the higher rate for retirees violated “past practice” as well as the teachers’ contract, which prohibits age discrimination. The union also contended that it had the right to file a grievance over a misinterpretation of a contract provision and that this same right was owed retirees.
The school board argued that retired teachers were not part of the collective-bargaining agreement and that, therefore, the union didn’t have the authority to represent them. The board also claimed that the contract did not define the method used to calculate health-insurance rates and, therefore, the grievance did not belong before an arbitrator.
The case went before an arbitrator and in June 2008, he ruled in favor of the union, ordering the school board to reimburse retirees for any additional premiums.
The school board filed a petition to vacate the award, and the case wound up before Gallo.
In his Aug. 3 decision, Gallo ruled in favor of the school board and vacated the arbitrator’s award. The judge found that the issue should never have gone before an arbitrator.
Gallo also ruled that since the calculation of the premium rate was never subject to negotiation, the standard of past practice didn’t apply. Before fiscal year 2006, active and retired employees participated in the same health-care plan and were considered part of the same premium group and paid the same rate. Afterward, however, active and retired employees were classified as separate groups and assigned separate rates.
Providence teachers overwhelmingly ratify contract
Posted Wednesday, August 10, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Providence teachers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a three-year contract that guarantees that every fired teacher will be returned to the district in exchange for substantial concessions.
The vote, taken over two days, was 868 to 79 in favor of an agreement that calls for $53 million in spending cuts over three years, which goes a long way toward closing an estimated $110-million budget shortfall during this fiscal year.
In recent interviews, teachers said they were willing to accept givebacks, from fewer sick days to a slightly longer school day, because the contract provides job security. There will be no layoffs for the next three years.
Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith called the contract a success because neither side was entirely happy with the outcome. Mayor Angel Taveras agreed to bring back everyone the School Board fired while the union agreed to relinquish seniority, a long-cherished hiring practice used everywhere in Rhode Island.
“This contract is a huge step in the right direction,” Smith said Tuesday. “It recognizes that we are partners, that we have a seat at the table.”
No longer will any teachers be hired using a job fair, where teachers bid on jobs by holding up signs that list their years in the system. The union will also drop its suit challenging the authority of former state education commissioner Peter McWalters, who ordered Providence to abolish seniority as the sole criteria for filling vacancies.
Smith said that the contract also recognizes that any document must evolve to meet changing circumstances and it provides flexibility to refine the new hiring process, which gives principals the final say over filling vacancies with input from teachers.
Now that the contract is before the City Council for ratification, both Smith and Taveras hope that the healing process can begin.
Teachers are still reeling from the mayor’s decision in February to send termination notices to every one of the district’s more than 1,900 teachers, citing a city budget crisis of epic dimensions. The unprecedented decision to fire every teacher and close five schools left teachers and parents angry and demoralized. Although the mayor later recalled three-fourths of the faculty, the remaining teachers had to apply for openings via a job fair this spring that some felt was unfair.
In the end, about 40 teachers are still jobless. Several of them waited Tuesday at union headquarters for the votes to be tallied. Although the relief on their faces was palpable, so was the strain of the past six months.
One teacher compared the tumult of the past semester to a marriage that implodes unexpectedly:
“You think you are in a happy, successful marriage and, all of a sudden, there’s this forced separation, this huge letter firing everyone,” said Isabel Taft. “It was such a blow.”
By negotiating a contract that restores everyone’s job, the union, she said, has acted like a marriage counselor.
Taft knows she will have a job this fall but she doesn’t know where or what she will be doing. Jobs typically open up late in the summer and into the fall, as teachers find jobs outside the district and students enroll at the last minute.
Providence, teachers reach tentative contract agreement
Posted Wednesday, August 3, 2011
By Linda Borg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- City officials and the Providence Teachers Union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, Mayor Angel Taveras announced Tuesday.
The new pact, Taveras said, includes a pay freeze for the first two years of the three-year contract, an increase in teacher contributions to their health insurance premiums, an increase in the length of the school day and a reduction in sick days.
Termination notices sent to virtually all teachers in February because of the city's fiscal crisis will be rescinded, Taveras said, but terminations for other causes will stand.
The mayor said the contract will save the city $53 million over three years. He had been seeking savings of $18 million for the current fiscal year.
"We have come to an agreement that strengthens our schools and improves educational opportunities for our children while realizing significant and vital savings for Providence, Taveras said in a press release.
In a letter Tuesday, PTU president Steve Smith said that the union's executive board has voted to ratify the proposal and the members have begun their review.
A membership meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Venus de Milo in Swansea. Because of summer vacation, members will also be able to cast their votes Tuesday, Aug. 9 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
"We have been working diligently during this difficult time," Smith wrote in a letter to the news media, "and have presented the city's proposal to the membership for their review, consideration and vote. To show respect for the membership, we will refrain from further comment until the teachers have had their opportunity to take part in the process."
The contract, which affects more than 1,900 teachers, was expected to be ready a month ago, but the union was waiting for the school district to come up with final numbers on how many teachers were supposed to be laid off.
In February, Taveras stunned the community when he announced that every teacher would receive a notice of termination. Since then, more than 75 percent of the teachers have been rehired but the process caused continuing anxiety among the teaching staff.
Taveras said in February that he was forced to move swiftly because the city faced a budget crisis of unprecedented proportions. In addition, state law says that cities and towns must notify teachers of their possible dismissal by March 1.
The hiring process was further complicated by the fact that the school board, acting
on the mayor's advice, closed five schools in June, leaving more teachers uncertain about their future employment.
Providence, teachers reach tentative contract agreement
Posted Wednesday, August 3, 2011
By Linda Borg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- City officials and the Providence Teachers Union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, Mayor Angel Taveras announced Tuesday.
The new pact, Taveras said, includes a pay freeze for the first two years of the three-year contract, an increase in teacher contributions to their health insurance premiums, an increase in the length of the school day and a reduction in sick days.
Termination notices sent to virtually all teachers in February because of the city's fiscal crisis will be rescinded, Taveras said, but terminations for other causes will stand.
The mayor said the contract will save the city $53 million over three years. He had been seeking savings of $18 million for the current fiscal year.
"We have come to an agreement that strengthens our schools and improves educational opportunities for our children while realizing significant and vital savings for Providence, Taveras said in a press release.
In a letter Tuesday, PTU president Steve Smith said that the union's executive board has voted to ratify the proposal and the members have begun their review.
A membership meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Venus de Milo in Swansea. Because of summer vacation, members will also be able to cast their votes Tuesday, Aug. 9 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
"We have been working diligently during this difficult time," Smith wrote in a letter to the news media, "and have presented the city's proposal to the membership for their review, consideration and vote. To show respect for the membership, we will refrain from further comment until the teachers have had their opportunity to take part in the process."
The contract, which affects more than 1,900 teachers, was expected to be ready a month ago, but the union was waiting for the school district to come up with final numbers on how many teachers were supposed to be laid off.
In February, Taveras stunned the community when he announced that every teacher would receive a notice of termination. Since then, more than 75 percent of the teachers have been rehired but the process caused continuing anxiety among the teaching staff.
Taveras said in February that he was forced to move swiftly because the city faced a budget crisis of unprecedented proportions. In addition, state law says that cities and towns must notify teachers of their possible dismissal by March 1.
The hiring process was further complicated by the fact that the school board, acting
on the mayor's advice, closed five schools in June, leaving more teachers uncertain about their future employment.
Providence, teachers reach tentative contract agreement
Posted Wednesday, August 3, 2011
By Linda Borg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- City officials and the Providence Teachers Union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, Mayor Angel Taveras announced Tuesday.
The new pact, Taveras said, includes a pay freeze for the first two years of the three-year contract, an increase in teacher contributions to their health insurance premiums, an increase in the length of the school day and a reduction in sick days.
Termination notices sent to virtually all teachers in February because of the city's fiscal crisis will be rescinded, Taveras said, but terminations for other causes will stand.
The mayor said the contract will save the city $53 million over three years. He had been seeking savings of $18 million for the current fiscal year.
"We have come to an agreement that strengthens our schools and improves educational opportunities for our children while realizing significant and vital savings for Providence, Taveras said in a press release.
In a letter Tuesday, PTU president Steve Smith said that the union's executive board has voted to ratify the proposal and the members have begun their review.
A membership meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Venus de Milo in Swansea. Because of summer vacation, members will also be able to cast their votes Tuesday, Aug. 9 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
"We have been working diligently during this difficult time," Smith wrote in a letter to the news media, "and have presented the city's proposal to the membership for their review, consideration and vote. To show respect for the membership, we will refrain from further comment until the teachers have had their opportunity to take part in the process."
The contract, which affects more than 1,900 teachers, was expected to be ready a month ago, but the union was waiting for the school district to come up with final numbers on how many teachers were supposed to be laid off.
In February, Taveras stunned the community when he announced that every teacher would receive a notice of termination. Since then, more than 75 percent of the teachers have been rehired but the process caused continuing anxiety among the teaching staff.
Taveras said in February that he was forced to move swiftly because the city faced a budget crisis of unprecedented proportions. In addition, state law says that cities and towns must notify teachers of their possible dismissal by March 1.
The hiring process was further complicated by the fact that the school board, acting
on the mayor's advice, closed five schools in June, leaving more teachers uncertain about their future employment.
Providence’s new interim school chief on the job
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Susan Lusi is no stranger to controversy.
When she arrived in Providence as the School Department’s chief of staff in August 2001, then-Supt. Diana Lam was embroiled in fierce battles with the teachers’ union and the City Council. Lusi was loaned to the School Department by the state Department of Education in part to mend fences with disaffected constituents.
The next three years were tough. The teachers’ union issued a vote of no confidence in Lam. Teachers, after a contentious meeting punctuated with catcalls, rejected the proposed contract. Layoff notices were mailed to more than 600 teachers. And two school officials were questioned in connection with Operation Plunder Dome, a wide-ranging investigation into corruption in then-Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr.’s City Hall.
So Lusi, who recently led the Portsmouth schools for six years, isn’t daunted by the enormous challenges facing the 22,000-student district today: the closing of five schools, the exodus of top administrators, teacher morale at a low and contract negotiations that appear to be stuck.
“It feels great,” Lusi said in an interview Wednesday. “I relish challenges. I came in here with my eyes open.”
Lusi, who has a one-year contract, is the district’s interim superintendent, the fifth leader in the past 10 years. She has already made it clear that she’s a candidate for the permanent post. The School Board is conducting a national search, however.
She says her first goal is to heal the rifts created during the tumult of the last six months, which began with the mass firing of all of the district’s teachers (most have since been recalled) and culminated with school closings.
“I know that a lot of teachers felt hurt personally and professionally by the mass firings and whether they have been matched to new jobs,” she said. “That sense of real hurt can’t be underestimated. We need to communicate that we empathize but also that we need to move on.”
Lusi also realizes that the healing won’t be accomplished in a matter of days, even weeks. And so she is committed to rebuilding relationships with teachers, parents and School Board members, relationships that have unraveled during the past several months.
Although this last week was her first on the job, Lusi has already met with small groups of teachers, something that will continue throughout the summer and fall.
In an e-mail to faculty members Tuesday, she said, “I am a firm believer in teams. Teams of people, pulling together, can always accomplish more than any individual. I know these months have been draining and difficult, but your professionalism and dedication through trying times are attributes that give me great confidence. I feel a deep sense of optimism that we will come together as a team and press onward….”
During her first two days in Providence, Lusi met with central office staff and visited a summer scholars program with Mayor Angel Taveras and Angela Romans, his senior adviser on education. She met with central office staff and Niña Pande, vice president of the School Board. President Kathleen Crain resigned last week after a bill supported by Taveras stripped the board of its authority to sign collective bargaining contracts.
Lusi, who clearly has the mayor’s support, has already met with him five or six times to discuss the challenges that lie ahead.
“I feel we share a common vision,” she said. “When you look at strong urban districts, they are characterized by strong leadership pulling in the same direction. The mayor and I talked a lot about that.”
Former Supt. Tom Brady, who was handpicked by the previous mayor, never got off on the right foot with Taveras. The two leaders reportedly had different visions for the public schools and they had stopped talking long before Brady left last week. School Board member Philip Gould resigned this spring after accusing Taveras of micromanaging the School Department.
One thing is clear: Lusi will stay the course with the district’s new uniform curriculum, a multimillion-dollar effort that took three years to implement.
But she shares the mayor’s enthusiasm for offering more choice, especially in the upper grades. The new Providence Career & Technical Academy is a perfect example, Lusi said. This is a school that offers a host of vocational programs but also holds students to college-preparatory standards.
Lusi said her first task is to make sure that schools open smoothly this fall, no small task with so many moving pieces.
She will also spend the next few months figuring out what’s working and what isn’t.
“I ask a lot of questions,” she said. “There are some things where I’ll say, ‘We should stop this right now.’ ”
If her staff disagrees, then Lusi will ask, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
During her tour of the student registration center last week, Lusi noticed that student records are still on paper. Although the district doesn’t have infrastructure to upgrade to a computer system, this is already on her list of priorities.
Lusi agrees that the most important goal is getting everyone –– the mayor, the School Board, the faculty and the superintendent –– on the same page.
“We have to model what we want,” she said.
If the adults are fighting among themselves, she said, then the children will never get it right. Susan Follett Lusi
Age: 48
Salary: Between $175,000 and $190,000
Residence: East Greenwich
Spouse: Steven Lusi, electrical engineer
Children: Bobby, 18; Christina, 16
Experience highlights
•2005-2011 Portsmouth superintendent
•2003-2005 educational consultant
•2001-2003 chief of staff, Providence public schools
•1997-2001 assistant commissioner for support services, R.I. Dept. of Education
•1994-1997 policy director and visiting assistant professor, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University
Education
•Broad fellow, Broad Superintendents Academy, 2003
•Doctorate in public policy, Harvard University, 1994
•Master’s in public policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1991
•Bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in teaching, Brown University, 1985
School Board leader resigns
Posted Tuesday, July 12, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The president of the School Board resigned Monday night, saying that she could no longer stand working in a system that is driven by politics, power and patronage, not what’s best for children.
Kathleen Crain is the second School Board member to resign in the past month. In his letter of resignation, Philip Gould slammed Mayor Angel Taveras, saying that he had usurped the board’s authority and led to Supt. Tom Brady’s resignation. Brady’s last day is Friday.
A tearful Crain said she joined the School Board because she believed that she could make a difference. Sixteen months later, she said, she realized that she was mistaken.
“Public education is not about the children,” she said at Monday night’s School Board meeting. “It’s about politics, jobs and power. This is a city and a state built on patronage.”
Crain said she was deeply disappointed in Taveras and the General Assembly, which passed a bill in the waning hours of the session stripping the School Board of its authority to ratify collective-bargaining agreements.
“I’m shocked the legislature would create a state law because an [official] body disagrees with the mayor’s office,” Crain said after the bill was adopted. “It’s clear this is a power play.”
In a statement issued last night, Taveras said that, “only those elected by taxpayers should be responsible for signing union contracts. Ms. Crain apparently did not agree with this. I accept her resignation and thank her for her service to Providence and its school children.”
The city is in the midst of negotiating a contract with the 1,936-member teachers’ union, an agreement that was supposed to have been signed 10 days ago. After the bill was passed, Crain said it was no longer possible to serve a mayor who showed so little respect for his own board. In Providence, the mayor appoints the School Board.
“If the mayor cared,” she said, “he would know that this School Board is reform-minded. He would know that we would not approve a collective-bargaining agreement that didn’t have a focus on teaching and learning.”
Crain’s resignation is just the latest development in a deteriorating relationship between the mayor and the School Board. The Taveras administration, she said, has blocked the School Board from any involvement in contract talks with the teachers’ union.
Late last month, the School Board sent a letter to the mayor saying that it would not approve of any collective-bargaining agreements negotiated by the mayor’s office unless the board was included in the deliberations. According to Crain, the Taveras administration told the board that it could pick one or two issues for discussion and that’s it.
The five other School Board members left without commenting on Crain’s announcement, but members of the public had plenty to say.
“I don’t think her decision was bold,” said Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith. “Bold would be not firing 1,900 teachers. Bold would be not closing five schools.”
Several parents, however, said they were glad that a School Board member finally acknowledged what they have been saying all along: that the process to close five schools was deeply flawed and motivated by much more than a Category-5 fiscal crisis.
“I think that it shows integrity, but it’s too late,” said Osiris Harrell, a parent activist. “The mayor is really out of control. It’s refreshing to hear someone say it.”
Gould, in his letter of resignation, accused the mayor of deliberately undermining the School Board’s authority. He also said that Taveras pushed Brady out, a charge that both Brady and Taveras deny.
Crain left with these parting words: “I’ve had it,” she said. “Public education in Providence and Rhode Island is broken.”
Providence’s school management team dispersing
Posted Monday, June 27, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — All but one member of the School Department’s management team will have left by the time schools open in late August.
The exodus of administrative talent, and the institutional memory that goes with it, is the latest blow to a district reeling from teacher terminations and school closings.
It began with Supt. Tom Brady’s March announcement that he planned to resign on July 15, three years into his tenure.
During the past few months, five of the district’s six top administrators have departed or will do so shortly: Brady; his chief academic officer, Sharon Contreras, who left to run the Syracuse, N.Y., schools; his chief of staff, Stephanie Federico, who is leaving to join a law firm; his chief financial officer, Matthew Clarkin, who was tapped by Mayor Angel Taveras; and the director of communications, Kim Rose, whose position was eliminated by the mayor to close a $28-million school-budget shortfall.
A second position, held by Steve Tremblay, director of school facilities, was also eliminated.
Carleton Jones, the district’s chief of operations, will be the only one left in the central office.
The turmoil in Providence isn’t unique. Superintendents don’t last long in large school districts, an average of 3.5 years. The pressures, both political and academic, are enormous. In cities like Providence, the superintendent is at the mercy of the mayor, who appoints the School Board.
“The high level of leadership turnover is a huge impediment to progress,” said Becca Bracey Knight, executive director of the Broad Center, a private, nonprofit organization that trains leaders for large urban districts. “It takes 5 to 10 years to turn around a big system. It takes a consistent board or mayor to support a superintendent, to give him political cover. And the superintendent has to be great at attracting talent.”
The leadership drain is taking place at a time when the district faces enormous challenges: eight schools now face state intervention unless they dramatically improve; five schools are closing, and those students have to be assigned to new schools; and an unknown number of teachers are losing their jobs. Meanwhile, teacher morale is at an all-time low.
“It could set back a district for years in terms of the loss of valued leadership, institutional memory and just people who know how to get things done,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Educational Policy. “Teachers need help from central office. They need textbooks, lessons planned, professional development. All these things have to be done by a district.”
The School Board has appointed an interim superintendent, Susan F. Luci, who currently runs the Portsmouth schools and has said she wants the permanent position. But some observers wonder if an interim superintendent would be able to attract a quality team, given the uncertainty surrounding the top job.
“The district is crying out for stable leadership and not just the superintendent,” said Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. “Once the mayor and the school board have identified a candidate for superintendent, they have to stay the course with that person.”
Another challenge is whether skilled leaders would want to move to a city facing an estimated $110-million deficit. As Duffy said, improving student performance requires additional resources, something that is sorely lacking in Providence.
But not everyone thinks that the turnover at the top is a bad thing.
The mayor’s office said that transitions can also present great opportunities to build upon existing strengths and weaknesses. Spokeswoman Melissa Withers said that Taveras has great confidence in Lusi’s ability to lead the district and put together an effective administrative team.
Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, says too much emphasis is placed on the superintendent as school savior, the superhero who rides into town and saves the day.
“What we see is a layer of leadership that comes and goes,” he said. “We shouldn’t confuse that layer of leadership with the people who have been principals and risen to central office. That layer is often more stable and we often overlook them.”
Simmons said the district should tap the expertise of external partners like Brown and the Providence After School Alliance to help the district fill important roles during this transition period.
Portsmouth superintendent appointed interim superintendent in Providence
Posted Thursday, June 16, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Outgoing Portsmouth schools chief Susan F. Lusi has been tapped to serve as interim superintendent in Providence, making her the fifth leader of the state’s largest school district in the past 10 years.
Providence School Board President Kathleen Crain said Wednesday that the board voted to hire Lusi Monday night from a field of more than six candidates, after consultation with Mayor Angel Taveras and his team.
Lusi, 48, said she will apply to become Providence’s permanent superintendent, “but I recognize the School Board and the city’s need to conduct a complete and thorough search.”
“I hope to be a very competitive candidate,” Lusi said in an interview. “And I also recognize I may not be the ultimate choice.”
She summed up her philosophy. “Students come first, and the teaching-and-learning relationship is the most fundamental in education,” she said. “I plan to listen carefully [to teachers, parents, students and the community] and be open and honest about what my values are.”
Lusi’s lengthy résumé includes a doctorate from Harvard, key positions at the state Department of Education and in Providence schools, and a six-year term as superintendent in Portsmouth, one of the state’s highest-performing districts.
Lusi’s contract in Portsmouth ends June 30. She will officially take over from Providence Supt. Thomas Brady on July 16, but says the two will probably meet in coming days to ensure a smooth transition.
Salary details have not been ironed out, but Crain said Lusi’s 12-month contract will pay between $175,000 and $190,000 a year.
Lusi arrives at a painful moment for the nearly 24,000-student school district which has been rocked by a financial crisis, the departure of several high-level administrators, teacher layoffs and the closing of several neighborhood schools. The district serves many of the state’s most vulnerable and needy students, and eight schools have been identified for major overhauls in accordance with new federal rules.
Mending fences with teachers and parents will be a major part of Lusi’s job, but she says her focus will be “to make sure we are all serving students well.”
“I fully intend to work with her,” said Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union. “But she has an unbelievable challenge. For the first time among Providence teachers, morale is lower than the pay.”
Taveras expressed his support in a news release: “Stability and continuity are important as we head into the next school year. Susan is a great choice and I am confident that she will be an asset to our schools while serving in this important role.”
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist praised Lusi’s varied experience and support for statewide initiatives such as the successful $75-million Race to the Top competition. Like Gist and Brady, Lusi is also a graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy, a national training program for school leaders.
“We will continue to support the Providence schools in the search for the new superintendent,” Gist said. “In the interim, I look forward to working in partnership with Dr. Lusi to transform education in Providence.”
Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, says he expects Lusi to “not change course as much as modify it and strengthen it.” He said she will benefit from having the support of Taveras and the School Board — relationships that frayed during Brady’s tenure.
“I have confidence in her ability to be collaborative and build trust among the school community and the greater community,” Simmons said.
Lusi is well-positioned to take over the state’s most complex district, says Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees.
“Even though she hasn’t worked in Providence for a few years, she understands how the unusual dynamic works there. She understands that because the mayor appoints the School Board, City Hall has more than a little influence in what happens in the School Department,” Duffy said. “That knowledge will help her.”
Opening the city’s 40-odd schools this fall will be Lusi’s top priority.
“But my second priority is … building the confidence of parents and families and the community,” she said. “We have very talented and committed people in this system and we need to make sure we all pull together in the same direction for the students.”
TIMELINE Providence turnover
June 1999: Diana Lam replaces Arthur M. Zarrella
Sept. 2002: Melody Johnson takes over when Lam becomes deputy chancellor in New York City
Sept. 2005: Donnie Evans succeeds Johnson, who becomes superintendent in Fort Worth, Texas
March 2008: Thomas M. Brady appointed superintendent before Evan’s contract expires
March 2011: Brady announces he will leave July 15
June 2011: Portsmouth Supt. Susan F. Lusi appointed interim Providence superintendent as of July 16
Teachers stage ‘protest’ to showcase their jobs
Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011
By Donita Naylor
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Ellen Anderson, who teaches English at Classical High School, was grading final exams for seniors in the food court at Providence Place mall.
Across the table, her colleague Anna Kuperman was also grading papers. Kuperman has five classes, 130 students in all.
“It’s really speed-grading,” Anderson said.
If she spends, say 10 minutes on each paper. “That’s a full … that’s a weekend,” Anderson said. Never mind planning lessons, reading the novels that you’re teaching, writing college recommendations.
“Something needs to give,” she said. “A lot of times it’s your family, your laundry, your exercise routine.”
“What exercise routine?” another Providence teacher said.
In a small, quiet protest organized by word of mouth among friends, a total of nine Providence teachers turned up at the mall with stacks of papers to grade in public. Beside each teacher was a card that said “Ask me what I’m doing.”
No one asked, except a reporter and a mall worker who wipes tables and sweeps up crumbs.
Called a Grade In, the small action from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday was intended to bring attention to the work that teachers do after school hours, usually at home.
“I love the work that I do,” Anderson said. “I love teaching the classes. I love the literature I teach. It’s just that I’m not given enough time.” Instead, she gets a letter of termination.
Another English teacher at Classical elaborated. “It’s not just of matter of going into class and being in the building from 8:15 to 3 o’clock,” said Deborah Klus. “I think there are many people who truly forget about everything that teachers do.”
Even science and math students must write essays at Classical. If a teacher assigns a three-page essay to 130 students, “That’s 390 pages for one assignment.”
The end of the school year is a hectic time for teachers.
Crystal Swepson, wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed “I make a difference every day,” attended the protest (and graded two math makeup tests) in between teaching her Carl G. Lauro fifth graders about double-bar graphs and dashing back for Brag Night, where student work is on display in the cafeteria and the entire student body gives a concert.
A colleague stopped by who couldn’t attend the protest because she had presents to buy for two teachers who are retiring.
“I love teaching. I really do,” said Swepson, who hopes to offer tutoring at Providence libraries in August and wishes the school day and year could both be longer.
People think “we have a lot of vacations, we have the weekends off, we have the summers off,” said Susan Friendson, who teaches English at Central and gets together with other teachers in the summer to plan lessons. “They have no idea how much we work.”
It’s painful, Anderson said, “to be stereotyped as almost leeches of the system. I give all the time. I’m happy to give.”
Ed de Boo, a Latin teacher at Classical, graded translations. He came “to do something in solidarity with my colleagues in public to show that we are, in fact, human beings.”
Job fair for displaced Providence teachers postponed to June 6-8
Posted Tuesday, May 24, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The job fair for teachers displaced by the recent school closings has been postponed until the week of June 6 to make more positions available.
The so-called “match event,” originally set for Wednesday and Thursday, would have taken place before teachers were hired at the four schools identified last year as being chronically low-performing. Teachers at these schools are hired through a different process that includes interviews with a school-based committee and examples of teachers’ work.
Completing the hiring process at these four schools should create openings at other schools, and these positions can now be filled at the job fair, according to school spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly.
“We realize that the postponement of this event prolongs the uncertainty that our displaced teaching professionals are experiencing,” said Thomas Ramirez, acting assistant superintendent for human resources. “It is our hope, however, that the postponement will result in even greater percentages of our teachers finding a suitable match to continue employment with the PPSD.”
Last winter, termination letters were sent to each of the district’s 1,934 teachers to help close a $110-million budget shortfall next year. The School Department alone is facing a $28-million budget deficit. In addition, the mayor asked the School Board to close several schools as a way to narrow the budget shortfall.
The School Board voted to shut down five schools, four elementary and a middle school, over the strenuous objections of parents, students and teachers. The school closings and staff cuts are expected to save between $7.7 million and $10.4 million.
More than 1,400 teachers have been recalled.
But more than 300 teachers, including those whose schools are closing, have received dismissal letters and these teachers have been invited to participate in the job fair.
The teachers have been asked to create a profile, complete with a resume, on the School Department’s online applicant-tracking system, which allows them to review job openings. These individuals are invited to the open house-style jobs fair, where they will have the opportunity to speak briefly with principals at schools where they are interested in applying.
Teachers will rank their job preferences and principals will list their staff preferences. The two rankings will then be matched by human resources in a process similar to a medical-residency match system.
Here are the new dates for the match event:
• Monday, June 6, for high schools;
• Tuesday, June 7, for elementary schools;
• Wednesday, June 8, for middle schools.
The match events will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. each day at a location to be announced.
Mayor seeks ruling on firings
Posted Thursday, May 5, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Mayor Angel Taveras has asked a Superior Court judge to rule on whether the School Board has the legal authority to rehire and fire teachers according to a plan that the board approved Monday.
Taveras is suing the Providence Teachers Union, the state Board of Regents, the City Council and the state Labor Relations Board. The suit names these parties because, under state law, all have a legal or administrative interest in the proceedings.
The city’s memorandum, filed Tuesday in Superior Court, asks the court to answer three questions that lie at the heart of the city’s decision to send termination notices to every one of the district’s 1,934 teachers. Joining the suit are the School Board and Supt. Tom Brady.
The School Board on Monday voted to rehire 1,445 teachers, who were notified Tuesday. In addition, the board identified 370 teachers who will have to apply for openings through an interview process. Another 119 teachers will be fired.
The three questions are:
•Under the Teacher Tenure Act, does the financial crisis facing the city constitute “good and just cause” for dismissing teachers who were left without jobs because of school closures, program changes and consolidations?
•Does the School Board’s vote in closed session Monday night comply with the collective-bargaining agreement, which makes no mention of teacher dismissals due to financial need? (The city argues the contract was modified when, first, the state education commissioner and then the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education said that seniority can no longer be the sole factor in assigning teachers.)
•Does the due process given dismissed teachers under Monday’s School Board assignment plan comply with the Teacher Tenure Act as well as the state and federal constitutions?
The union claims the terminations are illegal and filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Board earlier this year. On Wednesday, PTU President Steve Smith said Taveras should have sought a legal opinion before sending out the termination notices.
“We’ve taken the position that firing for any reason is illegal,” Smith said Wednesday. “From what I’ve read, the mayor is asking for a legal opinion if he can do this. This is inexperience run amok.”
The teachers union claims that the city, by asking for a ruling, concedes that it didn’t have legal standing to send dismissal notices to teachers in February. But Taveras’ spokeswoman Melissa Withers says there is no such admission in the lawsuit.
“The lawsuit,” she said, “explains precisely why the School Board’s plan to rescind 75 percent of the teacher dismissals is entirely legal and appropriate. The suit was filed so that a court of law could confirm the legality of the School Board’s actions and avoid months of uncertainty, which would have been to the detriment of both teachers and students.”
The city is seeking a quick response from the court because terminated teachers must be told why they have been fired prior to May 17. According to the memorandum, the suit cites the city’s “potential liability to teachers” in the event that the School Board goes forward with its assignment plan and is later found to have violated the law.
The city also charges that the union refused to bargain in good faith over the way teachers would be rehired.
“All along,” the city argued, “the PTU insisted that the dismissal notices were illegal and that all teachers left without positions must be recalled by seniority, and, in effect, bump less senior teachers from their jobs, a position which was not acceptable to the state Department of Education and the Providence School Board.”
But Smith says it is tough to move forward when the other side wants to take away your right to collective bargaining.
Providence rehires three-quarters of its teachers
Posted Wednesday, May 4, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The School Board has voted to immediately rehire 1,445 teachers or three-fourths of the school district’s staff.
Teachers were notified by the School Department Tuesday afternoon, according to Mayor Angel Taveras.
A total of 119 teachers will not be rehired, however, including teachers who are being terminated for disciplinary or performance reasons, those with temporary emergency certifications and teachers whose certifications are obsolete due to subject reorganizations.
The mayor and the School Department sent out letters of termination to every one of the district’s 1,926 teachers in February when the city learned of a $110-million deficit projected for next year. The mayor chose termination notices over layoffs because terminations would allow the district to reduce a category of substitute teachers whose salary and benefit packages cost more than traditional substitutes.
Those who will be rehired include teachers at schools not slated for closure (except Asa Messer Elementary School and Messer Annex), teachers not terminated for cause and teachers not at schools identified as chronically low-performing. Also included in this group are teachers who have chosen to retire by June 30.
Teachers at Asa Messer and the Annex have been spared. They are being moved as a whole to Bridgham Middle School, something that both the teachers and the parents wanted.
“I recognize how difficult the past two months have been for teachers, students, administrators and parents,” Taveras said. “We are hopeful that the [School] Board’s ability to rescind letters of termination for the majority of teachers will bring peace of mind to many of the city’s hard-working educators.”
There are 370 teachers who will not be immediately rehired. They will have to apply for vacant positions. This group includes teachers at Flynn, Windmill and West Broadway elementary schools, which will close this fall, and at Bridgham Middle School, which will become an elementary school.
It includes teachers who were not rehired at Roger Williams Middle School, Charlotte Woods Elementary School, Feinstein Elementary at Sackett Street and Cooley Health and Science Technology High School. These schools were identified last year as chronically low-performing by the state Department of Education.
And it includes teachers whose positions were eliminated last year due to two school closings. These teachers are currently full-time substitutes who earn their full salaries, plus benefits. The mayor expects to save $4 million from this group alone.
Under the rehire plan, Providence teachers will have first dibs at any new or vacant positions. Teachers will be able to compete for openings through an interview process that excludes candidates from outside the district.
Seniority goes out the window. Principals will have the authority to select staff based on student needs, rather than the number of years in the district.
Supt. Tom Brady said, “It keeps student need, rather than teacher seniority, at the forefront, yet recognizes the dedication and talent of the majority of our existing teaching staff.”
This plan is very similar to one implemented by the school district last year under an order from former state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, who said that seniority could no longer be the primary method for filling openings. More recently, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist called for the elimination of seniority as the sole criteria for teacher hiring in all districts.
Taveras said that the new plan aims “to minimize potential ripple effects by displacing as few teachers as possible.” City and school leaders were trying to avoid the bumping process, in which teachers with more seniority can bump or displace those with less, a process that school leaders say can result in huge classroom disruptions.
Taveras’ spokeswoman, Melissa Withers, said it’s too soon to say how many teaching positions will be open, although that number will be known soon.
Protesters blast school closings
Posted Tuesday, April 26, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — In a protest that was part performance art, part political rally, about 300 parents, teachers and students told the Providence School Board Monday night that they were mad as hell and they weren’t going to take it anymore.
Marching to the brassy beat of the What Cheer band, parents and teachers picketed last night’s hearing on the proposed closing of five schools — three of them in the West End alone. The signs said it all: “No school closings, no teacher firings. We won’t pay for a crisis we didn’t create. Stop the attack on public education.”
A West End parent manned the microphone: “When our schools are under attack, what do we do?”
“We fight right back!” yelled the crowd as they paraded around the Providence Career and Technical Academy, where the hearing was held.
Michael Udris, a West End parent with two pre-school boys, worries that young families will abandon the West End if they lose all three of their schools: Asa Messer Elementary School, Messer Annex and Bridgham Middle School.
“It’s like a carnival,” Udris said, referring to 1,900 students who will be displaced. “I’m not looking to submit my kids to that kind of instability.”
“Why is it that they are only closing schools on the West End and the South Side?” said Mayra Paulino, the mother of a Lima Elementary School student. “This will have a disproportionate effect on minority students and the poor.”
The School Board was scheduled to vote last night on the school closings but, at the 11th hour, decided to postpone its decision until later this week because members had too many unanswered questions. Judging by the pointed questions they asked last night, board members sounded conflicted about closing schools that are, in many respects, some of the few anchors of their communities.
Mayor Angel Taveras says schools must be closed and teaching positions eliminated to close the School Department’s $28-million budget shortfall, part of an estimated $110-million deficit projected for next year. The city estimates it will save between $7.7 million and $10.4 million from closing schools and cutting staff.
But parents and teachers have repeatedly challenged the city’s numbers, noting that savings from two school closings last year netted considerably less than was originally estimated. Families and faculty have also questioned the tight time frame — less than two months — for making such a momentous decision.
Last Monday night, Carleton Jones, the School Department operating officer, acknowledged that the savings estimates are “all assumptions,” adding that “we have no way to know for sure.”
And there were still questions that the School Department couldn’t answer: Where will the West Broadway Elementary students be assigned if it closes? Will the district actually save $1 million in busing costs? What will happen to the school buildings? Will moving middle-school children from one neighborhood to another exacerbate gang violence?
After two weeks of public meetings, emotions were running high. One parent shouted down the School Board president when she announced that the public comment period would be postponed until later in the hearing.
“My anger comes from 27 years of fighting for a good education,” yelled Sheila Wilheln. “We’re here tonight to testify. We’re here tonight to be heard!”
School Board President Kathleen Crain threatened to call the police and shut down the meeting unless the crowed calmed down.
Parents made the same arguments that they have been making since the closings were announced: My child can walk to school now. He knows all of his teachers. He will suffer if he has to move halfway through middle school.
Mothers talked about teachers who arrive early and stay late. They described their neighborhood school as being part of their extended family. At a recent hearing, one Asa Messer parent said she has the cell phone of every one of her child’s teachers.
“You don’t have to vote on this Thursday,” said Bryan Principe, a parent and city councilor from the West End. “If you don’t have all of the answers, don’t vote.”
Providence Teachers Union goes to court to get settlement ratified
Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence Teachers Union has asked a court to hold the School Board, Supt. Tom Brady and state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist in contempt of court for failing to ratify a settlement over a controversial hiring policy.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court the union, including President Steve Smith, says that in late October, the union and Brady reached a comprehensive agreement over criterion-based hiring, which effectively does away with seniority-based hiring for vacancies in the city’s public schools.
The union says that an agreement was reached between the PTU and the district after a marathon bargaining session that began on Oct. 25. In its motion, the PTU claims that both sides met at the express request of U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, who told the parties to remain in the room until they had come to an agreement or declared an impasse.
Fast-forward to early March. The union says that the School Board, represented by a new lawyer, objected to the settlement.
“Having reached an agreement, the Providence School Board should be prohibited from withdrawing from the agreement,” the union says. “The agreement should be enforced. Withdrawing from the agreement violates the parties’ agreement and the court’s directive.”
But School Board President Kathleen Crain said the board wasn’t bound by any agreement worked out between the union and Brady. “We were told the agreement wasn’t binding until it was approved by the union membership and by the School Board,” she said Tuesday.
Crain pointed to language in the agreement that says teachers who are displaced by layoffs will get first crack at vacancies:
“In the event a laid-off teacher exists where a vacancy emerges, the position will be posted for internal candidates only and the most senior laid-off teacher eligible … to hold the position will be invited to participate in the interview process. If selected, his layoff will be rescinded.”
Crain said that language raised red flags for the board because it seems to undermine the new hiring process.
Both sides agree that the settlement foundered over one critical issue: the union wants displaced teachers to be recalled based on seniority. Crain said that element violates the state’s new Basic Education Plan, as well as an order by former state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters telling the district to abolish seniority as the sole means of hiring.
But Smith says that layoffs by seniority had nothing to do with the agreement. The union, he said, agreed to give up seniority as a deciding factor in how vacancies are filled. Instead, teachers applying for a new job are invited to interview with a committee composed of a school principal, four teachers and a teacher leader. During the interview, the applicant must conduct a mock lesson, submit a writing sample and answer a common bank of questions. The principal has the final say over who is hired.
There is a nod to seniority, however. Smith says an applicant can earn up to 10 points out of 100 based on seniority.
The PTU sued the school district in August 2009, after McWalters ordered the district to implement a new method for filling teacher vacancies. In its suit, the union argued that this new policy violated the collective-bargaining agreement, as well as the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution.
In October 2009, all parties agreed to sit down and work with a mediator to resolve their differences.
Bridgham Middle School parents fight closing
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Bridgham Middle School isn’t pretty. It isn’t new. It doesn’t have any historic significance. But it feels like home for many West End families.
Monday night, more than 300 teachers, parents and students turned out to tell the School Board that they want their school to stay alive, that it anchors their community and that it provides a safe haven in a turbulent world. Brigham, on Westminster Street, is one of five schools that city and school officials have recommended for closure or reorganization.
The building would be converted into an elementary school and the current middle school students would be bused to other schools across town.
School Board members have listened to the same arguments against closure that members have heard for the past three weeks, ever since the public hearings on the process began: My child can walk to school. He is known by his teachers. He will suffer if he has to move in the middle of his career.
Edward Adefusika, a seventh-grader, tried to put a human face on the dollars and cents associated with school closings. He told the board: “Think of my face and all the other faces in this room when you vote to close this school.”
“They have to consider our feelings,” said one middle school student.
“This makes me feel small,” said Dante Cody, another student. “But I’m a normal human being.”
The School Board is supposed to vote on the closings April 25.
One teacher presented a PowerPoint program to illustrate the school’s successes, large and small. Bridgham hit all but one of its academic targets, failing to reach its attendance goal. Arrests have dropped dramatically now that the school has a fulltime school resource officer in the building. Students arrive early to clean graffiti off the walls. Bullying is not tolerated. And Bridgham has a thriving after-school program.
“We stand here as a pillar of our community,” said Emily Mowry, a seventh-grade teacher. “We help families in crisis. We helped pay a family’s funeral expenses.”
Mayor Angel Taveras, however, has recommended closing schools to help meet an estimated budget shortfall of $110 million this year. The city has also sent letters of termination to all of the district’s 1,926 teachers, although Taveras says many will be rehired.
But parents and teachers urged the School Board to find cost savings by cutting the transportation budget, cutting busing subsidies to private and parochial schools and buying less expensive textbooks.
Bridgham faculty asked the board to establish a series of “feeder” elementary schools that would send students to specific middle schools. This system would provide greater accountability because principals would be held responsible for their students’ academic performance. It would also provide greater stability for students, whose families would know where they were going to middle school
New regulations in R.I. will change face of teacher contract talks
Posted Monday, April 4, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist is on a collision course with Rhode Island’s teacher unions over new orders about what must be included –– and what is no longer allowed –– in teacher contracts.
The clash could soon affect as many as 15 Rhode Island school districts, including Providence, Warwick, East Providence and Central Falls, as they attempt to hash out new contracts under markedly different rules.
A series of new state regulations pose a direct challenge to cherished union rights, in particular seniority and long-term job security.
These regulations give principals and superintendents far greater latitude to fill classroom positions.
They require that all administrators and teachers be rigorously evaluated every year. Those found to be ineffective are given help and, if necessary, removed.
They establish clear expectations for school leaders and teachers, even obliging them to adhere to a code of professional responsibility.
From now on, new collective-bargaining agreements must reflect these changes in order to be valid, Gist says.
“Any personnel decision needs to be child-centered,” Gist says. “We need to make sure we have the very best teacher in a particular classroom.”
But to teacher union leaders, the new requirements, and Gist’s interpretation of them, represent a thinly veiled attempt to weaken collective bargaining.
The dramatic changes envisioned by the Rhode Island Department of Education will potentially take effect across the state this year, as more than a dozen existing union contracts expire over the summer.
The unions say they are prepared to go to court.
“If they gut collective bargaining, they are heading down a road to destroy public education,” said Larry Purtill, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island.
“Because in negotiating, you get the voice of the teacher who is in the classroom every day,” he said. “And that’s an important process. Without it, you take that voice away.”
But if these disagreements land in the courts, it is unclear how Rhode Island judges might rule.
A spate of cases in recent years indicates that some judges are inclined to side with management on issues that support “the educational mission,” even if those issues go against language in teacher contracts.
Many of the new rules are laid out in a document called the Basic Education Program, which establishes the bare minimum schools must provide to students.
The state Department of Education rewrote the three-decades-old document to reflect current expectations and shortened it from several hundred pages to 45.
The new BEP took effect last July 1, but its impact will really be felt in this year’s local contract negotiations.
Gist has sought to clarify the ramifications of these new rules by sending out “guidance memos” to districts. No longer will seniority –– the long-held practice of seasoned teachers being allowed to “bump” newer colleagues out of their jobs –– be the sole factor in determining teacher assignments, Gist says.
The new BEP aims to ensure “that highly effective educators work with classrooms of students who have significant achievement gaps,” Gist wrote in an October 2009 memo. “In my view, no system that bases teacher assignment solely on seniority can comply with this regulation.”
Teacher union leaders disagree.
The document describes the responsibilities of school leaders and teachers but does not expressly zero in on seniority as her memos have done, they say.
“We are all aware of the new [regulations] but no matter what you look at, it all still has to be negotiated,” Purtill said. “None of this stuff works unless teachers are involved. What we’re hearing now is, ‘Well it was mandated by RIDE so you just have to do it.’ But that is the opposite of the negotiation process and we still have a collective-bargaining law on the books.”
According to Gist, “When we say we are going to make every decision in the best interest of students in Rhode Island, that’s not just a motto.”
At the same time, she says she is not trying to subvert negotiations.
“We want to respect the process our communities are going to need to go through, working with the leadership of the district and the teachers’ union to make changes,” said Gist in an interview. “But we absolutely expect teacher contracts are going to look different in our state.”
The regulations are designed to transform negotiations, said Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees.
Whether this will actually happen is an open question.
“The new BEP puts the needs of students first,” Duffy said. “Right now, the industrial management-labor relationship doesn’t allow the two sides to come together and discuss the needs of students. Instead, it fosters an adversarial process by design.”
The new rules shift the center of attention.
“What the BEP does is change the employer-employee relationship to be focused on student achievement, not teachers’ rights,” Duffy said.
However, the new regulations could also spark lawsuits.
“I think they could lead to a lot of contentious negotiations and even litigation, even though they are supposed to do the opposite,” he said. “You can only hope that there is an enlightened school committee and union that can come to terms with all of these regulations, and serve as a model.”
Frank Flynn, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, says the new BEP “is very vague and subject to interpretation in a number of areas.”
He indicated Gist’s interpretation will likely be challenged.
“She’s being selective in what she chooses to issue guidance on,” Flynn said. “She’s trying to take a piece of language and frame it to mean what she wants it to mean. … I don’t know if ultimately it will be decided to mean that.
“Her interpretation is that they have a right to abrogate collective-bargaining rights, and I don’t think the BEP gives them that right.”
These new regulations are rolling out at the same time that Rhode Island’s courts have indicated they, too, are taking a harder look at teacher contracts.
In several recent court cases, judges have been inclined to side with school committees on issues that relate to the “educational mission” of schools that cannot be bargained away, despite existing contract language to the contrary.
Benjamin M. Scungio specializes in education law and represents 13 school districts, including several that have expiring teacher contracts.
He said he expects this year “to be one of the most interesting” he has seen.
He has been advising school committees on how to proceed with negotiations in the new regulatory environment.
While seniority is not dead, he tells them, “it no longer enjoys the preeminent status it once had.”
Scungio has also outlined several court cases in the past several years that could help school committees at the negotiating table.
In North Providence, for example, the School Committee eliminated a composition period for English teachers. The teacher union local opposed the move and the Supreme Court supported the union.
But in its 2008 decision, the court said that it had sided with the union because the committee cut the period primarily for financial reasons. If the committee had acted based on educational policy rather than finances, the court indicated it may have deferred to the broad authority of school committees.
And in a 2009 case between the City of Cranston and the Teamsters Union, Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein ruled that a collective-bargaining agreement cannot last more than three years.
This argument later helped the East Providence School Committee turn back a union challenge after it made unilateral salary cuts and increased health insurance costs for the city’s teachers.
“Change is coming,” Scungio said. “To be afraid of change is not going to resolve the issue.”
In contrast, Jim Parisi, a field representative with the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, says he does not expect the recent court cases “to have much of an effect on the negotiation process.”
“We remain concerned that these court decisions are making it more difficult for the union to appeal management decisions, but we don’t think they will set precedent,” Parisi said.
“I am very concerned, however, that the legal and political environment is making it more difficult for teachers to have a voice through their union. And I find it ironic that at a time when teachers are being blamed for all that is wrong in public education, that teachers are being prevented from negotiating education-mission-related issues by our courts.”
To see a copy of the Basic Education Program: http://www.ride.ri.gov/regents/Docs/RegentsRegulations/BEP_FINAL_070110.pdf
To see a copy of Gist’s guidance: http://www.ride.ri.gov/Commissioner/news/advisories/2009/BEP%20REGULATIONS%20AND%20SENORITY-BASED%20TEACHER%20ASSIGNMENTS.pdf
To see a copy of state laws governing teachers’ bargaining rights: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE28/28-9.3/INDEX.HTMContracts expiring
Bristol-Warren
Central Falls
East Providence
Exeter-
West Greenwich
Foster
Johnston
Lincoln
Little Compton
Newport
North Smithfield
Providence
Scituate
Smithfield
South Kingstown
Warwick
jjordan@projo.com
Schools seen needing stable vision
Posted Thursday, March 31, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The stricken Providence public schools will never get better unless the community stops looking for a superhero and figures out what kind of schools it wants.
“This is a Titanic moment for Providence,” said Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. “All of the finger-pointing has to stop. There has to be a network of people — business leaders, religious leaders, parents, the mayor’s office — to map out what needs to get done and articulate a shared vision.”
Tom Brady is the fourth superintendent in 11 years to leave a school district struggling to create a coherent reform strategy. Each new leader typically ushers in a new philosophy, whether it was Diana Lam with her emphasis on small, innovative high schools or Donnie Evans, with his efforts to design a uniform curriculum.
But every time the leadership changes, reforms lose steam, teachers grow disillusioned and talented administrators and principals leave or are pushed out.
A district is only as stable as its superintendent, experts say.
“When you look at a well-run school system, the first thing you notice is longevity in leadership,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, “longevity in terms of the school board, the mayor, the superintendent.”
In cities like Boston and New York where schools have made real strides, the superintendents have remained for a while and they have had the support of their mayors.
“When you have the kind of turmoil that you have had in Providence, it is very difficult to sustain any kind of reform,” Domenech said. “You’ve had a revolving door. The person who comes in feels compelled to institute his or her own reforms only to have it changed in three years” when a new superintendent is hired.
When Brady, a retired Army colonel, was hand-picked by then-Mayor David N. Cicilline in 2008, the mayor said that Brady’s leadership skills were a perfect fit for a district racked by a leadership crisis under Supt. Donnie Evans. Three years later, a new mayor, Angel Taveras, said he is looking to recruit a dynamic, thoughtful leader who will transform the city’s schools.
The question is: Can Providence attract the best person, given the district’s tumultuous history, its current budget crisis and a teachers union whose membership has begun to lose faith in any consistent direction from the top?
Jack Jennings, president and CEO of the Center on Educational Progress, thinks that the turmoil in Providence will make it very hard for the district to draw the best candidates, noting that the proposed teacher terminations have made the national news.
Sam Zurier, a member of the City Council and former School Board member, is much more optimistic. He thinks Providence will be attractive because of the dynamic reforms taking place on the state level, including $75 million in federal Race to the Top monies. State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has introduced new high school graduation standards, pushed for more robust teacher evaluations and secured passage of the state’s first education-funding formula.
Zurier said he also believes the city should look for someone who can build on the progress that Brady has already made, including a uniform curriculum and a nationally recognized partnership with the teachers union.
“It’s common in these searches to look for someone who will ride in on a white horse and install a new model,” Zurier said. “It might be better if we get someone who is willing to buy into the work that’s already been done.”
In an interview Tuesday, Brady said he always distrusted the knight-in-shining-armor theory of school change, the notion that one superlative leader can transform a school by dint of his personality. For reform to last, everyone from the teachers to the parents to the school board has to commit to the same vision.
When Evans quit three years ago, Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, said Providence will never get the school leaders it deserves until the entire community stops focusing on “school buses and snowstorms” and concentrates on student achievement.
His words ring just as true today.
“Leadership is important only if it reflects a larger consensus,” Simmons said. “Leaders come here to implement their agenda, but they haven’t created a broader buy-in. When the hard decisions must be made, leadership then runs afoul of a particular constituency.”
As a community, he said, Providence must figure out what it wants for its public schools and then give its superintendent the latitude to get it done. Past school chiefs
The last five school Providence superintendents and their time in office:
Thomas Brady 2008-2011
Donnie Evans 2005-2008
Melody Johnson 2002-2005
Diana Lam 1999-2002
Arthur Zarrella 1992-1999
Brady resigns as Providence school superintendent
Posted Wednesday, March 30, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Capital City’s school system was pummeled Tuesday as Supt. Tom Brady announced his resignation and four more schools were designated among the state’s worst.
Brady, 61, leaves behind a district roiled in the last month by upheaval with termination notices sent to all of its teachers and the proposed closing of four school buildings in the face of a city budget deficit of more than $100 million.
He took the helm three years ago, replacing Supt. Donnie Evans, who was embarrassed by a snowstorm that stranded nearly 100 students on school buses. He was also the city’s fourth superintendent in 11 years, with the other two leaving for greater opportunities in larger cities.
Even as Brady was announcing his departure in July at an afternoon news conference, the difficulties of the job were underlined by the announcement by the state Department of Education that four city schools will be targeted for intensive intervention because they have been failing their students for years.
Four other Providence schools were singled out last year. In all, more than 4,700 students attend the eight schools out of a total of 23,000 schoolchildren.
The key factors in deciding which schools are singled out for intervention are dismally low test scores in reading and math and little or no evidence of student growth. The high schools also have low graduation rates.
Even as the city embarks on the effort to fix its failing schools, its leadership has been decimated. Not only is Brady leaving but his chief of staff, Sharon Contreras announced last week that she is leaving to become superintendent in Syracuse, N.Y. The chief operating officer and the director of communications have also left the superintendent’s office.
Leadership turmoil is a hallmark of urban school districts nationwide; the average tenure for a superintendent is three years.
Brady said his decision “was totally my idea. It was rooted in the fact that we have made a very good start. I’ve spent 13 years in education, mostly in urban schools. I’m comfortable taking a different approach in my life.”
Mayor Angel Taveras said Brady had made it clear his mind was made up and thanked the superintendent for staying to oversee the school closings and teacher recalls this spring.
“I’m very grateful for his service, both in the military and in Providence,” Taveras said. “I respect that and wish him well.”
But Steven F. Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union and a former critic of Brady, said the superintendent didn’t have the full support of the new mayor or the School Board.
“The mayor surrounded himself with people who were not Brady fans,” Smith said Tuesday. “Brady wasn’t on the mayor’s advisory committee. If you have a superintendent, you don’t need to hire anyone to give you advice” — a reference to Taveras’ hiring of an “education liaison” last month.
As word of Brady’s resignation spread, one of his harshest critics, parent Osiris Harrell, turned up to shake the superintendent’s hand.
“I’m devastated,” Harrell said. “He was the man for the job. No one has worked harder with the black and brown community in this city than this superintendent.”
Harrell blamed Taveras for driving Brady from his job by “acting like a tyrant” in the handling of school closings and teacher terminations.
Brady has also struggled with the School Board, with some of the members resisting his plan to create a labor-management partnership to run the four schools identified by the state last year for reform.
But School Board President Kathleen Crain said Tuesday the panel didn’t force Brady out.
“Every school board and superintendent have some conflicts,” she said. “We’ve been very supportive of his work to keep the district moving forward.”
Brady has left his stamp on the district in the form of its first-ever unified curriculum, one aligned with state standards. A new teacher-evaluation system is also being developed in conjunction with the union.
The task of reform got more difficult Tuesday, however, when Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist named four more city schools for intervention. They are: Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School (formerly Adelaide), Hope High Information Technology School, Mount Pleasant High School and Mary E. Fogarty Elementary School.
(Rhode Island School for the Deaf, a state-run pre-K-12 school in Providence with 70 students, was also singled out for accelerated improvement.)
As she made the announcement, Gist said, “I am deeply concerned about a leadership gap in the Providence schools and I will offer my assistance to Mayor Taveras and the School Board to help ensure that the Providence schools continue on the path toward greatness.”
In the end, Brady said, he will miss the human face of the school system he heads.
“When things are tough, I always visit a kindergarten class or a first grade,” he said. “That always gives me a new focus.”
He said he leaves with no regrets, nor does he have any plans to move.
“I have two grandchildren in the Providence public schools. I’m confident that good things will continue.”
Parents seek more time to respond to school closings
Posted Tuesday, March 29, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Parents and teachers from Asa Messer Elementary School agreed on at least one thing Monday: they need more time to respond to the proposed closing of four school buildings, two of them on the West Side.
“People feel scared and rushed,” said Matthew Gabor, a West Side parent. “We’ve had five days to prepare for this meeting. That’s an absurdly short time to do this. Give us more time.”
Some 200 residents gathered at the John Hope Settlement House in the first of a series of School Board hearings on the proposed closings, which will ultimately affect at least eight schools. Monday’s forum was centered on the future of Asa Messer and the Messer Annex.
Parents complained that the timeline — the School Board will vote on the closings April 25 — is far too abbreviated and leaves too many questions unanswered.
“We feel the city is creating a climate of fear,” said Mike Udris, another parent. “We keep hearing about a Category-5 financial crisis. We feel there is a rush to judgment. It is unfair to us and unfair to the School Board.”
Participants were asked to break into groups to discuss their concerns. But residents had more questions than answers. Exactly how much money will be saved by the closures? What happens to the vacant buildings? What are the additional transportation costs? Will all of the Asa Messer teachers be moved to Bridgham Middle School, which would become an elementary school this fall?
Several parents cited a report by the Broad Foundation that says districts should set aside a minimum of 12 months to plan for school closings. The study says anything less leaves the community feeling short-changed.
Mayor Angel Taveras has said that he has to make the budget cuts now because the city is facing a budget shortfall of $110 million next year, including at least $28 million on the school side.
One thing was clear: parents feel a deep connection to Asa Messer, despite the shoddy condition of the building. They talked about teachers who arrive early and stay late. One parent described the school as being part of her extended family. Another said she has the cell phone number of every one of her child’s teachers. Asa Messer, they said, is a school on the move, with double-digit increases in English and math.
Parents also expressed profound misgivings about sending their children to Bridgham, which was recommended for closure last year because of its poor physical condition. Built in the 1970s, the school would need major renovations to make it suitable for younger children.
“We don’t know the cost of displacing 2,500 students,” said Anthony Rodriguez, a student at Classical High School. “What is the impact on those kids?” (Taveras says 1,800 students would be affected by the closings.)
Residents expressed considerable anxiety about how the closings would affect the increasingly vibrant West Broadway neighborhood, which has been working closely with the district for three years to reopen West Broadway Elementary School on Bainbridge Avenue, only to be told that money is no longer available.
“Four of these schools affect the West End,” said Donna Freeman, a teacher. “What is the economic damage to the neighborhood? Will families decide to move now that quality schools are no longer available?”
Providence residents band together to save school
Posted Thursday, March 24, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Last night, it was the children’s turn to speak.
Wearing shy smiles and handmade T-shirts that read “I heart Bridgham,” fifth- and sixth-graders begged school officials not to turn their middle school into an elementary school. Bridgham is one of five schools on the chopping block. The other schools are elementary buildings.
“Our school may not be the biggest or the cleanest, but the teachers care about us,” said Noel Frias, 12, from Bridgham. “If you want to save money, cut the busing companies. They make millions.”
Several students read letters to Mayor Angel Taveras, who announced last week that the schools had to absorb part of the $110-million deficit Providence faces next year. The mayor and the School Department have also sent out termination notices to each of the city’s 1,926 teachers, although they said many would be recalled.
“I don’t want my school to close,” said Brandon Ramos, a student from Asa Messer Elementary School. “If you take away our teachers, it’s like losing our family.”
“When you close my school, it will force all these children to move,” said Borris Toure from Bridgham. “You spend all your money on the East Side. That’s not fair.”
More than 200 residents attended the community meeting at Classical High School, held to gather public comment on the proposed closings, which will affect at least eight schools. Once again, parents and teachers wanted to know why their schools have been targeted for closure.
Parents stressed that Bridgham is not suited for younger students, especially since children would have to cross a busy street. They also pointed out that Bridgham was one of several schools slated for closure last year because of the poor condition of the building.
“Our children are real people. They’re not dots on a map,” said Ketuzah Bryant, an Asa Messer parent. “I have a personal relationship with every one at that school — the lunch ladies, the custodians. I have every teacher’s cell phone. I will not allow my daughter to go to Bridgham.”
Anna Kuperman, a teacher from Classical High School, urged the crowd to organize.
“This is not over,” she said. “I’m infuriated by what they’re trying to do to public education. We’re not going to stand for it. This year, it may be Bridgham. Next year, it could be your school.”
While the public forums went forward, Taveras continued to look for ways to trim the deficit. On Tuesday, he announced a one-time incentive for teachers who are eligible for retirement. The $5,000 was offered in a letter sent to the 215 teachers who are likely to be eligible for retirement.
If enough teachers voluntarily retire, the mayor says, it “will make it possible to significantly reduce, or possibly even eliminate, the number of ... positions that must be eliminated as a result of the school closures.”
In addition, those teachers who retire this year would not have to pay the 2.5-percent increase in contribution to their state pension, a hike that Governor Chafee has proposed in his fiscal year 2012 budget. If 70 of the 215 eligible educators took the retirement bonus, the district would save about $6.6 million, the mayor’s office said.
Four elementary schools marked for closing
Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — City officials recommended Monday the closing of four elementary school buildings as part of an eight-school shuffle designed to save an estimated $12 million to help stanch a financial crisis of unprecedented proportions.
“This is just the beginning of the pain,” said Mayor Angel Taveras, whose city is facing a structural deficit of $110 million next year. “Hearing from parents, teachers and students will bring home the human element. This is the first of many difficult decisions to come.”
“It was a very, very difficult decision,” said Supt. Tom Brady. “We certainly appreciate the impact on students. We want to minimize that. These seem to be the best choices.”
Under the recommendation from Taveras and Brady, Flynn Elementary, Windmill Street Elementary, Asa Messer Elementary and Messer Annex would close by June 30. Students and staff from the two Messer schools would move to nearby Bridgham Middle School, which would become an elementary school.
In addition, the West Broadway Elementary School students would be moved out of the DelSesto Middle School complex and those students would have the opportunity to move to Bridgham. DelSesto would return to educating middle school students only.
The mood was somber at Bridg-ham Middle School yesterday as teachers were briefed at the end of a harrowing school day. Sara Bobak, a first-year teacher of English literacy, said she was already “really attached to my kids.”
“I probably shouldn’t have worn my mascara today,” she said. “I’m just trying to stay flexible and stay positive.”
The closings were based on a number of factors, including the physical condition of the buildings, the cost of transportation, the state of the educational facilities, the cost of busing students elsewhere, the availability of open classroom space and the feasibility of relocating students.
Take Windmill Elementary. The nearest elementary schools are newer and in better condition. It would cost $20.7 million to renovate. The school has been chronically low-performing. And two separate studies have recommended closure.
Flynn, another low-performing school, would cost nearly $15 million to renovate. Six other elementary schools are located within a mile of Flynn, and, of the district’s 25 elementary schools, only 2 are chosen less by parents.
School officials estimate that 40 to 70 positions would be eliminated as a result of the school closings. Exactly how many teachers will be terminated, however, remains to be seen because the city has offered a retirement incentive to eligible teachers. If a significant number of teachers retire, that would create more vacancies for teachers who might otherwise face termination.
Typically, 40 to 45 teachers retire annually, but as many as 200 might be eligible.
In an interview Monday, Taveras said that the city would save an estimated $12 million from the closings and at least $7 million would come from teacher salaries and benefits.
Asked whether any teachers would displace less senior colleagues, a process known as “bumping,” Taveras said he won’t know the role seniority will play until the number of retirees is pinned down. The mayor said he sent out termination notices, not layoff notices, because the termination process gives him more flexibility over who is rehired.
In a move that stunned teachers and union leaders, Taveras announced two weeks ago that the school district was sending out termination letters to each of district’s 1,926 teachers, although he also said that most of them will be rehired.
“The biggest issue in terms of the notices was to maximize flexibility until we made a decision about which schools would be closed,” Taveras said. “We will have fewer teachers. The question is how we get to that number. That’s still being worked out.”
The remaining schools will be able to accommodate students from the closed schools because the district has excess seating capacity in several schools. In the Fortes-Lima complex, there are 14 empty classrooms.
School officials have also decided to reconfigure classroom space at two other schools:
Lima Elementary School will now educate students in pre-kindergarten through first grade. Kindergartners and first graders from Flynn and Windmill will be sent there. Fortes Elementary School will remain a grade 2-6 school and will now accept students in those grades from Lima.
The School Department will hold six community meetings on the plans, beginning on Tuesday, that are open to anyone in Providence. In addition, the School Board will hold a series of hearings at each of the affected schools. That schedule has yet to be announced.
In any event, the School Board has the final say over which schools will close. Last year, Brady recommended that five schools be closed, but, after listening to extensive public comment, the board voted to close only two.
Students and parents from the affected schools, however, are bound to be distressed by the closings.
Brian Principe, a city councilor from the West End, was upset that West Broadway Elementary School at Bainbridge would not be reopened, despite previous assurances that it would be.
“I’m very aware of the steep financial hardships that the city is facing,” he said. “But we need to plan for the long-term viability of our neighborhoods. They have eliminated the middle school from my neighborhood. How does the community answer the middle-school question when there is no middle school?”
At a School Board meeting Monday night, Ward 4 Councilman Nicholas Narducci urged members to try another approach: returning the school district back to the system of neighborhood schools, so that youngsters can walk to school and the “only ones hurt would be the bus companies.” He said closing Windmill School will leave his area without a school.
Steven F. Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Association, said the closings might achieve some short-term savings, but with long-term costs. He said there will be a significant disruption in the lives of students and their families.
“The real solution will be from taking a hard look at the budget to look for savings, especially in transportation.”
At the meeting last night, Smith placed a box at the feet of school board members containing requests from 1,600 teachers asking for individual hearings on their termination notices.
With staff reports from Jennifer D. Jordan and richard c. dujardin
Union proposes option to firings
Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence Teachers Union president offered the School Board another option Monday night: send out letters that include the possibility of layoffs and terminations.
PTU President Steve Smith said this would give Mayor Angel Taveras the opportunity to lay off teachers if the union is successful in blocking the terminations.
The union has filed an unfair labor practice with the Rhode Island Labor Relations Board that seeks to challenge every termination.
Marc Gursky, the union’s lawyer, says the School Board violated the Labor Relations Act by failing to bargain in good faith before issuing the termination notices.
Smith, who met with Taveras on Sunday, said the mayor offered to recall approximately 1,400 teachers, but Smith proposed another solution: including the option of layoffs in a new letter.
“Firing 1,926 teachers for no reason is a bad idea,” Smith said, “and firing 400 teachers for no reason is also a bad idea.”
In an e-mail blast Sunday night to city residents, Taveras defended his decision to send out termination letters and said that “for too long, politicians have avoided making the tough decisions.”
“Issuing notices of dismissals to all teachers was a last resort,” he wrote. “... Layoffs come with many provisions, legally and procedurally, that could impact our ability to control costs to the degree we need to.”
As a largely symbolic gesture, City Councilor Brian Principe last night urged the School Board to issue termination letters to every employee of the school district, from Supt. Tom Brady on down.
“Dismissing all of the teachers creates the impression that the blame rests solely with them,” he said. “This is not the time to point fingers.”
Last night’s meeting was subdued — a far cry from the raucous, barely civil discourse of Thursday’s School Board meeting, which drew 900 teachers to the same high school.
But the handful of teachers who did speak last night were just as passionate about what they say are the wrongs being done to them.
“I’m one of 1,926 teachers fired for no just cause,” said Michael Fioravante. “I’m a teacher who realized my fifth grade student was having a difficult time adding fractions. I was flexible. I worked several times on my unassigned periods to help her. There are 1,926 teachers just like me.”
Another teacher said she received a job offer last week.
“Now, I have a decision to make,” said the teacher, Betsy Blanchette. “Come June 20 or 21, I need to know where my next paycheck is coming from. The kids are why we come to work. We don’t work for you. You foot the bill.”
And one parent activist, Osiris Harrell, said he wants to make sure that someone is looking out for the children during this period of turmoil. “The union has its lawyers. The School Board has their lawyers. We’re going to be the lawyers for the children.”
The School Board voted to send dismissal notices to eight teachers and once again, the board split 4-3, with Robert Wise, Brian Lalli and Philip Gould voting against the motion.
After the public comments, School Board President Kathleen Crain stressed that that board’s hands were tied by a state law that says teachers must be notified of their employment status by March 1.
She said she also wanted to dispel rumors that the mayor and the board sent out the termination letters because they want to replace higher-paid teachers with less-senior teachers.
On another front, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is coming to Providence on Wednesday to participate in a mass rally outside City Hall that will include Frank Flynn, president of Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, George Nee from the AFL-CIO and, possibly, other unions.
With reports from
Richard C. Dujardin
Providence Teachers Union (PTU) President Met to Discuss Ramifications of Mayor Taveras’ Action of Firing all Providence Teachers
Posted Monday, February 28, 2011
PROVIDENCE, RI—Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith met with Providence Mayor Angel Taveras on Sunday to explain the potential ramifications to the city based on the unlawful firing of all 1926 Providence teachers. And, while the mayor suggested firing a smaller percentage of teachers, still without good reason, Smith remains steadfast in the PTU’s position that such action is not the solution to the city’s problems.
While potential layoffs might be expected in such difficult times, Smith asserted that firing any teacher without cause is unacceptable and, eventually, will prove to be more costly to the city. Smith explained to the mayor that all 1,926 termination letters should be rescinded and, if necessary, layoff letters be sent based on the anticipated number of positions at risk because of expected budget cuts.
“We remain committed, ready to sit down with the mayor, and prepared to be a part of the solution of solving the city's financial woes. Smith said that the PTU has real solutions to the city's problems and hopes the mayor will listen.”
Providence union chief to mayor: Don't lay off teachers
Posted Monday, February 28, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A union representing teachers in the state's financially troubled capital city says it has met with the mayor to discuss the decision to send them all termination notices.
The Providence school board voted Thursday night to send the notices to the nearly 2,000 teachers after city officials said the move would give them "maximum flexibility" to make budget cuts. The terminations would be effective at the end of the 2010-11 school year.
The Providence Teachers Union said its president, Steve Smith, met with the city's new mayor, Angel Taveras, on Sunday to explain the potential ramifications to the city based on what it called "the unlawful firing" of all 1,926 teachers.
Taveras, elected in November as the city's first Hispanic mayor, suggested firing a smaller percentage of teachers, the union said. But Smith remained steadfast in the position that such action isn't the solution to the city's financial problems, it said.
Smith, who wants the termination letters rescinded, said firing any teacher without cause is unacceptable and would be more costly to the city, the union said in an e-mailed statement. He said layoff letters, if necessary, should be sent based on the anticipated number of positions at risk because of expected budget cuts, the union said.
"We remain committed, ready to sit down with the mayor and prepared to be a part of the solution of solving the city's financial woes," Smith said.
Taveras, who said he wanted to work with the teachers and their union, insisted most of the teachers will have their dismissal letters rescinded in the coming weeks. He said the notices were sent because of a state law requiring school departments to notify teachers by March 1 if they'll be laid off the following school year.
The notices don't mean the teachers definitely will lose their jobs, but the vote means some of them could. The 4-3 vote gives the city the opportunity to terminate as many teachers as it deems necessary for budgetary reasons, but the city hasn't indicated how many that could be.
Taveras said the decision to issue the notices was difficult but the city's financial crisis is staggering.
The financial problems in Providence, the state's biggest city, have caused enough alarm at the state level that Governor Chafee instructed two of his top fiscal officers to meet with city officials. A recent audit showed Providence, which has about 175,000 residents, had nearly depleted its rainy-day fund and overspent its budget last year by more than $57 million.
Taveras last month created a Municipal Finances Review Panel to review the city budget across all departments. The panel will offer recommendations to the mayor in the next two weeks.
Taveras said Sunday in a message to residents posted on the city's website that issuing the dismissal notices to all the teachers was "a decision of last resort." He said he had to avoid a situation in which next year the city has more teachers on its payroll than it can afford to pay.
"My administration has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Providence to address the fiscal crisis we face AND a moral responsibility to our children to make sure we manage cuts to school funding in a way that best serves our students and the community," the message said.
Taveras said the notices sent were of dismissal, not layoff. He said layoffs often come with provisions that could affect the city's ability to control costs as much as it wants to. He said dismissals are different because they enable the school district to end its financial obligations to people.
Providence council panel to offer ‘wish list’ to teachers contract negotiators
Posted Thursday, February 10, 2011
By Alisha A. Pina
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — As the city School Board prepares to negotiate a new contract with teachers, a new subcommittee of City Council members plans to have hearings and offer a “wish list” of what it would like to see in the pact.
The council typically does not get involved in teacher talks, though it does approve the contract after an agreement is reached.
The current agreement, which expires Aug. 31, is a big-ticket item for the struggling city and it is why Councilman Samuel Zurier proposed input from the council.
“A major part of our research will be to compare the Providence contract with other contracts in effect in other Rhode Island school districts,” said Zurier, a former School Board member.
The group — its other members are David Salvatore and Terrence M. Hassett — has its first meeting Feb. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in City Hall.
“I am hopeful this process will help educate parents, students and the community about the importance of the contract,” Zurier said.
Providence Teacher Union President Steve Smith said creating a wish list would not be helpful for this already “sensitive” and “difficult” process.
“I think when you set up lists, it limits or sets up a dynamic of wins and losses,” said Smith, who has been union president since 2003. “It brings back the traditional, adversarial negotiations, and that isn’t productive.”
He said the union, School Supt. Tom Brady and the School Board have been moving away from negotiations in which the two sides sit at opposite ends of a long table, pass notes so the opponent doesn’t hear strategy and let only the chief negotiators speak.
Their process, which he says has been nationally applauded for its collaboration, is “interest-based bargaining.” Smith said all union and administration negotiators sit at a round table and openly share information. He said the discussions have “a focus on how best to improve student achievement” rather than what a side is winning or losing.
Smith, Brady and acting School Board President Kathleen Crain were asked to attend the subcommittee’s first meeting to address:
•What are the perceived strengths of the current relationship between teachers and the administration?
•What are the major challenges with the current relationship between the two?
•What are they hoping to accomplish through the negotiations and a new contract?
• How do they plan to “take into consideration the city’s severe financial constraints, in which the municipal contribution to the overall school budget may be level-funded for the next two or three years?”
The city had a $57-million deficit last year — the School Department overspent its budget by $6.9 million — and city leaders say this year’s deficit will surpass that.
The current pact, a one-year extension to a three-year agreement that concluded in 2010, had modest wage increases and required teachers to pay more for their health care, increasing their share from 10 to 15 percent of their premiums. Even with the salary boost, Providence teachers rank in the bottom third of teacher pay in the state’s 36 school districts.
“… We do not expect them to reveal the finer details of their negotiating strategy,” Zurier emphasized, but he said their perspective will “help to improve the quality of our suggestions.”
Said Smith, “You just don’t negotiate contracts in public.” But he said he is willing to have a general discussion with the subcommittee.
Crain did not return The Journal’s call. Brady’s spokeswoman said he may not be in the city and it is “premature for him, or the district to comment on the [subcommittee’s] direction or anticipate its outcomes.”
Math scores jump at some Providence elementary schools
Posted Thursday, February 10, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Providence is making significant gains in math at the elementary level, a trend that school leaders attribute to a new districtwide math curriculum adopted two years ago.
Statewide, six elementary schools made statistically significant gains in math, and four of them were in Providence: Alfred Lima, Asa Messer, Veazie Street and William D’Abate. In fact, Providence was one of two districts, including Exeter-West Greenwich, to show noteworthy improvement in math on the state assessment, known as the New England Common Assessment Program.
Supt. Tom Brady and others pointed to several practices that have contributed to the bump in math achievement. Some, like the new math curriculum, are recent additions; others, such as using test data to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and tweaking instruction accordingly, have been in place for several years.
“We’re seeing the aligned instructional system starting to pay off,” said Brady.
In 2007, only 24 percent of the city’s students scored proficient in math; 31 percent did so in the fall of 2010. Reading showed a much larger gain: 30 percent were proficient in 2007; 47 percent are proficient today.
“But,” Brady cautioned, “we still face considerable challenges.”
In conversations with the principals of the four elementary schools, several common themes emerged.
Teachers are becoming more adept at using test-score data to zero in on the students who are struggling with concepts and then targeting instruction so those children get what they need. It has taken time for teachers to become comfortable with using data to fine-tune instruction.
Teachers are also meeting by grade level to discuss what’s working and what’s not.
“Every one of our grade-level teams sits down as a team once a week and we have a focus,” said D’Abate Principal Brent Kermen. “One week, it’s math. Another week, it’s literacy. Another week, it’s science. If fractions were a problem, we developed specific interventions. You have to meet the students where they are.”
The district has introduced this grade-specific teacher-planning time at all of its 25 elementary schools.
Elementary and middle schools are also using math coaches — teachers who are natural leaders — to go into the classroom and observe their peers, provide feedback and model good instruction.
“There is a lot of teacher reflection,” said Messer Principal Denise Missry. “What can I do to improve student work? How are we addressing each student’s needs? What is our real goal?”
Experts agree that schools cannot make true progress unless parents are involved in their children’s education. D’Abate has reached out to parents in fresh ways. At occasional workshops, the school teaches parents how to figure out the “new” math. During math nights, Kermen said, “we play some math games with them and we let them take them home.”
Because not everyone feels comfortable walking into a public school, D’Abate has gotten creative in the ways it attracts parents, holding gift raffles and providing food. It seems to be working: the school regularly sees 70 to 80 parents at these gatherings.
For some schools, it’s about getting students to take the NECAP seriously, since it doesn’t count toward a grade.
“NECAP became part of our daily language,” said Sue Chin, principal of Veazie Street Elementary School. “It’s no longer something we only talk about in October. Right down to first and second grades, we tell kids, ‘We’re going to need these skills and grow these skills.’ ”
Veazie has even posted a giant “data wall” with NECAP trends that students see whenever they go to lunch or out to recess.
“When they are looking at the data wall,” Chin says, “we have math questions right there. We’re making math part of the daily culture.”
Classroom breakfast a boost
Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — What’s better than pancakes in the cafeteria?
Pancakes in the classroom.
By mid-April, breakfast in the classroom will be offered in all 25 of the city’s public elementary schools. The district has already introduced the program at two elementary schools — Veazie Street and Lillian Feinstein at Sackett Street. Two more elementary schools will be added next week.
The goal is to encourage more children to take advantage of the district’s federally financed free breakfast program, which is available to students in grades kindergarten through 12 regardless of family income. Although 86 percent of the district’s students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, only 50 percent participate in the cafeteria-based program.
Veazie Street principal Susan Chin says her students are already reaping the benefits of a nutritious breakfast:
“First, children are more focused. Second, they look forward to this activity. Third, it builds classroom community. It’s a nice beginning-of-the-day ritual.”
Providence isn’t the first district in Rhode Island to offer breakfast in the classroom. Central Falls provides the program at all four elementary schools.
At Veazie Street, it works like this:
Employees from Sodexo, the food service provider, arrive at 6:15 a.m. to pack 576 individual breakfasts into separate bags, one for hot food and one for cold. The bags are delivered by carts to each classroom. By the time children arrive for homeroom at 8 a.m., the meals are ready to go.
Sodexo district manager Mark Jeffrey says his staff had to tweak the menu to make sure it could be delivered quickly and efficiently, a big challenge when you have only 15 minutes to feed nearly 600 children. A typical breakfast includes mini-pancakes, fruit juice and milk. Other offerings include yogurt, French toast, muffins and cereal bars.
In Virginia Olivelli’s kindergarten class, the children know exactly what to do. Each child plucks a package of preheated pancakes, a fruit juice and a carton of milk from one of two insulated bags, then returns to his or her seat. When they are done with breakfast, they dump their garbage in a trash bag near the door.
There are many reasons why children don’t turn out for a free breakfast when it’s offered in the cafeteria. They’re late for school. They would rather stay outside and play. They may have eaten something earlier and not realize that they are still hungry.
It is well-documented that there is a positive correlation between eating a healthy breakfast and a child’s readiness to learn. Now, teachers are seeing the results in real time. Olivelli and her Veazie Street colleague, Susan Kopech, say their students seem more attentive, settle down quicker and don’t suffer from the mid-morning doldrums, when youngsters run out of steam.
“Traditionally, we do a mid-morning snack for the kindergarten kids,” Olivelli says. “There is less need for it now. Now that they have nutrition first thing in the morning, they are able to hit the ground running.”
Kopech says her children “seem more relaxed. They are alert and ready to learn at 8:10 a.m.”
Breakfast in the classroom is fast-becoming a national phenomenon: Michigan offers it to 12 million children. San Antonio, Houston and San Diego have also jumped on the bandwagon and the Wal-Mart Foundation is providing $3 million to help several school districts, including Little Rock, Dallas and Memphis, offer the program.
Chin insists that no time for instruction is lost. In one kindergarten class, the students take out their books after they finish breakfast. In a fourth-grade class, they pull out work sheets while they eat. Teachers use the time to take attendance or other housekeeping tasks.
“I want this to be like your morning paper,” Chin says. “It’s waiting at the door when you wake up.”
Although it is too soon to say whether the breakfast program will deliver stronger student achievement, Chin is hopeful it will improve test scores and school attendance.
There is another benefit to the district, however. Higher participation rates translate into higher reimbursements rates from the federal government.
“It’s a win-win,” says Sodexo’s Jeffrey. “The district gets those additional financial resources and every child starts the day with a good breakfast.”
R.I. Regents to vote Thursday on new draft for high school diploma rules
Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
In a month or so, 11,400 Rhode Island high school juniors will get their scores on standardized tests they took last October — scores that could determine if they get high school diplomas in June 2012.
Starting with that class, high school students must score at least “partially proficient” in reading and math on annual tests to automatically qualify for a diploma under a new draft of regulations the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to approve Thursday night.
The regulations will then go out for a series of public hearings, tentatively scheduled for later this month, before the Regents vote on final approval.
Extra
Dec. 2, 2010: Major changes in works for R.I. high school graduation rules, public charter schools
Nov. 19, 2010: Rhode Island's 3-tiered high school diploma system described
Nov. 17, 2010: State considering 3-tiered diploma tied to test scores
Aug. 15, 2010: Juniors facing tougher standards at R.I. high schools
If the past two years are any indication, 45 percent of students — in particular many low-income and minority students in urban schools — will fall short of this requirement and be at risk for not graduating because they will score in the lowest possible category, “substantially below proficient.”
The Regents have been grappling with the issue for several months, trying to strike a balance between being fair to students and keeping pressure on schools to maintain increasingly rigorous standards.
Although the proposed standards provide opportunities for students to receive extra support and earn their diplomas, critics are concerned that thousands of students will be barred from earning their diplomas next year, and that schools will face an unfair burden.
Several groups, including Rhode Island Legal Services, the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and some high school principals have criticized the proposed changes, saying they are unfair.
“What we have here is a policy that will potentially harm thousands of youth, who are also disproportionately low-income minority youth, without a clear connection as to how it will result in any real system change,” said Karen Feldman, co-director of Young Voices, a leadership and advocacy organization.
The group plans to bring two dozen students to protest the changes at the Regents meeting at 4 p.m., Thursday, at Narragansett High School.
She said she also dislikes the language of the amended regulations which give the Regents authority to make significant changes later, without providing details.
“The [proposed] regulations are too vague and do not protect young people,” Feldman said.
Janelly DeJesus, a 15-year-old junior, says the Regents are moving too quickly on the changes.
“The teachers and administrators can just write off students … as if it is the students who have failed,” she said, “not the educational system that has failed them.”
As recently as 2008, the Regents were sending mixed signals about whether they wanted to make the scores on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) tests a “high stakes” measure of student performance.
On the one hand, they stated in the regulations that “state assessments shall not be the sole grounds to prohibit graduation from high school.”
But in a separate vote, the Regents also set “partially proficient” as the minimum achievement level, which some critics interpreted as “a back-door approach to high-stakes testing.”
(A state education official, when pressed, once described scoring proficient on the math test as roughly equivalent to earning a B+ in algebra, geometry, statistics and probability — a factor that made the “partially proficient” bar more palatable to the Regents.)
Trying to bridge these two seemingly contradictory messages, the Regents granted the commissioner, then Peter McWalters, the authority to accept additional evidence of proficiency that could be presented for students who fall below the passing score on NECAP. The Regents discussed what the additional evidence might be, such as SAT scores or a locally developed assessment, but nothing specific was decided.
Under Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, however, the additional evidence of proficiency has been abandoned, reinforcing the importance of the NECAP scores.
Instead, Gist wants students who fail to score at least partially proficient to retake the NECAP in their senior year. If a student improves his or her test score, and fulfills the other graduation requirements –– taking at least 20 credits worth of classes and submitting a senior project or portfolio –– the student will probably receive a diploma.
If a student fails to “sufficiently improve,” he or she will not be given any diploma.
In addition, Gist and Andrea Castaneda, her chief of accelerating school performance, have proposed creating three tiers of diplomas tied to a student’s score on the NECAP that recognize different levels of achievement, starting with the Class of 2013.
Daniel P. Kelley, principal of Smithfield High School, also has reservations about the proposed changes.
After the Regents passed the amended regulations in 2008, Smithfield decided to set a higher bar for its students.
Graduates from Smithfield High School had to score proficient on NECAP to graduate.
Students who fell short of that goal — 65 percent last year in math, for example — had to provide “additional evidence of proficiency” in the form of extra samples of their work in their senior portfolio.
“We made these decisions based on guidance sent to us from the [state] Department of Education in 2008,” Kelley said.
The proposed changes mean the district would have to develop a new policy this spring — a short timeline.
“The rules are changing for this class, and the kids won’t even receive their NECAP scores until February or so,” Kelley said. “And the Regents will probably vote on the changes in March. But the kids didn’t know all this when they took the test last October. So I asked the Regents if we could phase in these changes and at least give us a year to prepare these kids.”
11 People to Watch in 2011: Steve Smith
Posted Monday, January 3, 2011
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
Steve Smith took the biggest political risk of his career last winter when he signed on to the state education commissioner’s federal Race to the Top application, which later ushered in $75 million for education reforms in Rhode Island.
At the time, Smith, president of the 2,000-member Providence Teachers’ Union, said he did it because it was “the right thing to do for kids.” In supporting Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s efforts, Smith was one of only two teachers’ unions (the other was Foster’s) to initially support the highly competitive application. Union support was considered critical to the plan’s success in the national competition.
Smith recognized that Providence, as the largest school district in the state, stood to gain the most from the federal government’s largess. He also recognized that the national education landscape is changing. Teachers’ unions no longer have widespread public support; in fact, they are under fire from progressives and conservatives, who often see them as a stumbling block to deep-seated school reform.
“We’re trying to do things differently, from entering into a labor-management agreement to working on teacher evaluations with other districts,” Smith said. “We have got to change the way we do business. We’re not there yet, but we want to be at the table.”
In times of economic uncertainty, Smith said, the union must be part of the conversation unless it wants to be rendered irrelevant.
Meanwhile, Gist has presented Smith and Supt. Tom Brady with their greatest challenge to date: to dramatically improve four of the state’s lowest-performing schools. The district could have taken Draconian measures, firing the staff or closing and re-opening the schools as independent charter schools.
Instead, Brady and Smith chose to put aside their historic differences to come up with a joint plan to transform these failing schools. For the past year, these two former adversaries have been working together to develop broad goals for each school. More importantly, teachers and principals have been asked to fill in the blanks of school reform, whether it means a longer school day, Saturday academies or a new schedule.
“A year from now,” Smith said, “I hope we’ll have a genuine partnership that truly empowers teachers, a partnership in which decisions are made at the school. But this is very difficult work. This kind of work takes time.”
BIO Steve Smith
Occupation: President of the 2,000-member Providence Teachers’ Union.
Age: 54
Why he is worth watching: Smith is in the forefront of a national labor movement in which teacher unions are collaborating with school leaders in transforming failing schools.
2 more Providence high schools win NEASC accreditation
Posted Tuesday, December 14, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Two additional Providence high schools have won accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, a prestigious organization that visits and evaluates high schools across the region.
The schools, E{+3} and the Providence Academy of International Studies, are smaller high schools with specific missions. At PAIS, the focus is on international issues of poverty, child welfare and AIDS. At E{+3}, the emphasis is on the humanities, with Advanced Placement offerings in English and history.
Both schools had to undergo a lengthy self-study followed by a five-day visit by a team of outside educators who interviewed every teacher, observed classrooms, met with principals and guidance counselors and reviewed the school’s self-study. The accreditation process typically takes three years.
To date, three other Providence high schools have been accredited by NEASC: Mount Pleasant, Hope and Classical. The visiting team identifies the school’s strengths and recommends where they can improve.
Colleges often rely on NEASC accreditation to determine the rigor of a particular high school, especially if the college is unfamiliar with the secondary school’s credentials. The NEASC evaluation process can also benefit the school by improving instruction, enhancing teamwork, focusing on the latest research and improving long-term planning.
“It’s a big win for the district,” said Nkoli Onye, the district’s director of high schools. “It’s nice for this body of very distinguished individuals to say, ‘You meet our muster.’ ”
NEASC accreditation means the school has met a series of rigorous standards established by its peers. Onye said, “It sends a huge message to the community that these schools are working hard for continuous improvement.”
PAIS Principal Janelle Clarke said she felt “absolutely magnificent” at hearing the news during a NEASC conference in Boston last week. The visiting team, she said, liked the way teachers collaborated and the way teachers took on leadership roles and made the school’s mission come alive.
The visiting team also appreciated the way that the school personalized learning by requiring each senior to complete a senior research project on a topic of international interest. Students must also develop an advocacy plan to demonstrate how their work can be realized in the international arena.
In 2008, the senior class raised enough money to build a well in Sierra Leone. Students are also selling beads to help women in Africa earn money for health and welfare projects at home.
PAIS also received kudos for implementing “the blackboard model,” where teachers post the day’s goals at the beginning of class. The school recently developed written course syllabi for every subject, something that was lacking in the past.
According to Clarke, “NEASC liked the way teachers continually reflect on their work.”
E{+3} received high grades for its focus on the humanities, especially its dual-enrollment program with area colleges. They also singled out the school’s Diploma Plus program, which provides students and staff with access to online workshops, electronic grade books and electronic portfolios. And they liked the school’s offering of Saturday academies, SAT prep classes and college visits for all students.
“We have a unique identity as a small, student-centered learning community,” said Principal Regina C. Winkfield. “I’m the third principal in three years. We have a resilient faculty which was able to stay true to the school’s mission in the midst of change.”
This is the first time that these schools have undergone a NEASC evaluation. PAIS, with about 400 students, opened its doors about seven years ago; E{+3}, which has 386, is in its seventh year.
Hope High School students win planning-time case
Posted Friday, November 19, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — After nine months of protests, petitions and appeals, a group of Hope High School seniors received the best lesson that a public school can deliver: that the democratic process works.
A three-member subcommittee of the Rhode Island Board of Regents upheld state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s ruling that the Providence School Department must restore 84 minutes of teacher planning time at Hope.
The decision now goes before the full Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, but a lawyer for the Regents said it was customary for the committee’s recommendations to be approved.
No one summed up the students’ quixotic battle better than their lawyer, Miriam Weizenbaum.
Hope students, she said, “took an audacious leap of faith. They proceeded, armed with nothing more than the law and the expectation that in this country, neither the power of an official, or a board or a committee can take away the rights guaranteed by law.”
After the drama of last spring’s school walk-out, Thursday’s vote seemed almost anticlimatic. The handful of students in attendance seemed dumbstruck by the 2 to 1 decision.
“I can finally breathe,” said Cynthia Jackson, a senior. “It’s so good to know that everything we did was not in vain, and our voices were finally heard.”
“I’m still trying to take it all in,” said senior Jose Velasquez. “It shows that we can do anything if we put our minds to it.”
The victory, however, may be purely symbolic. The school year is nearly half over and the full board won’t vote on the issue until Jan. 6. By then, it may be too late to reconfigure the school schedule to accommodate additional common planning time.
Moreover, one of the Regents said yesterday that the board would take a fresh look at the common-planning regulation because of the questions raised by Hope. The possibility exists that the regulation could be revised before Hope has a chance to restore the additional minutes.
The students’ battle began in February, when the district announced that Hope would have to replace its block schedule (four 90-minute classes) with a six-period day. The district argued that the block schedule was too costly because it called for additional teachers. It also said the new math and English curriculum was designed to be taught in 53-minute segments.
At stake, students said, was not so much the time set aside for teacher planning, but the so-called block schedule. Students and teachers say the schedule allows them to dig deeper, offer more electives and enable teachers to spend more time reviewing student work.
Thursday, it was clear that the Regents’ hands were tied by the language of their own regulation. The 2008 rule says that school districts “shall not reduce the number of sessions or the amount of time allotted to common planning time [as] currently practiced.”
Since Hope already had 195 minutes a week set aside for teacher planning, Gist ruled that the district’s decision violated the regulation.
But the Regents’ appeals committee said that the Regents did not have Hope’s unique schedule in mind when it adopted the common-planning time regulation.
“Hope wasn’t on our radar,” Forbes said. “But the law is pretty clear.”
But Weizenbaum said the district could have sought a variance from the state if it wanted to reduce common planning time at Hope. The School Department never did that, however.
In the end, Betsy Shimberg and Karin Forbes voted to uphold Gist, and Amy Beretta voted against it. Beretta, however, made sure she praised the students for their perseverance and idealism.
“Regardless of our decision, you are to be applauded for your efforts.”
Union-management partnership rewrites rules to save 4 failing Providence schools
Posted Monday, November 8, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence schools are embarking on a grand experiment: labor and management have decided to put aside their historic differences to collaborate on improving four of the district’s lowest-performing schools.
Last week, Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith and Supt. Tom Brady sat down together to talk about how this partnership, believed to be the first in the nation, will work.
A year ago, this meeting would have been unimaginable. The union had sued the district over a state order that abolished seniority as the primary method of assigning teachers to classrooms. The relationship between Smith and Brady was civil but hardly warm.
Enter Race to the Top, a federal program in which states competed for millions of dollars to implement school reform. Smith recognized that this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss and became one of the first union leaders from Rhode Island to sign on to the application.
Enter state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist. Last winter, she ordered five Providence schools to make sweeping reforms or face the possibility of a state takeover. (The schools are Charlotte Woods Elementary School, Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street, Roger Williams Middle School and two high schools in the Sanchez complex. The district closed a fifth school.)
Brady and Smith had a choice. They could do it old-school, with Brady imposing change from above, or they could try something new. The two leaders decided to take a big leap into the unknown.
Over the past eight months, two classic adversaries have been rewriting the rules of engagement. While it is still very much a work in progress, Brady and Smith say they are committed to creating a collaborative model of leadership, something called “reciprocal obligation.”
“Four months ago, I’d walk into a room and see all of the union people on one side and the district people on the other,” Brady said. “Now, I actually see teachers sitting with administrators. It’s light-years apart.”
Before, management dictated policy and the union pushed back. Not anymore.
“This isn’t about winning or losing,” Smith said. “It’s about both of us acknowledging that we’re in this together.”
This is how the new labor-management partnership works. An executive board provides broad policy direction to the four intervention schools. That board includes Brady, Smith, three members of the teachers’ union, several top administrators and two parents.
Each of the schools will have a leadership team led by the principal and a union leader. The team comprises the assistant principal, teachers, support staff, parents and community partners. The team will have considerable latitude over important issues such as the school schedule, the length of the school day and professional training for staff.
In a huge departure from tradition, the principal will share authority with the union representative. Historically, the superintendent dictates policy to the principal, who then tells the faculty what to do. Under the new partnership, the union leader will provide constant feedback to the principal about what’s working and what isn’t.
And, each school will largely be responsible for deciding what the school day looks like, although the faculty will have to follow the district’s new core curricula. As Brady said, “We hope that the people closest to the kids are the ones making the decisions.”
No longer will the teachers’ contract stand in the way of school reform. If a school decides to adopt a longer school day or a Saturday academy, that overrides the collective bargaining agreement.
“This is not about who has the power,” Brady said. “That’s the old way of thinking.”
“It’s not, ‘These are my ideas,’ Smith said. “It’s ‘These are our ideas.’ ”
Teachers will have to reapply for their jobs at the four schools and they will have to sign an agreement that commits them to the reforms hammered out this summer. Existing faculty will be given priority, provided they sign onto the agreement.
Smith and Brady are working closely with the ABC School District near Los Angeles because that school system has figured out a way to work collaboratively with the union, and to invest principals and their staff with a lot of authority. In fact, Brady and Smith, accompanied by a small number of teachers and principals from the four schools, spent several days meeting with members of the ABC district during a recent trip to California.
“In California, you couldn’t tell the difference between the union and the principal,” Brady said. “They all sat together and shared ideas and wore the same school T-shirts.”
What this is really about is changing a school culture that has existed for generations. Building trust is not going to be easy, nor will it happen in one year, even two, according to Smith and Brady.
But the pressure is on. Providence has one year to plan the sweeping school reforms; the actual changes must begin in September 2011.
“It won’t happen in one year,” Smith said of the change in culture. “But it starts with the superintendent and the union president saying, ‘There is a better way of doing things.’ ”
R.I. Education Commissioner Gist to appoint special visitor for Providence’s Hope High School
Posted Monday, November 1, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
POVIDENCE — State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist will appoint a special visitor to help Hope High School restore the teacher planning time that was cut in half this fall.
In her order, Gist said that the special visitor will be charged with “defining the steps necessary to bring Hope High School into conformity with the common planning time regulations of the Board of Regents” for Elementary and Secondary Education.
Gist ruled last month that the Providence School Department must restore 84 minutes of common planning time to the teachers’ weekly schedule. Gist was responding to an appeal by Hope students who urged Gist to reinstate the school’s extended planning schedule, which allows staff to examine student work, review test data and fine-tune the curriculum.
A special visitor does not have the authority of a special master, however. Former state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters appointed a special master to oversee the sweeping reforms implemented at Hope when the state intervened in 2005. The special master, a former New Hampshire education commissioner, was hired to help transform the once-failing high school. He reported directly to McWalters and issued lengthy updates on the school’s progress.
The special visitor, however, will not have the power to implement orders; he or she will serve as the commissioner’s eyes and ears at Hope, according to Gist spokesman Elliot Krieger. Gist has not appointed the special visitor but that person will probably be a retired educator.
Meanwhile, a subcommittee of the regents will meet on Nov. 18 to hear an appeal by the City of Providence. The city, representing the School Department, is seeking to overturn Gist’s order. The full Board of Regents is expected to act on the matter on Dec. 4.
The debate over common planning time is part of a larger debate. Students, who staged a walkout last spring, say that the new 50-minute classes undermine many of the positive steps that led to Hope’s recent success. The district says that Hope had to be brought in line with the city’s other high schools, all of which went to a six-period day last year.
Supt. Tom Brady has also said that Hope’s original “block” schedule was too expensive and wasn’t suited to the district’s new math and English curriculum.
Effort to improve Providence schools developed from bottom up
Posted Friday, October 29, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Longer school days.
An extended year for teachers.
Additional time devoted to English and math.
Virtual classes at the high school.
Wraparound social services at the elementary schools.
These are just some of the measures that four Providence schools, identified by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist as among the worst in the state, have devised to turn themselves around after years of low student achievement.
The four schools are Charlotte Woods Elementary School, Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street, Roger Williams Middle School and the Sanchez complex, which includes two high schools, the Providence Academy for International Studies and the Health, Science and Technology High School.
What is remarkable about this effort is that it is coming from the bottom up. Typically, school reform is developed by the superintendent and staff and imposed on the individual schools. Under this model, the principals and teachers have decided which reforms will boost student performance.
A labor-management partnership that is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation will oversee the changes. The partnership, led by Supt. Tom Brady and Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, calls for the union and the administration to put aside past grievances and collaborate on a series of far-reaching reforms.
“This totally goes against the culture of both parties,” Brady said this week. “Traditionally, management would put out a policy, and Steve Smith would come and tell me what’s going badly. Now we put out the policy together.”
One of the most striking results of this partnership is that both sides have agreed to put aside the teachers’ contract when any aspect becomes a hurdle to school reform.
Starting in September 2011, all four schools will have a longer school day, ranging from 75 additional minutes at the two elementary schools to 60 additional minutes at the high schools. Typically, management would have to negotiate this matter with union leadership. Not any more. Teachers, of course, will be compensated.
Teachers will also be required to work a longer school year: 10 days devoted to professional training. Any teacher who wants to work at one of these schools will have to reapply for the job and sign an agreement that commits the teacher to the school’s new expectations. Something similar was done at Hope High School when the state, in 2005, ordered the school to make sweeping changes.
One of the biggest efforts involves devoting more time and effort toward boosting math and English language skills. At Feinstein Elementary, struggling readers will receive up to 90 additional minutes of small-group instruction. At Sanchez, all high school students will be required to take “lab” electives, additional courses in reading, writing, science and math.
Because student test scores are so low, Sanchez students will also take longer classes, called “blocks,” for core subjects like math and English. One possibility is holding a “Saturday academy” to help students catch up on credits so they can graduate.
The Sanchez complex has one of the most exciting proposals: to create a college-like campus, where students select courses from a wide syllabus, sign up for classes online and have the opportunity to enroll in virtual classes. Students will also be offered a rich selection of electives available on site and at various community organizations.
And the leadership team will be modeled after a college campus, with a dean of teaching and learning, a dean of discipline and a dean of student affairs and operations.
Meanwhile, Woods and Feinstein will become “full-service community schools,” offering all kinds of support for families and children. Case managers and social workers will be on site to help families obtain medical care and mental health services and the schools will also offer adult literacy classes and classes in healthy living.
A new effort to block bullying in R.I. schools
Posted Wednesday, October 27, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — For Jamie Dellorco, the bullying began in seventh grade. Her classmates called her “Del Dorko” and said she was the ugliest girl in class. After two boys tried to push her down the stairs, her mother sent her to a private school.
“I tried to be invisible,” says Dellorco, education coordinator of Kaleidoscope Theatre. “You start to believe what they say. You contemplate suicide.”
Dellorco says she was one of the lucky ones. Things did get better. But there are still moments when she looks in the mirror and “all I can see is the girl who wanted to be invisible.”
Dellorco spoke out at Tuesday’s anti-bullying summit, which drew more than 300 educators, police officers and students from nearly 30 school districts across Rhode Island. The daylong conference was held at the University of Rhode Island’s Providence campus.
The notion here is that there is strength in numbers, that the people closest to the problem — teachers and police officers — should be able to develop a realistic and comprehensive response to bullying.
First, the numbers: the federal government estimates that 180,000 students skip school every day because they are afraid. Two-thirds of adults convicted of a violent crime were either bullies or were bullied when they were young.
Randy Ross, an educator who helps craft anti-bullying policies in schools, says the recent rash of youth suicides has created a fresh momentum around prevention and education.
Although 45 states have anti-bullying statutes, Ross says that most of them, including Rhode Island’s, are inadequate, in part because they were written before the advent of cyber-bullying.
Both state law and school policy must grapple with the question of jurisdiction: With so much bullying on social networks such as Facebook, where does the school’s authority begin and end?
According to Ross, students who are targeted at school are also targeted online.
“The two can’t be separated,” she says.
Even school districts with concrete policies don’t do a good job of explaining them to teachers and students. In one small-group session, a teacher wasn’t aware that his school had an anti-bullying policy.
Under pressure to ratchet up student achievement, many schools, Ross says, have ignored the importance of school climate: that children can’t learn unless they feel safe.
That said, many districts in Rhode Island are taking innovative steps to make bullying unacceptable. Tiverton has created a peer helping network to explore the nature and extent of the problem. A series of lesson plans around bullying has been developed for student advisories this fall, and, in December, Tiverton High School will hold a schoolwide assembly on bullying.
Cranston has created a nationally recognized bullying prevention program in the elementary schools. Coventry is attacking bullying on several fronts, from creating “safe rooms” to installing “tip boxes” to allow students to report bullying without fear of retaliation.
Everyone agrees on one thing: schools have to change their culture if they want bullying to stop. That calls for leadership from both adults and students. It calls for parental involvement. It calls for a clear system of reporting allegations along with a coherent intervention plan.
The challenges, however, are daunting. Teachers and the police reported that bullying begins in middle school, where it may be worse than in high school. There is a pervasive culture of “no snitching” that makes it difficult for schools to identify the victims and the aggressors.
And sometimes the adults turn a blind eye because they think the behavior is “kids being kids,” or because they are overwhelmed by their academic responsibilities.
Schools even struggle with deciding what constitutes bullying, much less what the penalties should be.
The summit was sponsored by the attorney general’s office; Horizon Enterprises, which writes anti-bullying curriculum; Kaleidoscope Theatre, which presents plays on anti-bullying; the Partnership to Address Violence through Education; and Community Against Bullying in Schools, a nonprofit group.
Gist warns more change, conflict coming to RI schools
Posted Wednesday, October 20, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
WARWICK, R.I. -- The conflict over how to improve one of the state's lowest-performing schools, Central Falls High School, this year drew intense national attention to Rhode Island and the reform efforts of Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist.
But Gist warns that more battles are coming, and that Rhode Islanders need to brace themselves for hard decisions ahead to improve more of the state's struggling schools.
"We all have to do our part and hold steady as we move through this," Gist told an audience of about 450 teachers, education leaders, politicians and child advocates who attended a free screening of the education documentary "Waiting for Superman" Tuesday night at the Warwick Showcase Cinemas. "This is not easy.
"There will be times when we come into serious conflicts ... we've seen some this year and we will see more," she said. "We are not seeking them out, but changing a system is very, very difficult. We have to be ready for that and steel ourselves around that."
Gist's remarks came during a panel discussion following the film, which has sparked widespread national attention. It opens in Rhode Island on Friday.
The movie chronicles five children in California, New York and Washington, D.C., who are stuck in failing or inadequate schools and whose parents are desperately trying to get them into public charter schools they believe will better serve their children. But the charters have long wait lists and several families' hopes were dashed when their children were not selected in lotteries.
The documentary has received praise for exposing the injustice of failing schools that serve high numbers of minority and poor children whose families often have no other alternative, and for highlighting the critical role teachers play in propelling student achievement.
It has also been criticized for oversimplifying the complexities of public education, unfairly blaming teacher unions and holding charter schools up as the solution, even though nationally only one in five charters performs better than regular public schools.
Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of RI Kids Count, said the film served as a rallying cry for parents and organizations to fight harder for everyone's children.
"Access to an excellent education must not be based on a bingo ball coming out of a cage, or on the zip code in which you live," Bryant said.
The event was sponsored by RI-CAN or Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now, a new education advocacy organization. The Rhode Island chapter has received financing from the Walton Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation as well as private donations, said Maryellen Butke, RI-CAN's executive director. Previously Butke was a director at the MET School.
Butke said RI-CAN is a policy organization largely supportive of Gist's reforms and the plan for change laid out in the state's federal Race to the Top application which will bring $75 million for aggressive changes over the next four years
"Rhode Island is at a tipping point in terms of education reform," Butke said. "In 30 years in this state, I've never heard as many people talking about education. We have to stay on the cutting edge. We may disagree with one another, but we have to get under a bigger tent and build the political will to move these changes forward."
Hope High School students file appeal in Superior Court
Posted Friday, October 15, 2010
By Linda Borg
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The lawyer for several Hope High School students has filed a motion in Superior Court that would force the city to restore the teacher planning time cut by the school district this fall.
Miriam Weizenbaum, the students' lawyer, is asking the court to enforce the state education commissioner's decision. In September, education commissioner Deborah A. Gist ruled that the Providence School Department must restore 84 minutes of common planning time to the teachers' weekly schedule.
The lawyer for the city of Providence immediately appealed that decision with the state Department of Education, which is expected to schedule a hearing before the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.
According to Weizenbaum, the law states that plaintiffs must first exhaust their appeal before the agency, in this case, the Department of Education, before seeking redress in court. But there is an exception: If the plaintiffs can prove that further delays are hurting them.
"Every day that goes by," Weizenbaum said, "kids are being deprived of a remedy."
Weizenbaum says that Hope High School has been suffering, with increased rates of absenteeism and more discipline issues. At a recent meeting of the Providence School Board, a student said that there have been several fights at Hope this fall.
The debate over common planning time is part of a larger argument. Students say that the district, by doing away with Hope's four 90-minute classes, would undermine many of the reforms that have turned around the once-failing high school.
School Dept. submits deficit-reduction plan
Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010
By Philip Marcelo
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The School Department has submitted a plan to close a nearly $17-million deficit in the current fiscal year that includes at least $8.3 million in direct aid from the city and savings from the closing of two schools.
But absent in the plan are changes to union contracts sought by some City Council members.
School Department officials have said that about $6 million of this year’s deficit comes from cost increases related to union contracts negotiated in recent years. The council had requested that the department try and renegotiate the contracts.
School Finance Officer Matthew Clarkin, who presented the budget reconciliation plan to the City Council finance committee on Thursday, said that the district will not seek to reopen existing union contracts, though it will be negotiating with the teachers’ union on a new contract this year.
The approximately 1,900-member union’s contract expired over the summer but included a “holding year” in which the contract will remain unchanged while the district and union negotiate, he said.
Clarkin on Monday said that the largest chunk of the budget deficit will be covered with city aid, about $8.3 million of which will come in the form of a direct cash infusion. That brings the city’s annual contribution to the school district to about $128.7 million this year.
The district’s $313-million proposed budget for the current year accounts for nearly half of city spending this year.
Another $8 million will come from the city as a sort of write-off on its debt for school-construction projects (which the district usually pays the city back for each year) as well as services City Hall provides to the district, such as information technology support, said Clarkin.
The district will also realize about $3.3 million in savings from the controversial closure of Feinstein High and Perry Middle School, according to the proposal presented to the council. Another $1 million will come from leaving recently vacated staff positions open, bringing the total that the district hopes to save from attrition to about $8 million this year, Clarkin said.
City Councilman John J. Igliozzi, chairman of the council’s Finance Committee and one of the council members pushing for the administration to renegotiate some union contracts, was critical of the plan Monday.
He said Mayor David N. Cicilline’s administration had indicated earlier that it was weighing another $25-million loan proposal for the current fiscal year, which began July 1.
Igliozzi said he believes that potential loan, which would bring the city’s recent borrowing to cover operating expenses to close to $75 million, would go toward covering the School Department deficit, as well as other city expenses.
“The administration’s way of balancing budgets is to borrow its way out of the problem, while proposing no real cuts,” he said. Earlier this year, Cicilline, who is the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 1st District, proposed an approximately $50-million loan package using city fire stations, streetlights and vacant land as collateral, generating revenue he said was needed to cover deficits in the current and prior fiscal years.
That proposal was approved by the council in July.
Gist and teachers union work together on evaluations
Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010
By: Jennifer D. Jordan
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In a collaboration that would have been unimaginable six months ago, the state's education commissioner and the leader of its urban teachers union said they hope to have a rigorous single model for evaluating teachers ready for next year.
Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and Marcia Reback, outgoing president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, hugged after a press conference that discussed one of the thorniest issues in education -- one that has all teachers on edge.
The state Department of Education and the teachers union started separate efforts to develop educator evaluations required for all principals, teachers and school staff, starting in the fall of 2011.
Over the past several months, however, the two sides have been working together, hashing out how to both fairly and rigorously assess educator performance. The collaboration, which includes more than 100 teachers, principals and superintendents, along with staff from the state department, has been so successful both sides say they now hope to have a single model ready for next year.
Buoying the effort, the RIFT has received multiple grants -- including a $5 million federal innovation grant shared with the New York State's teachers' union -- to help create the evaluation system, money that will be used to hire testing experts and consultants that have created high-quality evaluations in other states.
The Rhode Island and New York evaluation proposal was the only union project to receive one of the competitive "i3 innovation" grants, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Tuesday, the Rhode Island Foundation announced it, too, would aid in the work with a $200,000 grant, making it one of the first grants the foundation has given to a teachers' union.
"I am surprised when I think about where we were and where we are now," Reback said after the announcement. "If you had ever said we'd be standing here, side by side, I would have told you that was an impossibility. I would have said my members would not have stood for it. ... but we've had a very healthy, cleansing process."
Hope High students critical of new class scheduling
Posted Tuesday, September 28, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School students said their fears have come true: Hope is no longer a school where students feel nurtured and teachers have the time they need to engage youth in rich instruction.
More than a dozen students, many of them familiar faces from last year’s protests, told the School Board that abolishing the so-called block schedule (four 90-minute periods) has resulted in more discipline problems, less time spent on meaningful instruction and a diminishment in the relationships between teacher and student.
No one was more eloquent than Angela Cruz, a senior who was involved in last semester’s battle to retain the school’s unique class schedule.
“Last year,” she said, “we came to all of your meetings and you did nothing. Last year, we filed a lawsuit and you did nothing. Last year, we had the moral right. This year, we have the legal right and you still do nothing. I hope you’re happy.”
Students demanded that the School Board abide by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s recent decision. Gist ruled that the School Department had violated the Board of Regents’ regulations governing the time dedicated to teacher planning. The 2008 regulations say that no school district shall reduce the amount of time spent on teacher planning, known as common planning.
Last year, Hope’s teachers had two 87-minute periods set aside to review student work, discuss the curriculum and coordinate their instruction. This semester, teachers at Hope have 90 minutes a week to plan together. The district said it had to change the schedule at Hope to bring it in line with the district’s other high schools. Supt. Tom Brady also said that it was too expensive to maintain a block schedule because it requires additional staff.
Although Gist made her decision nearly two weeks ago, the School Department immediately filed an appeal, which has effectively kept the six-period schedule — and the reduced common planning — in place.
Last night, students urged the School Board to do the right thing and obey the law.
“The curriculum is like a waterfall,” said Angela Chea, a junior. “It is rush, rush, rush. Teachers are not teaching what they are passionate about. My friends miss the old Hope High School they fell in love with.”
Cynthia Jackson said the new schedule was overwhelming because teachers are cramming too much information into 45 minutes, leaving little time to answer students’ questions. She also said that teachers are obsessed with prepping students for the state assessments because, in 2011, all seniors in Rhode Island will have to achieve partial mastery on those tests.
Another senior, Jose Velasquez, said the climate at Hope has become more fractious, adding that there have been several fights this semester. Kim Rose, a spokesman for the School Department, could not confirm or deny that information last night.
Hope students engaged in a series of protests last semester, culminating in a walk-out in which several hundred students marched on School Department headquarters and demanded a meeting with Brady and Mayor David N. Cicilline.
The students eventually retained a lawyer, who filed a petition with the state Department of Education claiming that the School Department had violated the regents’ rules.
Longtime R.I. teachers’ union leader Marcia Reback to retire
Posted Monday, September 27, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE Marcia B. Reback, the tenacious president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals and a top labor leader for four decades, announced Friday she will retire at the end of the year.
Reback, 65, said she will not run for a 10th two-year term when her 10,000-member union convenes in October. She was first elected to the statewide post in 1992, having served as the president of the Providence Teachers Union since 1973. She has also served the national American Federation of Teachers in a variety of roles, including as a vice president and a member of the executive committee.
Reback’s influence and toughness have been criticized by anti-union groups who say teachers’ unions hold too much power in Rhode Island. Reback withstood the criticism, maintaining a fighting spirit, even as she worked with some of her detractors.
As word of her resignation spread Friday, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and House Speaker Gordon Fox thanked her for her commitment and passion.
“That kind of longevity in this day and age is remarkable,” said Edward J. McElroy, former AFT president and Reback’s predecessor at the RIFT. “She represented people who were working hard every day, often in very trying circumstances, and she was their voice, and she was very proud to represent them.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten praised Reback for her “remarkable career of service” and her leadership on special education, literacy and early childhood education.
“I want to leave with a good track record,” Reback said. “This year was an extraordinary year and a really tough year, and the fact that we came out of it the way we did is to the credit of the federation.”
Reback’s union was thrust into the national spotlight in February when every teacher at Central Falls High School was terminated after school officials and the teachers’ union local, a RIFT affiliate, could not agree on a plan to improve the city’s struggling high school.
In May, a mediator hashed out a compromise. It saved all the teachers’ jobs, but also gave administrators unprecedented authority to make staffing, scheduling and curriculum changes.
“My goal was to get all the Central Falls teachers their jobs back,” Reback said, calling the May compromise one of the best days in her career.
Reback said she was also buoyed by the victories of many union-backed candidates in last week’s primaries.
But, Reback says, the job of union president has gotten much harder in recent years, and it’s time to hand the reins to a new leader. She says her likely successor is Frank Flynn, president of the Cranston Teachers’ Alliance, who has been rounding up votes in anticipation of the Oct. 23 convention.
“It’s a troubling time,” said Reback, who earns about $140,000 as union president. “The judiciary is ripping the guts out of the collective-bargaining process, either by giving management the right to change contracts however they please, or by making contracts unenforceable.”
In recent years, much of what Reback has fought for — better pay, good health insurance, generous pensions and job security — has been threatened by economic downturns and a shifting attitude toward public-sector employees and what taxpayers can afford.
“We’ve lost ground,” she said. “It makes me angry, because we are going to lose good people.”
Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. worked with Reback to resolve the city’s teacher strike in 1991, and Friday called Reback “a great union leader, the right person for the times.”
“You always knew where she was coming from, and her word was good all the time, and she would stay with you through thick and thin,” Cianci said. “I don’t agree with her all the time these days, but I do consider her a friend.… She has a heart and she’s forgiving. To me, she’s Mother Teresa with an attitude.”
Reback has also led several key educational and policy initiatives. She worked to establish a financing formula for schools, helped to draft the state’s first charter school law and advocated universal preschool for low-income students and more reading training for elementary school teachers.
“A lot of people would say there is a tough side to her, and that’s true,” said Larry Purtill, president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island. “But there is also an understanding and compassionate side and, at meetings, she talked a lot about the kids, not just her members.”
Under Reback’s leadership, the RIFT secured several grants — $200,000 from the national AFT and part of a $5-million federal “innovation fund” — to create a rigorous yearly evaluation system for educators. The statewide teachers’ union is collaborating with the state Department of Education on the project.
Although Reback and Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist have clashed on many of the key reforms Gist and the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education have promoted, they have also worked together on several initiatives. Reback endorsed the state’s $75-million Race to the Top application and urged her locals to do so — support that was instrumental in the state winning the federal funds.
“Thanks to Marcia’s foresight, nine of eleven RIFTHP local unions signed on in support … which certainly will help us to implement the grant across the state,” Gist said.
Gary Sasse, former executive director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, a business-backed group that monitors government spending, said he and Reback often disagreed about financial issues but said their relationship was based on mutual respect.
“She was a tireless advocate and she was always professional,” Sasse said. “I think she was a very effective spokeswoman for public education, and she did a lot to make people aware of the needs of children in schools.”
Almost from the start of her teaching career, Reback was involved in labor issues. A graduate of Providence’s Hope High School and the University of Rhode Island, she was hired as a sixth-grade teacher at Providence’s Veazie Street Elementary School in 1967. Just two years later, she joined the board of the city’s teachers’ union, moving up to president in 1973, a job she held for 19 years.
She enjoyed teaching sixth grade but says the highlight of her career has been being a union leader.
“It’s given me the opportunity to help thousands of people, teachers and students,” she said, “in a way I could never have done in a classroom.”Marcia Reback key dates
1967: Begins teaching sixth grade at Providence’s Veazie Street Elementary School, replacing a teacher on maternity leave.
1969: Joins board of Providence Teachers Union. Union goes on strike.
1972-1973: Earns master’s degree at University of Connecticut.
July 1973: Elected president of PTU; begins working part time in various Providence schools teaching reading, ESL and gifted programs.
September 1973: PTU goes on strike for nine days. Sick leave is the key issue.
September 1991: PTU goes on strike over controversial quota system for new teachers.
1992: Elected president of R.I. Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals.
End of 2010: Will retire as president of RIFT.
Mount Pleasant High School tries new approach to guidance
Posted Monday, September 20, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Like many large urban high schools, Mount Pleasant High School has suffered through its share of unsuccessful reforms, revolving-door administrators and dismal student performance.
This year, a team of administrators is trying to turn that climate of failure around.
Typically, students in a large comprehensive high school are grouped by their names and assigned to guidance counselors accordingly. What Mount Pleasant did this year was group students based on their grade level and assigned each cohort of students to a specific guidance counselor and an assistant principal.
“This is an attempt to get a large school to focus on making the environment more personal for students,” said Nkoli Onye, the district’s director of high schools. “This is about key adults really getting to know the students. It’s about parents knowing who the ninth-grade guidance counselor is. We hope to see a real change in academic achievement.”
It’s also about enabling guidance counselors and principals to develop expertise in specific areas. An assistant principal is now not only responsible for a grade level, but a subject area such as special education or English as a second language.
What’s interesting about this reform is that it came from within. The reorganization was the brainchild of acting Principal Oscar Paz and his team of assistant principals, working with the guidance department.
“We’re trying to get the kids to embrace Mount Pleasant,” said Lou Joseph, the ninth-grade guidance counselor. “We want them to know who to go with a question.”
The new organization recognizes what educators have known for a long time: that the needs of ninth graders differ greatly from the needs of 12th graders. To continue the relationships begun with students this year, each assistant principal and guidance counselor will stay with the same group of students until it graduates.
The focus this year is on ninth graders, who are not only making the often-trying transition from middle school to high school but are preparing for the new state-mandated graduation requirements. The high school has held a town meeting for ninth graders in which guidance staff outlined the new requirements that take effect for the Class of 2012. Town meetings have or will be held in the remaining grades by the end of the month.
Each grade also has an action plan for the year, something that has been implemented this year at all of the district’s high schools.
Like other Providence high schools, Mount Pleasant students will meet in weekly 40-minute advisories, where teachers and guidance counselors will explain what is expected of them at every stage of high school.
“We plan to meet with students in a purposeful way,” Onye said. “That hasn’t happened here in the past.”
Mount Pleasant is driving home the need for students to take the SATs earlier and more often. The big push is for juniors to take the SAT on the theory that the more often students take the test, the better they will do.
Mount Pleasant is also making sure that student athletes understand what courses are required to meet the college admission standards set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
And the high school has expanded its Advanced Placement offerings to include AP biology, calculus and environmental science; AP English will be added next year. Two years ago, there were no AP classes at Mount Pleasant, Onye said.
School year gets off to smart start
Posted Thursday, September 16, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — What a difference a year makes.
Last year, the first day of school was marred by a bitter dispute between the Providence Teachers Union and the school administration over a state-mandated hiring practice that effectively did away with seniority.
On the first day of school in 2009, the union complained that 103 teachers were waiting for permanent placements. (The administration said that 97 percent of the faculty had assignments). The war of words was part of a larger legal battle over a new form of hiring that abolished seniority in six pilot schools. The union filed suit, claiming that the district and the state Department of Education had no authority to eliminate seniority.
Fast-forward to September 2010. The teachers’ union and the administration have embarked on an unprecedented partnership to substantially reform four of the district’s worst-performing schools. Although the seniority lawsuit is still in the works, it has been overshadowed by the joint effort to create “turnaround” plans for each of the four schools.
When school opened on Sept. 1, there wasn’t a word of complaint from the PTU.
On Monday, Supt. Tom Brady hailed this year’s school opening as one of the smoothest in recent memory. The buses ran on time, numerous repairs to school buildings were made and the complaints from parents were minimal, he said.
According to Brady, there were only 14 vacancies on the first day of school, 44 fewer than last year. This year, the entire district adopted “criterion-based hiring,” which replaces seniority with an in-depth application and interview process.
More than 82 percent of the vacancies were filled by regular Providence public school teachers; 24 jobs were filled by applicants from Teach for America, Rhode Island Teaching Fellows or a program that trains teaching assistants to become teachers.
The district closed two popular schools this spring: Perry Middle School on Hartford Avenue and Feinstein High School on Elmwood Avenue.
•About 15 percent of Perry’s students went to DelSesto Middle School, about 13 percent went to Bridgham Middle School and the rest were dispersed among the city’s other middle schools. Forty-four of Perry’s 47 teachers were hired by another Providence public school. One teacher retired and another was assigned to the substitute teaching pool.
•Nearly 30 percent of Feinstein’s students went to Central High School and about 24 percent went to Alvarez High School. Twenty-three of the school’s 29 teachers were hired by another Providence public or district charter school; six were assigned to the substitute pool.
The district also upgraded its technology. It installed 569 desktop computers in various computer and media labs, twice as many computers as in 2009. The district installed faster Internet access at six schools and added another 5,000 high school students to the district’s e-mail network.
The district also accomplished a number of building repairs, including renovating the language lab at Classical High School, cleaning and inspecting all boilers, creating new and temporary classroom spaces at the high schools and lead abatement at Carl Lauro Elementary School. In addition, science labs will be renovated at Classical, Hope High School and Mount Pleasant High School this year.
Gist rules in students’ favor: planning time at Hope High to stay
Posted Wednesday, September 15, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hundreds of Hope High School students protested. They marched. They walked out of school. And Tuesday, they prevailed.
State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist ruled that the Providence School Department must maintain the original amount of time dedicated to teacher planning at Hope by restoring 84 minutes of “common planning time.”
“After some hard disappointments, after not being listened to, it’s really important that they experienced success,” said the students’ lawyer, Miriam Weizenbaum. “They wanted to make a difference. They are committed to their education and they used the process really well.”
“This shows you can be from an urban school and do something big,” said Jose Velasquez, a Hope senior and one of the organizers of the protest. “I’m really proud of Hope High School students. It taught me that change comes with numbers and that you need to be involved. It’s been an unforgettable experience.”
The School Department says it will appeal the commissioner’s ruling and has no further comment.
In their petition to the state Department of Education, several Hope students and their parents argued that the district violated a regulation adopted in 2008 by the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.
Gist agreed. The Board of Regents’ regulation says that school districts “shall not reduce the number of sessions or the amount of time allotted to common planning time [as] currently practiced.” In its brief, the School Board acknowledged that common planning time at Hope would be reduced this fall from 87 minutes twice a week to one 90-minute period.
The debate over common planning time is part of a larger argument, however. Students said that the district, by doing away with Hope’s four 90-minute classes, would dismantle many of the reforms that had turned the failing high school around. Students say that the block schedule allowed them to spend more time on each subject, to have longer class advisories and to engage in numerous artistic pursuits, including the school’s vaunted theater program.
The district, however, argued that Hope had to be brought in line with the other high schools, all of which have adopted a six-period day. Supt. Tom Brady also said that Hope’s block schedule was too expensive, and that it wasn’t suited to the district’s new math and science curriculum.
Exactly how the decision will affect Hope’s schedule remains to be seen. Classes began Sept.1. It would take an enormous effort to not only redo the school’s schedule, but to hire the additional staff needed to support a block schedule.
Charter schools in R.I. face higher standards
Posted Monday, September 13, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Big changes are coming to Rhode Island’s charter schools.
First, there are going to be more of them.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist says she plans to invite high-quality charter operators to the state, which recently received a multimillion-dollar federal grant to expand and improve charter schools. Changes last spring to state law lifted a cap on the number of charter schools, paving the way for growth of these alternative public schools.
Second, tougher expectations are being developed by the state Department of Education that insist charter schools be “models of excellent public schools,” in Gist’s words.
Put simply, charter schools will be held to a higher standard than traditional public schools. Charter schools that fail to show impressive student achievement as measured by standardized test scores are at risk of being closed.
Gist and the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education are in charge of authorizing charter schools, overseeing their performance and deciding whether to close schools or to reauthorize them for five-year periods.
“Even though our state has had charter schools for a long time, the Department of Education has not provided the quality kind of authorizing we are responsible for, and that includes support for these schools,” Gist said. “We are making much more sense out of the whole process and offering new charter schools orientations and information about what we expect from them.”
On Monday night, the public can learn about the more rigorous expectations when state education officials and charter school leaders discuss the new process, the result of more than two months of collaboration. The 6 p.m. forum will be held at the International Charter School, 334 Pleasant St., Pawtucket.
The changes will also be reviewed by the Regents before going out for a series of public hearings this fall.
The collaboration has helped to mend a rift between Gist and charter-school supporters that began in May, when Gist said she was considering closing the popular Highlander Charter School if the school’s elementary test scores did not increase significantly within a few months.
Her harsh assessment of Highlander was criticized by charter-school supporters, who said it was unfair of Gist to change the rules mid-stream and hold charter schools to higher standards without clearly outlining them and giving schools a reasonable time in which to attain them.
After passionate public outcry, bolstered by evidence that Highlander had among the highest proficiency rates for middle-school students in Providence, the Regents decided to grant the school a two-year extension. The extension gave charter schools and education officials a chance to work together and clarify the student-achievement targets that charters will now be expected to meet.
“It’s been a very positive process,” said Julie Nora, head of the International Charter School and president of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools. “It’s been hard, and we still have to work out some things, but after what happened with Highlander, I really applaud RIDE (the Rhode Island Department of Education) for assembling the group. We did accomplish a great deal.”
Still, some charter-school leaders are concerned that the goals set by officials may be overly ambitious. In the draft documents, charters will be expected to meet — or prove they are well on their way to meeting — the aggressive proficiency goals in reading, math and science by 2012 as laid out in the state’s strategic plan. These goals require jumps of 15, 20, even 30 percentage points above current proficiency rates on state standardized tests.
“I think it will be a challenge for all schools and not just charters to meet those new metrics,” said Rose Mary Grant, Highlander’s director. “And there are a lot of questions. One is, will we have enough time to meet them? If we have enough time, I am not concerned.”
Since the first public charter school opened in Rhode Island in 1998, with a promise to be a laboratory for new approaches and offer school choice to families, much has changed.
As of this fall, the state has 15 charter schools serving more than 3,200 students. An additional 3,000 students are on waiting lists.
Gist has made it clear that she doesn’t think it’s enough that charter schools experiment, reach out to families and create nurturing environments for students. If student achievement is not significantly improving every year, if students are not performing better than students in their home districts, Gist does not think the charter school should remain open.
“Charter schools have more autonomy than traditional public schools and can take a concept and put it into place right away,” Gist said. “One idea around chartering is innovation, because as a sector, education has not been as innovative as we could be. We have big bureaucracies that are not set up to be flexible.”
But with that autonomy, says Gist, comes an expectation that there be results.
“The reality is some schools will not work out. That’s to be expected,” she said. “Any time you try new things, sometimes it doesn’t work. But the expectations are that charters are providing a quality education for the children they serve, while also being a model for other schools.”
Federal cash arrives, use uncertain
Posted Friday, September 10, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
As promised, $32.9 million to protect teacher jobs has been awarded to Rhode Island, making the state one of the first to receive federal “education jobs” money. But state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist is warning districts not to be too hasty in spending it.
It is unclear whether the money will protect teaching jobs, as intended, or if lawmakers will decide to use the money to make up a shortfall in the state budget.
Districts would have two years to spend the money, which can be used to preserve several kinds of education jobs, including classroom teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, principals and bus drivers, and to extend the school day or school year.
But the money may not benefit schools.
“The commissioner has cautioned superintendents to be mindful of potential aid cutbacks this year and next, so that may affect spending decisions,” said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the state Department of Education.
In a memo to superintendents, Gist said she would “continue to advocate for the use of these funds for their intended purpose,” a stance that puts her at odds with her boss, Governor Carcieri, who has said he would use the money to plug a budget hole of similar size.
Gist says schools badly need this federal infusion and will be in even more dire need next year when the federal stimulus money is scheduled to dry up. For the past three years, Rhode Island has relied on stimulus money to supplant a portion of state aid to education. When that money disappears next year, schools could face what education officials call “a dramatic financing cliff.”
The state Education Department estimates that Providence is in line to receive $8.7 million from the education jobs bill; Pawtucket would receive $2.9 million; Central Falls would receive about $2 million; and Cranston and Warwick would receive about $1.5 million each. Smaller districts and state-operated schools would also benefit. Burrillville and the MET School, for example, would receive nearly $600,000 each, while wealthy districts such as East Greenwich would receive less, about $60,000.
The money comes from a bill passed by Congress in August designed to help states struggling with huge Medicaid expenses and severe education cuts.
Rhode Island is slated to receive more than $100 million in these federal funds. The state will receive about $33 million in education aid to protect teaching jobs; about $70 million will go to Medicaid reimbursements.
But Carcieri and state lawmakers were counting on $107 million for Medicaid alone and built the state budget on that assumption. When leaders learned they would be receiving far less for Medicaid, Carcieri said he wanted to dedicate the entire $103 million in these new federal funds to that purpose.
It quickly became clear, however, that he doesn’t have the authority to shift the funds; legislators would have to agree to $33 million in cuts to state education aid and divert that state money to Medicaid. Carcieri likely won’t be in office when these decisions are made; his term expires in January.
Gist, education advocates and some politicians criticized the plan, saying even if the shift were permitted by federal officials, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan intended for the money to benefit schools.
However, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed and House Speaker Gordon D. Fox declined to commit the funds to education when the issue came to light last week, saying instead they wanted to study the matter further when the General Assembly resumes its work in 2011.
Diversion of education funds up to Assembly
Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Governor Carcieri’s plan to use $32.9 million in federal education dollars to plug a $38-million budget deficit isn’t his decision to make.
The General Assembly must approve the rerouting of the money, Carcieri’s spokeswoman acknowledged Wednesday, and the two top legislative leaders were noncommittal about what lawmakers intend to do.
“I recognize the governor’s concerns,” said House Speaker Gordon D. Fox in a statement. “Any decision on the use of these funds is premature, pending further discussions I will be having with the governor, the Senate leadership and my fellow House members.”
A statement from Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed echoed Fox’s comments.
Fox also said he does not intend to call House legislators back to the State House to vote on the matter this fall, indicating that a new governor and some new state lawmakers will hash this out in 2011. Carcieri’s term expires in January and he cannot run for reelection. The state’s budget for 2010-’11 relied on about $107 million from the federal government for Medicaid reimbursements but, in the end, the state will receive $70 million for Medicaid and nearly $33 million dedicated to schools.
Carcieri says he wants the entire $103 million to flow to Medicaid, a stance that has drawn the ire of school advocates. They point out that Carcieri and the General Assembly cut state education aid to schools by $29 million this year, and that President Obama earmarked the federal money specifically for education jobs.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist took the unusual step of criticizing the governor’s proposal, saying Tuesday she “strongly advocated” for the $32.9 million to be sent to schools.
Carcieri’s plan to divert the federal education jobs money also drew disapproval from a host of Rhode Island politicians, including U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who urged Rhode Island leaders to use the money to “preserve teachers’ jobs, enable the hiring of new teachers and reduce class sizes.”
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, who is running for Congress, said he was disappointed the governor wanted to divert the money. State Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, who is running for governor, asked Carcieri to reconsider.
“We need innovative solutions to fix our public education system and structural reforms to balance the state’s budget,” Caprio said. “The decision to bail out a broken budget by using federal funds awarded to help our struggling schools could not be more irresponsible.”
But Carcieri stuck to his guns, even when it came to light Wednesday afternoon that the state has a $17.7-million surplus from last year that could, potentially, reduce this year’s deficit.
“Yes, there is an approximately $18-million surplus from last year, but the governor does not think that should be used to offset the Medicaid [reimbursements],” said Amy Kempe, Carcieri’s spokeswoman. “We have to stick to the enacted 2011 budget and carry that surplus forward.”
Kempe said the state is projecting a far bigger deficit in fiscal year 2012 –– about $320 million — and will need any surplus money the state can find.
“He wants to leave the state in the best position possible at the end of his term,” she said.
Steven M. Costantino, House Finance Committee chairman and a candidate for Providence mayor, said he wants the education money to go to “its intended purpose” to prevent layoffs.
He also questioned why the governor is discussing how the money should be used when the state’s financial outlook is in flux, as illustrated by Wednesday’s announcement of the surplus.
“The timing of this is a little bit off,” Costantino said. “If there is a surplus, it will be the decision of the legislature how that money should be used.”
R.I. to plug state budget hole with federal money meant to save teacher jobs
Posted Wednesday, September 1, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– A new law aimed at saving millions of teaching jobs and protecting school programs across the country may not accomplish either goal here in Rhode Island.
Instead, Governor Carcieri intends to use the $32.9 million Rhode Island is eligible to receive to plug an estimated $38-million deficit in this year’s budget.
His plan drew a strong protest from Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, Congressman James R. Langevin and representatives of teachers unions and the state’s school committees.
Gist said she is “very concerned that federal aid that’s intended for education is being used to fill a statewide deficit.” She said she has “strongly advocated” that the money be used “for its intended purpose.”
School districts across the state were hoping that more than 400 teaching jobs would be restored or protected after Congress passed the bill in August. Nationwide, the law allocates $10 billion for schools and $16.1 billion to prevent Medicaid cuts.
Rhode Island is eligible to receive more than $100 million, $32.9 million intended for education jobs and about $70 million for Medicaid reimbursements.
But that’s about $38 million less for Medicaid than the state was counting on when it passed the 2010-’11 budget, said Carcieri’s spokeswoman, Amy Kempe.
“The General Assembly passed a budget with a $107-million hole with the expectation that we would receive that much specifically for Medicaid,” Kempe said. “Instead, Congress … split that allocation between Medicaid and education, but it also allows the states some flexibility to use the education funding to fill that hole.”
States have until Sept. 9 to apply for the federal funds. Gist said Tuesday her office had sent in the required paperwork on Monday.
“While I’m sure it may be technically allowable and that the governor’s office is doing the appropriate thing, I don’t think we are acknowledging the intention of President Obama, [U.S. Education Secretary Arne] Duncan or Congress had for these funds,” Gist said.
Gist said she is especially concerned because the state is facing an even worse budget gap in fiscal year 2012 and the education jobs money could be spent during that year as well. According to the state Budget Office, the overall deficit could be as large as $320 million next year.
The executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island also criticized the governor’s plan, particularly after Carcieri and the General Assembly reduced state education aid to schools by 3.6 percent this year, a $29-million cut.
“The intended purpose of this money is to bring back teachers who have been laid off or to prevent layoffs, and replace school programs,” said Robert A. Walsh Jr. “This money would have allowed the important work of public education to go on in this state.”
Several districts have eliminated after-school and gifted-and-talented programs, increased class sizes and even closed schools because of the fiscal crisis.
Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers which represents the state’s urban districts and a handful of suburban ones, said that about 81 RIFT teachers remain laid off, and even more teaching assistants have lost their jobs.
“I also have a lot of positions not filled because of retirements and retrenchment,” Reback said in an e-mail. “There are many fewer teachers staffing the schools.”
“I voted for this bill to help keep Rhode Island teachers on the job,” Langevin said in a statement. “Properly supporting our state’s education system is the best way to reverse our current economic situation over the long term.”
Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, said that while school leaders understand the need for painful cuts during the recession, he takes issue with Carcieri’s analysis of school spending in the state. “What’s a little upsetting is the governor’s rhetoric that schools have been made whole now,” Duffy said. “That’s not the case. I resent playing a financial shell game by implying we’ve received level funding when in fact we have been cut by $29 million.”
To receive the money, states must show federal officials they are continuing to support education in the same proportion of overall spending, and will not use these federal monies to build up a “rainy day fund” or to pay off debt.
Although the state has cut education aid, other department budgets have also been reduced, so it is likely the state will be able to fulfill this requirement.
To meet federal regulations, the new money will be passed along to local schools but Rhode Island will reduce the amount of state education aid to local districts by $32.9 million (less a $673,000 administrative fee) and the state money will go to fill in the budget deficit.
In all, the state is giving $686 million in education aid to 52 school districts, state-operated and charter schools for the current school year.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that using the federal money to supplant state funding is not expressly prohibited, although they cautioned they will carefully review each state’s application to ensure it follows the guidelines.
Roger Williams’ new principal plans to have impact
Posted Monday, August 30, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
This fall, four schools in Providence will begin to transform the way they do business. According to state education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, they are among the six lowest-performing schools in the state and each school must develop a plan to ultimately boost student achievement. The Journal will profile each of the four so-called turnaround principals.
PROVIDENCE — Brearn Wright Jr., the new leader of Roger Williams Middle School, not only looks like many of his students but his life story echoes the challenges that they face as children of poverty.
Wright, one of four principals asked to transform some of the city’s worst-performing schools, grew up in Memphis, the son of a divorced mother who worked two jobs to take care of her children. Although she only had a high school diploma, college attendance was never in doubt for her son and daughter.
“You’re going to college,” she told them.
Wright, whose soft-spoken demeanor belies his passion for public education, was blessed with several childhood mentors — four uncles, each of whom taught him an important lesson about being a man. Perhaps the most influential was uncle Bobby Dixon, a professor at Kent State University who exposed him to the intellectual vigor of a college campus.
During a visit to his classroom, Wright asked, “You get paid to do this?”
That was the moment he decided to teach.
Wright’s first job was teaching high school in Elizabeth, N.J., where he learned that you can’t teach math or English without winning students’ trust.
“You have to establish relationships first,” he says. “They want to see unconditional love. And they want to know that you’re going to stick around for a while.”
Wright is not someone who likes to gets too comfortable. After a short stint in Montgomery, Md., he took a job in the deeply troubled Washington, D.C., school district, where Michelle Rhee arrived a year later and promptly began closing schools and firing principals.
When he moved to Washington, D.C., Wright also decided to jump from the classroom to the front office.
“As a teacher, I had an impact on 150 to 200 kids,” Wright says. “As a principal, you can have an impact on 400 to 800 kids.”
After spending a year in a leadership training program, Wright was assigned to Clark Elementary School, where he immediately began reaching out to community groups like City Year and Greater Washington D.C. Cares that could bring much-needed resources to the struggling school.
At the time, Washington, D.C., had a thriving afterschool arts program that was only available to affluent students. Wright was determined to change that situation. After dining with one of the program’s leaders, Wright persuaded him to offer the arts program to the students on his side of town.
Wright is a team player but he’s not afraid to buck the system if he thinks it’s the right thing to do. When Rhee decided to close Clark, Wright tried to convert it to a charter school. In two days, 80 percent of the school’s parents signed on but “we couldn’t get two votes from the staff.” Wright, however, says he understands why veteran teachers felt threatened and doesn’t hold it against them.
Despite losing the battle, Wright closed Clark on an upbeat note, holding a celebration to showcase student work.
“This isn’t a negative thing,” Wright told his staff. “We’re going to survive.”
Next, Wright was hired to run a K-8 middle school that included many of his former students and teachers from Clark. The first thing he did was invite the staff to a summer leadership retreat at a lake house. There, Wright told them, “We’re going to iron out our vision and our mission for the school. We argued about whether we should include college in our vision.”
Last year, Wright decided it was time to settle down and so he began looking for a more affordable city. Connecticut was his first choice because his girlfriend’s family lives there.
Then, Wright went for a job interview with Supt. Tom Brady and fell in love with Providence. He says he was also drawn to Brady’s collaborative approach to school reform, which involves working hand-in-hand with the teachers’ union.
“In Providence,” Wright says, “I come with an advantage: I don’t know any better so I can ask stupid questions.”
Wright doesn’t want to arrive in the district and impose his theory of change on Roger Williams. He prefers a much more collaborative approach to making schools better. Wright invited every member of the staff, from teachers to custodians, to meet with him and he asked each one to name three things that make Roger Williams a good school and a couple of things that would maker it better.
A plan, he says, is only as good as the people who make it happen: “It’s about what can I do differently as a teacher, a parent and a student.”
After listening to his staff and the School Improvement Team, Wright says that certain themes have emerged: that students need a longer day that might include a Saturday academy or a summer institute; that parents need to be empowered to advocate for their children; and that teachers need to work together, across grades and disciplines, to get students up to standard.
“When you have kids who are two, three, even four grade levels behind,” he says, “you can’t do it by yourself. You can’t assign blame. You have to take ownership.” Brearn Wright Jr.
Principal: Roger Williams Middle School.
Age: 37
Education: Bachelor’s degree in history from Lake Forest College. Master’s degree in education from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Master’s in science from Trinity University.
Quote: “If you think you can do it by yourself, you’re mistaken. You can’t assign blame. You have to take ownership. I don’t have all the answers.”
Rhode Island schools win $75 million in federal Race to the Top grants
Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– After nearly a year of intense effort, Rhode Island has won $75 million in the federal Race to the Top competition, a grant program designed to reward states that embrace dramatic education reforms.
Rhode Island ranked 5th out of the 10 applicants to win financing in the second round of the $4-billion competition.
State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, her staff at the state Department of Education and the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education spearheaded the effort, collaborating closely with lawmakers, educators and organizations to develop the state’s application.
Gist says the federal money makes possible an aggressive array of changes that are essential to transforming the state’s lagging public school system, which serves about 145,000 students. In particular, the grant will pay for specialized training for teachers and principals, to help them improve student performance and their own teaching and leadership.
“We’ve said all along we’ll make these changes in any case,” Gist said, “but receiving this money will give us the opportunity to engage more educators across the state and give them the support, tools and resources they need.
“We have a tremendous sense of momentum in our state around the improvement of our schools,” Gist said, “and this is just one more resource we have to support dramatic change. … Rhode Island is ready for change.”
About half the federal money will flow directly to districts, charter schools and state-run schools, while half will go toward statewide initiatives to improve schools. Only two districts, Little Compton and Chariho, declined to participate.
However, Gist cautioned that none of the grant money can help financially distressed school districts.
“We know there is a fiscal crisis,” Gist said. “This money will not help us resolve that … but it will help us turn our education system around and invest in more efficient ways, giving Rhode Islanders a better return on our investment.”
The federal funds will also be used to develop a new educator-evaluation system and a more sophisticated data system; create a stronger support system for new teachers; hire consultants, specialists and support staff; and develop models of teacher compensation based on teacher effectiveness, among other initiatives.
SHORTLY AFTER THE announcement Tuesday morning, Gist joined Carcieri, Rep. James R. Langevin and other key lawmakers at the State House for a news conference that underscored the political nature of the competition.
“As they say: How sweet it is,” Carcieri said as more than 100 supporters applauded and gave Gist a standing ovation. “This is an historic day for education in Rhode Island.”
Winning was particularly sweet after Rhode Island lost round one in March, when just two states, Delaware and Tennessee, were selected.
In the end, Gist said the state’s second application was “far stronger,” in no small measure because of the support of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.
RIFT President Marcia Reback and Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith were two of the first people Gist thanked.
“I think it’s great … whenever we come out on top of a list,” Reback said later. “The application really benefited from the input that the greater community, including teachers unions, were able to add.”
Carcieri said the award is the culmination of years of profound changes, including making academic standards more rigorous, joining with other New England states to develop a better testing system, and intervening in the state’s worst-performing schools.
With Gist’s arrival in July 2009, the pace of change has accelerated.
“We are being recognized nationally for the efforts we are making,” Carcieri said. “At the end of the day, we are here for our youngsters.”
Unusual for a State House event, several high school students attended the news conference. Young people were included in the state’s application process and several student groups have been paying close attention to the proposed reforms.
A few expressed concerns about the competition, which has come under fire from some civil-rights organizations that criticize the fact that millions of low-income and minority students will be left out simply because their states did not win.
“I’m on the fence about whether it will be good for education,” said Pith Sim, 17, a recent graduate of Providence’s Classical High School and a member of the Youth for Change Alliance. Sim starts at the University of Rhode Island this fall. “I like the fact more money is coming in, but I am hesitant about some of the reforms, like expanding charter schools,” he said.
The National Education Association of Rhode Island has expressed similar concerns, and declined to endorse the state’s application.
“It’s kind of a mixed thing. We don’t want to rain on the parade of the state getting the $75 million, and Rhode Island can certainly use the money,” said Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of NEARI. “But our original concerns have not changed … we have disagreements about the use of standardized test scores in teacher evaluations, the over-emphasis on charter schools and the merit-pay issue.”
IN A TELEPHONE conference with reporters, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised the winning states for “demonstrating courage, capacity and commitment to embrace practices that benefit children,” and for changing state laws and regulations.
Since failing to win the first round in March, Rhode Island made several significant changes including passing a new school-financing formula, lifting a cap that limited the growth of charter schools and joining 34 states to adopt common core standards.
Duncan singled out Rhode Island’s initiatives designed to improve teacher quality.
“Rhode Island did a couple of things that the peer reviewers were very impressed with, including linking teacher preparation and evaluation and support,” Duncan said. “They also liked how the state plans to strengthen the pipeline of future teachers and how to incorporate student growth in terms of the teacher-certification process.”
The winners are, in order of ranking: Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, Florida, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio.
To find out more and see state’s applications, visit: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/08/race-to-the-top-winners/
KEY POINTSHow R.I. will spend $75 million
Training for teachers on new world-class standards
Training for educators in the use of data to improve instruction
Development of a rigorous yearly
educator-evaluation system linked to student growth
Support for a new system to track education data over multiple years
Information for teachers and families on student growth and achievement
Creating new models of teacher compensation linked to teacher effectiveness
Development of a stronger induction and support program for new teachers and principals
Partnerships with professional organizations that have proven records of successKey players
While state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and her staff at the Department of Education led the effort to win $75 million in federal education funds, they collaborated closely with dozens of leaders and groups, including:
Governor Carcieri
House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed and several legislators
The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, including 9 of the 11 RIFT union locals
Two National Education Association of Rhode Island union locals, Foster and Glocester
Mayors David Cicilline and Daniel McKee
Young Voices
The Rhode Island Foundation
The Rhode Island League of Charter Schools
Teach for America
Rhode Island Kids Count
Rhode Island Association of School Committees, Rhode Island School Superintendents Association and Rhode Island Association of School Principals
Reback, Walsh not opposed to statewide school district in Rhode Island
Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
SMITHFIELD — The leaders of the state’s two teachers’ unions said that they would not be opposed to consolidating Rhode Island’s 36 school districts into one big district.
Although they cautioned that they were speaking as private citizens, Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, and Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of the National Education Association, Rhode Island, offered the most radical suggestions about how to fix public education. The two made their remarks at a morning-long forum in Smithfield sponsored by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council.
Reback said a statewide school district might be the only way to level the playing field between rich and poor students in Rhode Island, where the vast majority of poor, urban students attend schools that are largely isolated from their white middle-class peers.
“Desegregation works,” Reback told 200 educators, community leaders and public officials gathered Tuesday at Fidelity Investments. “We need to create opportunities for students of color and those with limited English language skills to go to school with kids who aren’t like them.”
What, she asked, would close the gaps between poor children and privileged ones? Combining the Central Falls and the Cumberland school districts. Joining Lincoln and Pawtucket.
This, she said, is what Rhode Island needs: all-day kindergarten in every city and town, high-quality preschool for children and fresh opportunities to offer vocational education to students who aren’t college-bound.
Although her union is working with several districts to develop a more demanding teacher evaluation, Reback said that using student test scores to evaluate a teacher’s performance is unreliable, unfair and plain wrong.
“[Education] Commissioner [Deborah] Gist said it earlier,” Reback said. “You know good teaching when you see it. You can’t test it.”
RIPEC, a nonpartisan, business-backed public policy research group, asked five panelists, including Gist, Reback and Walsh, to opine on the future of education in Rhode Island. Colleen Jermain, president of the Rhode Island Association of Superintendents, and Timothy C. Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, also sat on the panel.
Walsh said the biggest unknown is who decides the future of public schools in Rhode Island: Is it the governor, the General Assembly, the unions or the federal government, which has been playing a much larger role since the passage of No Child Left Behind?
According to Walsh, regionalization makes sense only if it provides more choices to students. A statewide school district makes sense if someone can figure out where every student will live in 10 years and organize schools around those demographic shifts.
Walsh also said that he was tired of seeing teachers vilified for issues beyond their control.
“We need to look at what’s going on outside the classroom,” Wash said, adding that a dentist doesn’t get blamed for the number of cavities a child has. Teachers should be treated the same way.
Duffy tossed cold water on the “glass apple” optimism of Walsh, warning that Rhode Island is about to fall off a financial cliff once the federal stimulus monies dry up. The 2012 gap between revenues and expenditures is estimated at $419 million, he said.
And he stressed that the windfall provided by the successful Race to the Top application cannot be used to supplant state aid to education. That award, which will usher in $75 million, must be used to pay for new initiatives such as common standards and a teacher-evaluation system.
R.I. opens doors to Teach for America
Posted Tuesday, August 24, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Earl Edwards defies the stereotype of fledgling educators in the nationally renowned Teach for America program: He is not a child of privilege, nor did he attend an Ivy League school.
Edwards, who will be teaching at Alvarez High School in Providence this year as one of the first Teach for America recruits to land in Rhode Island, grew up in a working-poor black family in Brockton, Mass., a city beset with crime, poverty and a crumbling industrial base. A recent graduate of Boston College, Edwards gravitated toward Teach for America, a widely popular career choice for seniors at some of the nation’s most elite colleges, because of his own Cinderella childhood.
When he was a high school sophomore, Edwards was accepted into a program that sends low-income students to high-achieving high schools in the suburbs. He wound up more than 100 miles from his home at Mount Greylock High School in rural Williamstown, Mass, an experience that rocked his academic world.
“No student should have to leave their community to get a great education,” he says. “That’s why I joined Teach for America.”
For the first time, 34 recruits are coming to Rhode Island and at least 20 of those teachers will be hired to work in Providence’s public schools. The rest will teach at Democracy Prep in Cumberland, a regional charter school that draws students from Central Falls, Pawtucket, Cumberland and Lincoln.
Founded in 1990 by Wendy Kopp, who developed the idea for her senior thesis at Princeton University, Teach for America recruits college graduates and professionals to teach for a minimum of two years in low-income and rural school districts throughout the United States.
It offers young adults an alternative path to teacher certification through a demanding five-week summer training program, plus ongoing training seminars and regular evaluations.
The organization’s mission is to close the achievement gaps between privileged and low-income students. Although Teach for America recognizes that many of its recruits will leave the classroom after two years, the hope is that they remain committed to pursuing educational quality in their subsequent professions, whether it’s banking or public relations.
“We have more than 20,000 alumni,” says Heather Tow-Yick, executive director of Teach for America Rhode Island. “About 60 percent are still involved in schools or districts as teachers, principals or in district-level roles.”
The enormous popularity of Teach for America — 46,000 applications for only 4,500 openings this year — reflects the organization’s appeal to young men and women who are looking to make a difference in the same way that many of their parents did in the Peace Corps 30 years ago.
Teach for America recruits are hired by the school district, included in the union and paid the same as first-step teachers. While the majority of teachers are recent college graduates, some corps members are older. They don’t have to live together but some choose to do so.
Carina Sitkus, a graduate of Rutgers University, grew up in West Greenwich and says she has always wanted to come home and “give something back.”
“Teaching,” she says, “is one of those careers where you can make an actual impact.”
Kate Bubrick, a recent Cornell University graduate from Orlando, Fla., is a typical Teach for America recruit. Her mother and sister are both teachers, and, as a psychology major, she took a number of classes that touched on educational issues.
“Teach for America was a very prominent recruiting organization on campus,” Bubrick says. “I looked into it because so many of my friends have tried it and really enjoyed it. Plus, I wanted to get into the classroom sooner rather than later.”
Bubrick embodies many of the qualities and experiences that Teach for America is looking for. She is passionate, organized, energetic and brimming with confidence. In college, she spent a year teaching in South Africa, a life-changing experience.
Teach for America throws its recruits right into the classroom, where they teach in teams under the tutelage of the district teacher and a TFA coach. The day begins early and wraps up late because corps members receive training in classroom management and lesson planning after they have finished teaching in summer school.
All three recruits interviewed by The Journal say they feel well-prepared to enter the classroom this fall. The program offers newcomers a tremendous amount of guidance, from a point-based system to reward positive classroom behavior to regular debriefings.
Still, teaching is as much an art as a science and there are certain things you can only master in the classroom.
“My students were my toughest critics,” says Earl Edwards of his summer training in Philadelphia. “At first, they said I was talking too fast. Then, when I slowed down, they said, ‘Mr. Edwards, you told us that three times already.’ ”
The biggest challenge, he says, was cracking down on the students who were loafing. One young man kept falling asleep in his class. When Edwards asked him about it, the student told him that his girlfriend had just had a baby and he wasn’t getting much sleep at home. Edwards helped him figure out how to get more rest.
“The next day, his head was up,” Edwards says. “Later, he said he was glad I said something.” No one doubts Teach for America’s mission but some question the efficacy of sending recent college graduates into some of the most challenging urban classrooms in the country.
To the program’s critics, state education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist says, “They aren’t prepared in just five weeks. Teach for America includes significant support for educators” after they enter the profession.
“Based on what we know about induction practices for new teachers, TFA is one of the most effective ways to support teachers in the classroom.”
During their first year, teachers meet in weekly or monthly seminars run by seasoned teachers, are evaluated at least twice a year and receive regular coaching from the regional TFA program director. In addition, the school principal observes their classrooms and provides regular feedback.
Before they enter the classroom, Teach for America members must pass both the basic skills and the content-area exams required of all new teachers. They must take an additional test mid-year before receiving their certification the following summer. Certification also includes the evaluations that the corps members receive from their principals.
How do we know that these teachers are effective?
Three recent studies, including one by the conservative think tank, Mathematica Policy Research, say that corps members have had a positive impact on their classrooms. In an annual survey of principals who manage TFA teachers, nearly two out of three principals rated corps members’ training as better than that of other beginning teachers.
Edwards, who majored in sociology and history, isn’t sure whether he will remain in the classroom. But there is one thing he does know: Teach for America has shaken up his dreams.
“Once you join Teach for America,” he says, “your aspirations are changed. Even if I leave, I will still be thinking about students.”
State waits for verdict on education funds
Posted Tuesday, August 24, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island finds out Tuesday whether it will receive up to $75 million for aggressive education reforms, and state officials have their fingers crossed the news will be good.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is scheduled to announce the winners of the $4.35-billion federal Race to the Top competition. The competition rewards states that embrace changes such as expanding charter schools, tying yearly teacher evaluations to student test scores and making academic standards more rigorous.
Rhode Island is one of 19 finalists out of 36 applicants in the competition’s second round. Greater teacher union support strengthened the state’s second application.
Winning is a priority of state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist. The money would help the state roll out many changes she says are needed to improve struggling school systems. These include improving data systems that track student and teacher performance, offering specialized training for teachers and principals, intervening in the worst-performing schools and raising standards for entering the teaching profession.
The state will pursue many of these changes even if it does not receive the funds, says Gist, but the federal infusion would speed up the process and provide more resources to school districts.
Because of the size of Rhode Island’s population, the state is eligible to win between $25 million and $75 million.
Rhode Island came in eighth during the first round this spring. Duncan awarded just two states at that time — and Tennessee — both of which had widespread teachers’ union support.
Duncan said earlier this summer that he hopes to award as many as 10 or 12 awards in the second round.
Race to the Top began with $4.35 billion, $350 million of which was dedicated to improving the quality of standardized tests. Of the remaining $4 billion, $600 million went to Delaware and Tennessee, leaving $3.4 billion in the competition.
DOE lawyer backs Hope students’ case
Posted Tuesday, August 17, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School students on Monday won a preliminary round in their fight to preserve one of the reforms they say has been crucial to the school’s dramatic turnaround.
Forest Avila, a lawyer with the state Department of Education, denied the Providence School Board’s motion to dismiss the appeal brought by several Hope High School students and their parents. In his decision, Avila ruled that the students do have standing in this case because the regulations regarding common planning time directly affect them.
“We therefore find that these students will be aggrieved by any reduction of common planning time at Hope High School,” Avila wrote, “and that they therefore have standing to bring the petition now before us.”
This decision, which was signed by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, clears the way for the students’ case to go forward. Avila is expected to schedule a hearing to take testimony from the Providence School Board.
“This is proof of what happens when an entire community — students, parents, teachers and members of the community — comes together,” said Erin Regunberg, one of the Brown students who organized the Hope youth.
Hope High School currently has approximately 180 minutes of teacher planning time per week that is used to plan instruction, review student work, address student needs and conduct professional development.
Starting this fall, common planning time at Hope will be cut in half to bring Hope in line with the district’s other high schools. The change is part of a larger shift to move Hope from four 90-minute periods a day to a six-period day.
In their petition to the Department of Education, Hope students say that reducing common planning time will undermine many of the positive reforms that the high school has implemented since 2005, when the state reorganized the school.
In his decision, Avila also found that the students “have made at least a prima facie case that a reduction in common planning time at Hope High School will result in a violation of the Board of Regents’ regulations governing common planning time.”
Avila, however, has not ruled on the merits of the students’ case.
Students point to a regulation adopted by the regents in October 2008 that says that school districts shall not reduce the amount of time allotted to common planning time as “currently practiced.”
The school district says that Hope’s unique schedule is simply too costly to continue. It also says that all high schools must adopt a six-period day to accommodate the district’s new system-wide math and English curriculum.
Teacher unions in R.I., N.Y. to share $5 million grant
Posted Friday, August 13, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers has received a highly competitive $5 million federal “innovation” grant it will share with a New York teachers union, to develop rigorous teacher evaluations in both states.
Just 49 of the 1,700 organizations, foundations and consortiums that applied for $650 million in “i3 innovation” grants received the federal funds, and very few went to teacher unions, although several went to school districts.
“I think the fact that we are unique is a demonstration of respect for unions, particularly our union that is willing to take a risk and be on the cutting edge of education reform,” said Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. “We’ve been in a lead role for teacher quality ... and this grant moves us leaps and bounds ahead.”
The RIFT, which represents all the urban districts in Rhode Island as well as a handful of suburban ones, has been working since October to develop a teacher evaluation and support system that complies with new tough state standards on how educators must be evaluated each year.
While a few Rhode Island school districts have high-quality evaluation systems, many have weak systems that provide little input to teachers about how to improve their performance. Most systems are not sophisticated enough to remove ineffective teachers.
The RIFT hopes to launch pilot programs next spring in the six participating districts: Central Falls, Cranston, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick and Woonsocket, according to union officials. If the system receives approval from the state Department of Education, the evaluations would be ready for use in any school district in the 2011-2012 school year.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist says she has high hopes for the RIFT evaluation system. The state Department of Education recently began work to develop evaluations, but the two efforts are similar, Gist said. And the union invited the department to attend meetings from the start of the process with the six districts to develop a system that complies with the Rhode Island professional teaching standards and the educator evaluation standards.
“We are very hopeful there will be one model,” Gist said. “There’s been a lot of overlap; we’ve been involved in their development and they’ve been involved with us.”
The national American Federation of Teachers gave the Rhode Island federation $200,000 last year to begin the work. The AFT is now looking to secure $1 million in matching funds, for a total of $6 million, which will be shared with the New York State United Teachers, said Colleen Callahan, who oversees professional development for the RIFT.
“We have insufficient evaluation processes in many districts, for many different reasons,” Callahan said. “The fact is, in too many places, we don’t have a process in place to give teachers high-quality, consistent feedback about their performance … feedback that teachers want.”
Callahan says teachers across the country “are getting slammed” in national debates about teacher quality, and a fair, rigorous evaluation system would enhance the credibility of teachers and school systems.
“Even good teachers need support,” she said. “And when you have to make a tough decision about who should be in the classroom and who shouldn’t, you have to be able to substantiate that decision with a fair, transparent, rigorous evaluation system.”
The federal funds will help RIFT pay for consultants, a team to assess the rigor and effectiveness of the evaluations and for substitutes while teachers and administrators are being trained in the new evaluation system, Callahan said.
“This is an enormous undertaking, a major change in the way we evaluate educators and the frequency,” Callahan said. “You can’t ignore the fact it’s also resource intensive. You need well-trained people to perform the evaluations.”
Aid to save hundreds of teaching jobs in R.I.
Posted Wednesday, August 11, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
An emergency bill designed to immediately save thousands of teaching jobs nationwide and prevent Medicaid cuts became law Tuesday, with more than $100 million targeted for Rhode Island.
Rhode Island stands to receive $32.9 million in education aid, according to the Rhode Island Department of Education, and about $70 million in Medicaid money. However, the state had hoped for $100 million in Medicaid cash, leaving it with a shortfall of $38 million.
State education officials estimate 400 to 500 teaching jobs will be saved, although it is unclear exactly how many teachers have lost their jobs statewide or how many of them will be rehired. The money can be used to protect jobs that are in jeopardy and restore cut programs, in addition to hiring back laid-off teachers.
There are strict rules about how the money can be used and distributed.
States must distribute the funds either using an education financing formula or the formula used for federal Title 1 money, which flows to schools that serve low-income students. Since Rhode Island’s school financing formula does not go into effect until 2011-12, it is likely the money will flow through the Title 1 program, said a spokesman for the state Education Department.
That means high-poverty districts, such as Providence, Central Falls, Pawtucket and Woonsocket, will receive the bulk of the emergency money.
States must also promise to maintain proportional funding for schools, and not use the infusion to make further cuts to education.
Rhode Island already cut state education aid to districts by nearly $27 million for the 2010-11 school year, a 3.6 percent reduction. Since other areas of state government were also cut, state education officials say Rhode Island complies with this requirement.
The “maintenance of effort” requirement benefits every school in the state, says Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees.
“It prevents the state legislature from making wholesale cuts to education,” Duffy said. “I think it’s a good thing for education. But cities and towns have got to be making plans about what they will do once this money runs out. This insulates us from some of the state and budget realities, but only for a short period of time.”
After the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the bill “a tremendous victory for school children across the country,” although Republican critics say they are concerned the bailout is excessive and could reward states that have spent unwisely.
The law gives $26 billion in aid to the states, sending them $16.1 billion for Medicaid and $10 billion for schools, with the objective of saving 160,000 education jobs. The U.S. Senate passed the bill last week. On Tuesday, the measure passed 247 to 161 in the House.
Both national teachers’ unions praised the jobs bill. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, calling the additional funds “a lifeline for kids” who would have otherwise lost their teachers.
Larry Purtill, president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, said the money will help bring back laid-off educators and protect the jobs of hundreds of teachers and support staff whose jobs are in jeopardy.
“We lost more than 30 teachers in East Providence,” Purtill said. “We’ve lost at least a couple of hundred members in the last few months and if you add support staff, that’s a couple hundred more.”
Duncan said states will be encouraged to use the education jobs money in the 2010-11 school year, although states technically have until September 2012 to disburse the money. Duncan promised a speedy distribution process, saying states will be able to apply for the money later this month and the federal government plans to send the money shortly after approving applications.
“Our team will be working hard to get the money out the door as quickly as possible,” Duncan said in a telephone news conference with reporters. “There’s a tremendous sense of urgency to get this money out.”
Duncan said the extreme cuts states and communities have been making, including cutting after-school programs, laying off teachers, nurses and counselors, and scaling back to a four-day school-week, underscore the need for additional federal aid.
R.I. delegation to make Race to the Top pitch in Washington
Posted Tuesday, August 10, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island’s political and educational leaders hope the second time’s the charm.
A delegation that includes Governor Carcieri and state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist will travel to Washington, D.C., Tuesday to compete for millions in federal Race to the Top money. Friday afternoon, dozens of officials gathered at the Rhode Island Foundation to send off the team.
Last week, Rhode Island was one of the 19 finalists for the funds, which could usher into the state as much as $75 million to support wide-ranging educational reforms aimed at improving student achievement.
During the first round of competition this winter, Rhode Island ranked eighth out of 41 applicants, and only Delaware and Tennessee received grants. Both of those states had widespread support from teachers unions.
During the second round, Gist persuaded the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers to jump on board, as well as 11 union locals. In addition, Gist held dozens of community meetings to drum up support and gather input from teachers, school committees, union leaders and parents, some of whom felt left out during round one.
Two elements make this application stronger: The state finally enacted a school-funding formula for distributing aid to local districts, and the General Assembly raised the limit on the number of charter schools in the state. Those items, plus the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers’ commitment to developing a more rigorous teacher-evaluation system, should make Rhode Island a contender, school and state leaders said Friday.
“This is Rhode Island’s moment,” Carcieri said Friday. “This is our time.”
Race to the Top has come under fire recently from a number of civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the National Urban League, which say that the program’s competitive nature will create winners and losers, with the majority of the nation’s low-income and minority students left out of the action. The civil rights groups criticized President Obama’s emphasis on charter schools and models for intervening in local schools that, in some cases, call for replacing principals and staff and closing schools.
In a speech before the National Urban League Tuesday, Mr. Obama defended Race to the Top, which offers $4.3 billion in competitive grants to states that commit to the administration’s education-reform program.
But there was nary a dissenting word at Friday’s sendoff.
Perhaps the most heartfelt cheerleader was Amber Johnson, a senior at Classical High School and a member of Young Voices, a Providence-based youth advocacy group.
“This is amazing,” Johnson told about 50 adults. “I want to start a parade with a float with Commissioner Gist on it. What sets this application apart is it includes students. You understand that it’s important to include the voices of young people. I’m really excited to put Rhode Island on the top.”
The Rhode Island team includes Carcieri, Gist, Sharon Contreras, the Providence school’s chief academic officer, and at least two members of the Department of Education — Deputy Commissioner David Abbott and Mary Anne Snider, chief of educator excellence. A team from the U.S. Department of Education will interview the Rhode Island team for 90 minutes on Tuesday.
Also accompanying the Rhode Island delegation, but not participating in the presentation, are House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Mayor David N. Cicilline of Providence, Mayor Daniel McKee of Cumberland, Providence teachers union president Steve Smith, Angus Davis from the Rhode Island Board of Regents of Elementary and Secondary Education, Neil Steinberg, president of the Rhode Island Foundation, and others.
They will meet with national education leaders, including Kati Haycock, the president of Education Trust, a national research and advocacy organization.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will announce the winners next month. He has said that he expects to award the grants to about 12 states.
School to stay open on Jewish ‘High Holidays’
Posted Tuesday, August 10, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — For the first time in at least 30 years, the Providence School District will no longer include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as vacation days in the public school calendar.
Two leaders of the city’s Jewish community met last week with a Providence school administrator to discuss their concerns that Jewish students who take off the “High Holidays” might be subjected to some form of mild discrimination or would feel peer pressure to attend class rather than religious services.
Students and teachers, however, will be allowed to take off these holidays without suffering any consequences. For students, these Jewish holidays will be considered an excused absence.
Marty Cooper, community relations director of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island and Rabbi Wayne Franklin of Temple Emanu-El met Wednesday with the school department’s chief of staff, Stephanie Frederico, a conversation that all parties described as cordial and positive.
Cooper said he had received as many as 12 phone calls from parents who were upset that school would be held during the two most significant holidays in the Jewish faith.
Cooper said he has two primary concerns. The first is a matter of perception: will this decision add to existing tensions between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, especially in the light of recent criticism of Israeli actions involving Palestinians in the Mid-East? According to Cooper, the Anti-Defamation League of Rhode Island has reported a slight increase of anti-Semitic incidents in Rhode Island, from two incidents in 2008 to five in 2009.
Providence is the largest school district in the state and Cooper is concerned about the impact this decision will have on other districts in the region.
Barrington has decided to add Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah to its list of approved holidays this year.
“This is our first year when we are closing school down,” said Supt. Robert McIntyre. “There is a growing Jewish community in Barrington and I heard from a number of parents. I felt this was the right thing to do.”
In Providence, however, the Jewish population has been declining at the same time that the district’s student population has become increasingly diverse and that led school officials and the Providence Teachers Union to take a fresh look at the Jewish holidays. Frederico said the school calendar is a fluid process, one that the union and the administration revisit every year.
“Once upon a time,” she said, “we may have had only Catholic and Jewish populations. We now have a growing Muslim population and many other religious affiliations. We have to look at that to make a determination as to what holidays may or may not be recognized.”
The city’s school department considered a number of issues, including satisfying the state’s 181-day requirement, the union contract and the desire to provide as much instructional continuity as possible. Frederico said that Providence is trying to avoid abbreviated school weeks where learning is interrupted.
“There are many other religious holidays, like Ramadan, that are not recognized as school holidays,” she said. “If we were to take off all of these holidays, we’d be going to school in July.”
Both Cooper and Rabbi Franklin said that Frederico was sensitive to their concerns and said she promised to take a fresh look at the issue next year.
“She was very respectful,” Cooper said. “This is not an act of anti-Semitism. They thought long and hard about this.”
Meanwhile, Barbara Willner-Klein, a modern Orthodox Jew with two children at Classical High School, raised a separate issue in a recent letter to the Jewish Voice & Herald. She thinks it’s unfair that the state’s New England Common Assessment Placement tests are held on the Jewish holidays of Sukkot, Simhat Torah and Shavuot. Jewish students who miss the NECAP tests are at a disadvantage because they miss class time to make up those tests.
“It’s just total ignorance of anyone who is different,’ she said. “They are not thinking of religious minorities of any type.”
Willner-Klein said she spoke with a member of the school department last month and he explained that the Rhode Island Department of Education dictates when the NECAP tests are given.
But Phyllis Lynch, director of instruction, assessment and curriculum for the Department of Education, said that school districts have a window of time — between Oct. 1 and Oct. 21 — to schedule state tests. In high school, the tests typically last three days.
Seniority out, right fit in for Providence teachers seeking to fill openings
Posted Monday, July 26, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Goodbye, seniority. Hello, “criterion-based hiring.”
The annual city “job fair,” where teachers were ranked based on their years in the system and bid on classroom openings, is history.
Instead, teachers now create a job profile online and apply for vacancies the same way. Then they are invited to interview with a screening committee comprising a school’s principal, four teachers and a teacher leader.
What began last year as a pilot project in six schools now includes the entire Providence district of 2,100 teachers at 40-odd schools. The district has effectively abolished seniority as the primary method of filling vacancies. Instead, openings will be filled based on whether the teacher is the right fit for that particular job.
The move to do away with seniority stems from a February 2009 order by former Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, who argued that seniority hampered Providence from putting the most effective teacher in any given classroom. Under the old system, the teacher with the most years in the district bumped someone with less seniority. In a large district such as Providence, bumping sometimes resulted in widespread dislocations, with smaller schools losing up to one-third of their staffs.
The district has developed a software program that allows teachers to upload all their information — resumé, job history, certifications — online. The teacher selects search words (math, special education, high school) that indicate his or her job preference. Whenever a vacancy that fits that description becomes available, the system, called Providence Applicant Tracking System or PATS, immediately alerts the applicant by e-mail.
To avoid any hint of favoritism, the School Department, working with the Providence Teachers Union, developed a common bank of questions that rely on concrete teaching scenarios and short model lessons. During the interview, the teacher applicant must conduct a 30-minute lesson, submit a writing sample and answer a variety of questions.
Although the principal has the final say, his or her judgment should reflect the consensus of the committee.
Carlton Jones, the district’s chief operating officer, says the new application process is much more accessible and responsive than the former one, which resembled an auction because teachers bid on jobs.
There is at least a nod to seniority in the new system, however. According to Jones, the five most senior applicants are automatically invited to interview with the search committee, although there is no requirement that they be given preference.
Once a candidate is chosen, he or she is notified by e-mail and has three days to respond. The average time it takes to fill a position is 29 days, Jones said.
Of the 230 openings in May, the district has filled 165 vacancies.
Last summer, the union complained that more than 130 teachers were still waiting to be placed just two weeks before school started. (The district said the number was closer to 85).
According to Jones, “We’re six weeks ahead of where we were last year.”
The majority of teachers displaced by the recent closing of Perry Middle School and Feinstein High School has found jobs: 64 percent of Feinstein’s staff and 81 percent of Perry’s teachers, according to school spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly.
What happens to those teachers who either haven’t gotten a job or haven’t applied for one?
On July 12, the district paused in the criterion-based selection process, added up the vacancies and began matching them with the teachers who didn’t have jobs. This group of teachers is allowed to select their top school choices and, in this case, teachers with the most seniority are given priority.
There are 74 teachers who were not “matched” to existing openings, Jones said. They go into the long-term substitute teaching pool, which is required by contract and contains about 200 teachers. These teachers receive full salary and benefits but instead of having a permanent assignment, they fill vacancies created by illness, maternity leave or sabbaticals.
“We will always need a long-term sub pool,” Jones said. “But it’s better if we don’t have a large pool of regular teachers.”
The district hopes to eventually replace “regular” teachers with teachers hired specifically to be long-term subs, whose pay is capped at Step 4.
Providence students still struggling with math
Posted Tuesday, June 29, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Math continues to be the Achilles heel of the city’s school system, with all but one high school posting proficiency rates in the low single digits.
Of the 31 schools that did not make adequate progress this year, 29 missed one or more math targets, which shows that math performance continues to be a challenge for the city’s students.
But school leaders say that the district’s poor showing in math is about to change. For the first time this year, Providence introduced a uniform math and science curriculum tied to the state’s math standards. With the new curriculum, Algebra 1 will look the same no matter which high school a student attends. In fact, the curriculum contains a pacing guide so that, for example, fourth-grade teachers are literally on the same page.
“This is a fundamental shift in the way we’ve done business,” Supt. Tom Brady said Monday. “It is a $22-million investment that will pay results, but that won’t happen overnight.”
The classifications, which identify which schools are making progress and which are not, were to be released Tuesday morning by the state Department of Education. Progress is measured by student performance on standardized test scores in English and math. Schools are also judged on the performance of subgroups, such as low-income students, special-education students and English-language learners.
Because urban districts like Providence are so diverse, it is much harder to make annual yearly progress because each urban school must hit an average of 37 targets, including attendance. Smaller districts have fewer academic targets to reach because they have a less diverse student population and a smaller number of schools, according to Sharon Contreras, the district’s chief academic officer.
Two of the city’s most successful elementary schools, Vartan Gregorian and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., are on the “caution” list, which means they did not reach all of their academic targets.
But Contreras said that the classifications don’t tell the full story. King missed only two targets and Gregorian missed one. Both schools, she said, have shown steady improvement for three consecutive years, especially in reading.
This year, only four middle schools made adequate progress, not five. Again, Contreras pointed out that Brigham Middle School missed only one target — attendance. And the other three middle schools, Esek Hopkins, Perry and Roger Williams, missed the same target: the math test for special-education students.
The district has a plan, however. This fall, special-education students will be co-taught by a special-education instructor and a math teacher on the premise that math teachers have the deep subject knowledge needed to instruct children who are struggling with that subject.
One criticism of the No Child Left Behind law is that it labels schools as failing, but doesn’t provide the resources to fix them. That, too, is about to change. This winter, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist identified six of the worst-performing schools in Rhode Island, five of them in Providence. Each school is eligible for at least $200,000 (and possibly $2 million) in federal monies.
The district is working this summer on developing specific interventions for four of the five schools. One of those schools, Feinstein High School, was closed due to school-facility issues; it was also one of only three high schools to make annual progress this year. (The others are Classical High School and Hope Arts.)
“This will be an entirely different conversation in five years,” Brady said. “We will see steady improvement, and we’re looking for rapid improvement for our four intervention schools.”
Rhode Island’s school financing formula becomes law
Posted Thursday, June 24, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state’s top political and education leaders were on hand Wednesday as Governor Carcieri signed into law the state’s first school financing formula in two decades.
With one flourish of the pen, Carcieri relieved Rhode Island of its dubious distinction as the only state in the country without a formula.
The Republican governor heaped praise on Democratic lawmakers with whom he is frequently at odds.
“Sometimes when you’re outside [state government] you just think these things should get done so do it,” the governor told an audience of about 100 community, education and political leaders. “But it’s a very difficult issue, and I really want to credit the General Assembly and the leadership. … It took enormous courage.”
Because of the state’s fiscal crisis, lawmakers were unable to add much additional money to finance schools. The way the formula is designed, more than 70 percent of the state’s 148,000 students — including many low-income children — will receive more state support, while students in the remaining districts will receive less.
Supporters heralded the event as historic, saying Rhode Island’s method for distributing more than $700 million a year in direct state school aid to districts, charter and state-run schools will serve as a national model.
The formula goes into effect for fiscal year 2012, and will be phased in over 10 years.
Detractors are concerned the formula does not go far enough to meet the needs of low-income and special-needs students; other critics are distraught the formula takes state aid away from several communities.
The bill signing was held at the Rhode Island Foundation, a philanthropic organization that pushed hard for the formula, a gesture that signals stronger ties between various groups committed to improving the education system.
Speakers praised Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, under whose leadership the formula was developed, with help from Prof. Kenneth Wong and researchers from Brown University.
Also present at the ceremony were the four legislators credited with shepherding the formula through rough political waters: Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, House Speaker Gordon H. Fox, House Finance Chairman Steven M. Costantino and Sen. Hanna M. Gallo, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.
Notably absent from the ceremony was Rep. Edith H. Ajello, a Providence Democrat and longtime advocate for a financing formula whose formula proposal would have given even more state resources to urban communities. Wednesday, her colleagues thanked her for her leadership.
Fox delivered a fiery speech that conveyed some of the intensity of the legislative session. He thanked his colleagues who supported the formula, even when, in some cases, it took money away from their home districts, and he lashed out at lawmakers who “hoped I would fall on my face.”
“We are all connected,” Fox said. “Whether you come from Barrington or Bristol, Providence or Woonsocket. Nobody wants to hear that, but it’s true. We are all responsible for each other’s fates.”
Providence’s Perry Middle School already feels ghostly
Posted Monday, June 21, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — At Perry Middle School, the packing boxes outnumber the students.
Everywhere you turn, boxes of “Twilight” and “Tears of a Tiger” are stacked in vacant classrooms whose emptiness speaks to the steady decline of middle school students in a district that once couldn’t keep pace with the influx of immigrant children.
Perry, an imposing brick edifice that, for 80 years, has been the linchpin of the struggling Hartford Avenue neighborhood, is closing next week, and, although classes are still in session, it already feels like a ghost town. In one room, a skeleton is shrouded in what looks like a garment bag while microscopes are piled in a corner.
The closing is especially bittersweet for Perry’s teachers, who have seen their school reorganized, restructured and formerly placed on academic probation. In fact, the only constant at Perry has been change: the school has had more than seven principals in as many years and experimented with “Perry bucks” for positive behavior and focus rooms for chronic troublemakers.
In the library this week, several students help Pam Laurenzo pack up a collection of young adult fiction and graphic novels that she built from scratch.
“I’ve created this world that I have to dismantle,” says Laurenzo, who rebuilt the library into a place where students feel welcome. “It’s sad to see it go.”
“It makes my heart break to see all these books go away,” says Kanema Miller, a sixth grader and one of the library’s biggest fans.
Perry is being shuttered just when it seems poised to take off.
The school, which was threatened with a state takeover in 2004, has met all of its academic targets for three consecutive years. Thanks to an after-school program, more students than ever are being accepted at Classical High School, the jewel in the district’s crown. School leaders agree that Perry has made significant strides, but say the cost of renovations, estimated at $35 million, are prohibitive in an era of declining enrollments and budget deficits.
The building’s physical condition speaks for itself: The roof leaks, the bathroom pipes recently burst, the heat is unreliable and pigeons roost in the rafters. For all of the school’s lovely period detail, Perry is worn-out, like a starlet whose looks have faded.
In a neighborhood whose glory days are also behind it, Perry is monolithic — two blocks of Gothic architecture that serve as a reminder of kinder times. At one public meeting after another, supporters spoke of how the school was the only anchor in a changing neighborhood.
The closing has also stirred class resentments. One city councilor spoke bitterly of how the city spent millions renovating the then-closed Nathan Bishop Middle School on the East Side while the West End got nothing.
Six years ago, Perry was one of the worst-performing middle schools in the state, fights were not uncommon and attendance rates were dismal. In 2006, then-Supt. Donnie Evans replaced two of the school’s principals and, under new leadership, the school began to heal.
Perry joined the NASA Explorers Program and students had an opportunity to meet an astronaut, build robots and communicate with scientists from the Goddard Space Center.
College became the school’s mantra and one of the principals began taking eighth graders on college tours, including a trip to Harvard University where the students lunched with the president.
Today, students are more respectful, teachers are less divided and test scores are on the rise.
Few teachers are more passionate about Perry’s successes than Donna Perrotta, an English teacher and 14-year veteran who says that Hartford Avenue deserves a thriving neighborhood school, not a boarded-up relic.
It was Perrotta who encouraged her students to get over their fear of poetry by publishing their work on the Web. And it was Perrotta who spoke out at every public forum to protest Perry’s closing.
Wednesday, Perrotta served chocolate chip pancakes for her eighth-grade poets, part of their annual publishing party.
“These kids are really precious,” she says. “I’ve never seen such talent.”
Few principals have cared more about Perry than Frances Rotella, who was appointed in 2006 to whip it into shape. Although she retired in December, Rotella, who now consults for the school district, keeps coming back and has been asked to give the keynote address at Monday’s graduation ceremony.
On a recent visit, Rotella looked up the test scores of two girls who once were regulars in Truancy Court. They had aced their tests. Rotella gave them both a big hug and said, “Do you know how great this is?”
The girls nodded solemnly.
“How did you know, Miss?” they asked.
Rotella said, “Because I looked at every test score.”
School aid formula: Some will win, Some will lose
Posted Thursday, June 17, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
After years of failed attempts, Rhode Island finally has a statewide school-financing formula, its first in two decades.
The complex formula, which was developed by the state Department of Education and researchers at Brown University, goes into effect for the 2011-12 school year and is intended to redistribute about $705 million a year in direct aid to school districts, charter and state-operated schools — without adding a lot of new money to the system.
Critics have been quick to point out that the formula creates a new system of winners and losers, giving more state aid to districts where student enrollments have increased or that serve high numbers of low-income students, while cutting districts that have lost students or serve fewer poor students.
Most urban districts benefit from the new formula. But so do Barrington and East Greenwich, two of the state’s wealthiest communities, largely because of increases in enrollments.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has dismissed complaints that the new approach unfairly penalizes some districts.
“The fact is, right now in our current approach, there are already winners and losers,” Gist said when the formula was first introduced. “Having a formula actually gives us equity, transparency and consistency in the ways our funds are distributed and the resources we give to our schools.”
Gist concedes it’s not perfect. But, supporters say it’s the first time since the mid-1990s that Rhode Island has a fair method for doling out education aid.
Since the old method was abandoned in 1995, some districts have lost hundreds of students. At the same time, the ability of various communities to pay for their schools has changed. The new formula links state aid to the current number of students enrolled and adds money for low-income students, many of whom have additional educational needs that the additional aid is intended to address.
An estimated 71 percent of the state’s 145,000 public school students will benefit as their school systems receive more state aid.
The General Assembly passed a bill on the last night of the session and Governor Carcieri is expected to sign it into law by the end of June. The effects of the new formula will roll out over 10 years.
As the new formula takes effect, the state also has agreed to assume a greater proportion of other educational spending, including sharing the cost of high-need special-education students and regional transportation, and taking over a bigger chunk of school construction costs.
The state will invest more in pre-kindergarten programs and provide some additional money to career and vocational technical programs. Because the state pays for Central Falls schools, the state will also contribute at least $530,000 a year to that district to help blunt the impact of estimated cuts.
Statewide, Rhode Island pays for an average of 37 percent of local school costs, among the lowest state contributions in the country. The formula requires the state to pay between $13 million and $15 million more a year, starting in fiscal 2012, in an effort to gradually move the average state share up to 52.5 percent over the 10-year period.
Charter schools and vocational schools will lose some state aid as the new law changes the way those schools are financed.
Regional school districts are particularly hard hit, as the new formula does away with hefty bonuses enacted years ago to encourage the merger of services among towns — bonuses that were always intended to be temporary but became frozen in place. “I don’t think we should continue to pay a bonus when the whole point of regionalization is to achieve efficiencies,” Gist said when she testified before the General Assembly this spring.
Lawmakers representing the districts on the losing end of the scale were not swayed.
“These cuts will annihilate the Bristol-Warren school district,” said Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., D-Bristol, before he cast his “nay” vote last week. At the 11th hour, lawmakers extended a small “bonus” to regional districts to help them adjust to the cuts, which phases out over two years.
Other critics of the formula say it’s too complex and may be unfair in the way it estimates how much a community can pay for its schools.
A failed proposal from Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, used similar factors as the state Department of Education’s formula, but calculated them differently. Ajello’s version produced bigger winners — Providence would have received close to $50 million more in state aid compared with $29 million, but also much bigger losers. Newport, for example, would have lost $11 million in aid over the 10 years instead of $1.4 million, an indication that according to Ajello’s analysis, Newport could be kicking in more local money to run its schools.
Kenneth Wong, chairman of the Education Department at Brown University and a principal in the development of the formula, said there are countless ways the numbers could have been crunched, but he thinks the new law represents “the most optimal, feasible and fair way to actually use the numbers.”
“In the end,” Wong said, “we found that [this approach] allowed us to have the most optimum number of winners and fewer losers.”
Perhaps most importantly, supporters say, the formula dedicates scarce state resources to the students who need it most.
“I really do empathize with the communities that will be seeing reductions in state aid over time as a result of this formula,” Gist said. “But I am completely confident that this formula does distribute aid equitably.”
KEY POINTSHow the formula works
It calculates the "core" costs to educate a student: $8,295 per year. This includes the salaries of all personnel — teachers, special-education teachers, principals, librarians, speech pathologists, school nurses, etc.; fringe benefits such as health care and sick days; books and instructional materials; training for teachers; some costs associated with educating English-language learners; and some career and technical costs.
It adjusts for the needs of poor and special-education students: Districts with students eligible for free and reduced lunch receive a 40-percent bonus, resulting in a cost of $11,600 per low-income student. Poverty is used as a proxy for other needs such as special education and students learning English, as studies show those students often are low-income.
It is tied to enrollment: State gives districts, state-operated and charter schools money based on the number of students they serve.
It considers a community’s ability to pay: The formula includes the equalized property value and the median family income of each city and town, as well as the poverty concentration of students, and gives greater weight to whichever factor is dominant in a particular community — municipal capacity to pay for schools or student need.
Black fathers take stand for education
Posted Monday, June 14, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — His activism began with the closing of a beloved neighborhood school on the West Side. It has morphed into a grass-roots effort to address the plight of the black child in the Providence schools.
Osiris Harrell, an outspoken activist at School Board meetings, has organized a new group of black fathers who are determined to change how their children are treated in the school system so that their stories are of success, not failure.
“Something happens between the time a black child enters the public schools and the time he leaves,” says the father of three. “Something happens that shuts out that light.”
It was Harrell’s own experience with the public schools that sparked his outrage. When his son was suspended for hitting another child, the behavior was referred to as “inappropriate touching.”
“I said, ‘What is this?’ he says. “This is how black men get labeled. Why stigmatize a young, black child?”
Although the school subsequently corrected the label, the incident was a wake-up call for Harrell, who decided it was time to address head-on the issue of black children in the schools, especially black males.
A half-dozen men have now come together under the name Project Future for 2010 and Beyond. The group includes Ray Watson (who is white), David Haller and Dewayne Boo Hackney.
Harrell has met twice with Schools Supt. Tom Brady, who, he said, has not only promised to meet regularly with the group but asked for their suggestions for a new district-wide social-studies curriculum.
“It was a very fruitful meeting,” Harrell says of the first face-to-face with Brady. “He recognizes that there is a dilemma.”
The district talks a lot about increasing parental involvement, and Brady sees Project Future as a great opportunity to involve fathers in conversations about their children’s education.
“Here we have a group of concerned parents who really care about African-American students and African-American males in particular,” Brady says, “That’s a group of adults we have to listen to and reach out to.”
Brady has already agreed to meet with the parents every three weeks to share information. At the last meeting, Brady discussed tweaking the school’s volunteer policy. Currently, prospective volunteers must undergo a criminal-background check; certain criminal offenses preclude volunteers from active involvement in their children’s schools.
Brady, who said the Washington, D.C., schools modified their volunteer regulations, says he is open to adopting a more flexible policy in Providence, one that will encourage fathers in particular to become more involved in their schools.
“You can make a judicious review of each application,” Brady says. “It seems the policy needs review.”
The fathers group says the district needs to address two fundamental issues: curriculum and teacher hiring and training. Too often, Harrell says, American history is presented as little more than the accomplishments of “great white men,” while the contributions of black politicians, artists, writers and activists are downplayed or ignored.
“There is something systemically wrong with the way black children are taught,” Harrell says. “At some point, it was decided that black children receive an inferior education. We want a robust curriculum that dispels the myth of white supremacy, which teaches black children to feel inferior.”
Highlight visionary black leaders in the social-studies curriculum, Harrell says, and it can be inspirational.
Brady agrees that the department needs to do more around the issue of “cultural competency,” a catch-phrase for sensitizing teachers to cultural bias in the classroom, among other matters. “Do we have enough professional development?” he says. “Could it be targeted more at guidance counselors?”
The test scores show that something isn’t working for minority children.
Statewide, less than a third of all black and Hispanic students have reached proficiency in math, compared with nearly two-thirds of white students. When the state released its latest test scores in February, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said she was concerned that achievement gaps between white and minority students continued and have even widened, especially in math.
Project Future member Hackney, who has two children in the Providence public schools, says the fathers’ group is not only about holding the school system accountable for ensuring that students don’t fail, but it’s also about asking parents to take responsibility for making sure that their children are not denied the best possible education.
“This is also about educating black men about the need to get involved,” Harrell says. “We’ve been going door-to-door, talking with parents. If we can come together around this issue, we can change our community.”
Providence school superintendent meets with students, teachers over class schedule change
Posted Wednesday, May 26, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — After weeks of student-fueled opposition, Supt. Tom Brady finally met privately with a small clutch of students and teachers from Hope High School Tuesday.
But, after two-and-a-half hours of discussion, nothing changed.
The school administration, which insisted on a closed meeting, didn’t budge from its original position that Hope move from four 90-minute periods, known as a block schedule, to a six-period day, bringing it in line with the other high schools in the district.
After the meeting, students and teachers said they were frustrated and said they felt that the School Department’s mind was made up before administrators entered the room.
“I feel more resigned and defeated,” said Sean Georghagan, a math teacher.
After the meeting, not one top administrator spoke with The Journal except for Kim Rose, the School Department’s spokeswoman, who called the meeting constructive and said it cleared up a number of misconceptions.
“We’re proud of the passion of the Hope students and teachers,” Rose said. When asked, she said the district is moving forward with a six-period day.
The School Department has maintained that moving to a traditional schedule would not affect the quality of instruction at Hope. Adopting a district-wide curriculum requires that every school share the same schedule.
But teacher Robin Malone said: “It’s not about the 53 minutes. It’s about quality. I’m not going to be able to inspire students in the same way. It’s taking away a big piece of who I am as a teacher.”
The six students who attended the meeting sounded relieved that Brady heard their concerns, but said they were disappointed that the administration was unwilling to compromise on the schedule.
“I wanted to tell them, ‘If you just give us a little more time, we will meet academic proficiency,’ ” said Julio Diaz, one of the student organizers of Hope United. The district says that Hope’s test scores have not improved as much as School Department leaders would like.
A couple of students, however, said they were pleased that Brady showed a willingness to consider restoring the school’s Leadership Academy. When the state intervened in the failing high school five years ago, then-Education Commissioner Peter McWalters divided the school into three smaller learning academies. The district closed the Leadership Academy after its principal left a year ago.
No one was more upset by the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting than the Brown University students who propelled the Hope students into action in March.
“We were hoping that it would be a productive conversation about how the block could be saved,” said Aaron Regunberg from Brown. “Instead, nothing changed.”
Even Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, who has adopted a more conciliatory tone with the department recently, expressed his dismay at the way in which the issue has been handled.
“It’s not just what’s being done, but how it has been done,” Smith said before the meeting. “As we move to a new labor-management model in Providence, we have to make sure that Hope doesn’t happen again.”
If teachers are asked to change what they do and how, Smith said, then the School Department has a responsibility to include them in the conversation.
“At Hope,” Smith said, “you have teachers who have taken ownership of their school. We have to honor the work being done there.”
Teachers at Hope High School in Providence echo students’ objections to changes
Posted Tuesday, May 25, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The students have spoken. The politicians have spoken. Monday night, it was the teachers’ turn.
About 25 teachers, more than a quarter of the Hope High School faculty, turned out to protest proposed changes to the school’s 90-minute block schedule, which students and teachers alike say is crucial to the school’s success.
For the past four weeks, the students have led the charge, culminating in a walkout that prompted several hundred students to march to City Hall and school headquarters, where they asked to meet with Mayor David N. Cicilline and Supt. Tom Brady.
“I’ve been at Hope for 21 years, and I’ve been through 11 principals, 7 [school] restructurings and 35 assistant principals,” teacher Deb Petrarca said. “I’ve never seen Hope as good as it is now.”
The School Department says it is simply a matter of moving to a six-period schedule, which will accommodate the district’s new curriculum and ensure that students, who move around a lot, are on the same page no matter where they attend high school.
But teachers say the 90-minute classes are crucial to the school’s steady academic progress. The longer periods, they say, allow students to delve more deeply into their studies, provide teachers with ample time for common planning and enable student advisories to explore life issues that reach far beyond the classroom.
Megan Thoma, an arts teacher, said she moved to Rhode Island because of Hope’s reputation as a school with a flourishing arts program. Under the new schedule, she said, the arts electives will suffer and the Rhode Island School of Design might be less willing to work with the high school.
“You are driving out your best teachers,” she said, adding that 13 teachers have been cut already.
Another teacher contested the School Department’s claims that Hope’s test scores are worse than the district average. When you remove scores from Classical High School, which draws the best students from public and private schools in Providence, Hope’s math scores, while disturbingly low, are still a couple of points higher than the district average, said Ellen House, who heads the math department at Hope.
Teachers weren’t the only adults who spoke out last night. A couple of parents said that their children have thrived at Hope, which has restored their faith in the public schools.
“The education industry is driven by fads,” said Jean Nicolazzo, whose son attends Hope. “These schemes have more to do with career-building than the children. To finally have hit upon something that works, it seems crazy to throw it away.”
The adults described a school brimming with passion, with a shared sense of purpose. When former state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters intervened five years ago, Hope was the poster child for everything that’s broken in urban high schools, from lousy test scores to vandalism to abysmal attendance rates.
McWalters ordered the school to break into three smaller academies, required teachers to re-apply for their jobs and called for three new principals. With union support, teachers and principals crafted a new curriculum. Two years later, Hope was drawing national attention for its student advisories and its individual student-learning plans.
About a dozen students were there to back up their teachers. Angela Chea, one of the leaders of the student group, Hope United, said she found it ironic that the district had assigned community service as one of the penalties for walking out of class on May 13. Those 207 students also received a two-hour detention Friday, during which school administrators gave a PowerPoint presentation on the efficacy of the six-period day.
“We were doing community service by speaking out for our school,” she said to cheers and applause.
Students who walked out of Providence’s Hope High to be punished
Posted Wednesday, May 19, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — There will be no field day for the more than 200 Hope High School students who walked out of class Thursday to protest changes to their school schedule.
Hope’s annual field day includes a cookout, games and a tug-of-war between the school’s two academies, arts and technology. Planned this year for June 16, it is typically seen as a chance for teachers and students to bond and build school spirit. Student protestors will be required to perform school-based community service instead of participating in the field day.
In a letter addressed to parents and signed by the school’s two principals, the School Department told students that they will also receive a two-hour suspension Friday during which administrators and teachers will explain the need for a six-period day — the very issue that prompted several hundred students to walk out in the first place. Faculty members will also speak with youths about the new graduation requirements.
At least one Hope student says the punishment is unfair, adding that most students who skip class receive a 30-minute suspension or a call to their parents. “We expected consequences,” said Cynthia Jackson, a junior, “but this is too extreme.”
Julio Diaz, a sophomore and one of the organizers of the walkout, said he never received a letter, despite the prominent role he played in the protest. “Where’s my letter?” he said. “I did something like 15 interviews with the media that day.”
“I’m going to do detention,” he said. “We will all share the punishment.”
Diaz and Jackson said that many more students walked out of school than the 207 teens who received disciplinary letters. One of the Brown University organizers estimated that close to 380 students participated in the protest.
Meanwhile, the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union called the punishment “extremely harsh under the circumstances.”
“We’re quite troubled by the actions that the high school has taken,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU. “First, these mass letters of punishment offer no formal opportunity for students to respond, and both school policy and the U.S. Constitution require that there be an opportunity to respond to these allegations.”
Brown also said that a parent of a Hope student has asked the ACLU to contest the punishment, something his organization is considering.
Last Thursday, several hundred students walked out of class at 10 a.m. and then marched to City Hall and School Department headquarters to protest changes in the school schedule that they say would undermine elective classes, limit student advisory and reduce common planning time for teachers. The walkout was the latest in a series of actions organized by about 40 Hope students and a handful of students from Brown University, who began to rally the teenagers after a visit to the high school over the college’s winter break.
School administrators say that a six-period day is essential to implement the district’s new uniform curricula in math, science, English and social studies. Supt. Tom Brady has said that a consistent schedule will ensure that the city’s highly mobile student population will be on the same page no matter where they attend high school. The rest of the city’s high schools have already adopted the six-period schedule.
Brady has also said that Hope’s current 90-minute block schedule, which includes lengthy student advisories and twice-weekly planning periods for teachers, is too costly, especially in this era of limited resources.
In its letter, the School Department said that the protest “interrupted instructional time in our school, even for those who chose not to participate.”
“School district and city resources were diverted to ensure that order was kept,” the letter said, “and loud demonstrations outside of the school prevented effective teaching and learning."
School officials wrote that students were warned on numerous occasions that their choice to participate in the walkout would have consequences. High school administrators have concluded that the youth violated three separate policies: leaving class without permission, cutting class and leaving the school grounds without permission.
Parents were informed that students’ failure to accept the discipline would result in further disciplinary action, including suspension.
In Providence, Hope High School students walk out to protest changes to scheduling
Posted Friday, May 14, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Chanting “ Tom Brady, where are you?” more than 200 students from Hope High School walked out of class, Thursday marched two miles through downtown and clustered on the steps of the school administration building in defense of their school’s unique class schedule.
But when they arrived, neither the superintendent nor any other school official came out to talk to them. When they then moved on to City Hall, there was no sign of Mayor David N. Cicilline or any other city representative.
The march began at 10 a.m. sharp, when dozens of students poured out of the sprawling brick high school on Hope Street and were greeted with cheers by a smaller band of students who had gathered minutes earlier. Homemade signs saying, “Student Power,” “Hear our Voice” and “Hope United” dotted the crowd like dandelions on a spring lawn.
Sophomore Julio Diaz, one of the student organizers, grabbed a bullhorn and, reciting the mantra of a former principal, told students, “Carry yourselves with class and dignity.”
Accompanied by a police escort, the teens marched down Hope Street, a noisy but joyful brigade that was part pep rally and part protest.
As the students entered Washington Street, which was cleared by the police, the chanting turned into a wall of sound, the sounds morphing from “Hope High School is under attack. Stand up and fight back,” to “Blue Wave, Blue Wave” — the school’s motto.
“There is this electric atmosphere,” said Chris Medina, a ninth-grader. “It’s a great feeling being part of something big, something important.”
“My dad always told me, ‘If you’re going to fight for something, do it right,’ ” said Ashley Torres, a junior.
The walkout was the culmination of weeks of organizing by Hope youth and a handful of Brown University students, who were alerted to the coming changes at Hope during a visit there this winter.
Students, who have been outspoken at two recent board meetings, say the district is imposing the uniform schedule in effect at other city high schools that flies in the face of a state order that directed the once-failing Hope to adopt longer class periods, hire new teachers and spilt into three smaller learning communities.
The School Department says switching from four 90-minute periods to a six-period day will not diminish the school’s successes, which include improved graduation rates, lower rates of suspension and recent gains in reading and writing in standardized state tests.
But students say that Hope’s unique “block” schedule lies at the heart of the school’s transformation from dark and dangerous to safe, caring and orderly.
Students have been demanding a meeting with Brady. This week, he offered to meet with them as long as they provided a list of which students and teachers would be attending the meeting. The youths turned him down because they felt there were too many strings attached to the meeting.
Thursday, when students arrived at school headquarters around 11 a.m., one of the Brown organizers yelled, “Who wants to call Tom Brady?”
The crowd roared.
Then, more than 200 teenagers took out their cell phones and called Brady. But the superintendent was at the State House attending a hearing on school financing.
Iris Gonzalez, whose daughter attends Hope, was parked in a car outside school headquarters:
“I’m here to support Hope,” she said. “My daughter, she was going to quit and then she took dance at Hope, and she’s doing great.”
When Brady failed to materialize, the protestors headed back downtown, where they gathered on the steps of City Hall. Suddenly, a cheer swept the crowd. Someone, reportedly a city council member, opened the doors and invited the students inside. As they filled the stairway and flanked the first balcony, their cheering — “What are we going to lose? Our teachers!” — was deafening.
Again, no one from City Hall spoke with the students. The mayor was attending an event elsewhere.
Cicilline issued a brief statement that said, “While I respect the students’ right to protest and voice their opinions … my number-one priority is to ensure that our students receive the highest quality of education. I have tremendous confidence in Superintendent Brady and fully support all of the great work he is leading in the Providence public schools.”
A much more subdued group plodded back up College Hill, their feet and posters dragging.
After they gathered outside of Hope, the students were told that they couldn’t return to class because of liability issues. Meanwhile, school spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly said that the School Department is weighing which punishment to impose.
“Today we made history,” Diaz yelled. “But now it’s time to go home. We have a full day of school tomorrow.”
Facing a May 14 deadline, Gist to hold 3 more Race to the Top meetings
Posted Monday, May 10, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
The support from teacher unions that Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist fervently wants for the state’s bid to win millions of dollars in federal funds for educational reform may be out of reach.
Gist and state education officials are entering the home stretch in their efforts to win up to $75 million in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition and have been working feverishly to revise the state’s 200-plus page application after losing round one in March. Rhode Island came in eighth out of 41 applicants.
Gist intends to spend the money on training and supporting principals and teachers and hiring educators who specialize in turning around failing schools. She wants to create stronger curricula, new tests and better systems for keeping data on student, school and teacher performance.
Only two teacher union locals signed off on the first plan — Providence and Foster — despite approval from most school districts, state-operated and charter schools.
But despite a dozen public meetings and a more conciliatory tone when describing a new system for evaluating teachers and principals — perhaps the most controversial aspect of Rhode Island’s reform agenda — it is unclear how much ground has been gained with union leaders.
Gist has spent much of her time explaining to teachers that they will have to undergo rigorous evaluations and, in the case of chronically underperforming schools, reapply for their jobs even if the state does not win Race to the Top.
Tensions in two districts have also spiked during the past month, deepening a feeling of mistrust and resentment among many teachers.
Recently, union officials have told Gist they want her to intervene in union-management strife in Central Falls and East Providence. While those two disputes continue, they said, they can’t support the aggressive reforms Gist says are needed to fix failing schools. Gist and other state officials have said repeatedly that they cannot intervene. In Central Falls, the union local is fighting plans by Supt. Frances Gallo to terminate the entire teaching staff of the low-performing high school and hire back only 50 percent. In East Providence, the union is outraged the local school committee unilaterally cut teacher salaries and forced teachers to pay more into their health insurance. Both cases are currently in the state’s courts.
In addition, some superintendents have said they don’t think their union locals will sign on without the endorsement of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association of Rhode Island, even though state union leaders have told locals they should make their own decision.
Despite these tensions, Gist said she thinks some union locals will sign on by the May 14 deadline. Gist plans to hand-deliver the application to Washington, D.C., on May 28; the federal deadline is June 1.
“I’m hopeful,” Gist said Friday. Gist says she knows tensions are high in those two districts, so winning support there might not be possible. But she says she hopes other teacher union locals will consider signing on by the May 14 deadline.
Robert G. Flanders Jr., chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, said Education Secretary Arne Duncan has warned states not to water down their aggressive reforms just to gain wider support.Education officials are holding two more community forums this week to gather input on the application: Monday, 6-7:30 p.m. at CCRI’s Newport campus, 1 John H. Chafee Blvd., and Thursday, 6-7:30 p.m. at the John Wickes Elementary School, 50 Child Lane, Warwick.
The Race to the Top steering committee will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Paff Auditorium, 255 Westminister St., Providence.
All meetings are open to the public.
Hundreds of RI teachers rally to protest policies of Commissioner Gist
Posted Thursday, April 29, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Fueled by teacher firings in Central Falls and slashed paychecks in East Providence, frustrations among many of the state’s 14,500 teachers with Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist boiled over Wednesday evening.
“Commissioner Gist, teachers in the state of Rhode Island have trust issues with you,” said Rhode Island Federation of Teachers President Marcia Reback.
During a packed meeting at the Providence Hilton attended by more than 300 teachers, dozens of speakers said they no longer trusted state and district education leaders. They said it would be hard, if not impossible, for them to support the state’s application for a portion of the $4-billion Race to the Top application, which rewards states that embrace radical education reforms.
Rhode Island’s application promises to make it harder to become and remain a teacher and outlines a process that would remove ineffective teachers — proposals that concern many educators.
At the start of the meeting, union leaders connected the dramatic changes Gist wants to make with two rancorous disputes. In Central Falls, the entire teaching staff at the high school has been fired. And in East Providence, the School Committee unilaterally cut teacher salaries. The speakers questioned why state education officials had not done more to prevent or address those situations.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we are a small state and everyone knows everyone else. When one of us is hurt, then all of us are hurt,” Reback said. “You have told me a lot that you respect teachers, and maybe on an individual level you do. But I don’t believe that collectively, particularly when we are organized as a union, you respect us very much,” Reback said, as the audience rose in a standing ovation.
Kelly Vasey, an elementary-school teacher in East Providence, said she would be unable to support the state Department of Education’s application to win up to $75 million in education aid.
“How can RIDE expect the teachers in East Providence, and I’m sure in Central Falls, to put our faith in this proposal when there is no trust between us and the superintendent and the School Committee?” Vasey asked. “We feel that RIDE needs to step up and fix this if we are all going to get on board.”
Gist scheduled a series of public meetings this month to gather input and build goodwill for the application. Her goal, she said several weeks ago, was to win support from 100 percent of the state’s teacher union locals. During the first round, only the Foster and Providence locals signed on.
Wednesday, Gist acknowledged it was an unlikely goal and she did not expect teachers in East Providence or Central Falls to endorse the application, given the tension in those communities.
But she urged teachers across the state to embrace the effort, saying “this is a tremendous opportunity to bring resources into our state.”
Officials also sought to address why the department is taking a more active role in Central Falls, including paying for a mediator, but is unable to do so in other cases.
The state and federal governments pay to operate Central Falls schools and the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education appoints the chairperson of the School Board of Trustees, which operates like a school committee. Because of the unique relationship, the department is involved, said Deputy Education Commissioner David V. Abbott.
However, the Education Department must stay out of other district disputes and let them be handled by the state Labor Relations Board or the courts, he said.
Teachers said they were troubled by the new evaluation system education officials plan to roll out over the next couple of years.
Standardized test scores and other kinds of assessments yet to be determined would make up 51 percent of a teacher’s evaluation; grades, writing samples, portfolios, classroom observation and interaction with students, parents and fellow teachers would make up the other 49 percent.
Teachers found to be ineffective two years in a row would lose their jobs. If hired elsewhere and found to be ineffective again for three additional years, teachers would lose their certification, meaning they could never again work in Rhode Island public schools.
Based on feedback that education officials have received, Gist said they will establish a committee that includes teachers, principals and superintendents to help develop definitions of teacher effectiveness and to decide which factors should be included in evaluations.
Wednesday, several teachers said they are worried they will be blamed for factors beyond their control, such as students with family problems, learning disabilities and limited English. Other teachers said they fear they will be blamed for a district’s lack of a curriculum or for budget cuts that reduce their materials.
“Poverty is an issue, and it has to be addressed,” said Debbie Scarpelli, a Pawtucket teacher. “We are there for our kids. But I have kids coming into school who had a brother shot in a drive-by. I have students who arrive from other countries whose first year of formal education is seventh grade. I don’t think it’s fair that only teachers and principals are held accountable for this.”
Adam Satchell, a teacher at West Warwick High School, said he opposes relying primarily on test scores and assessment data to determine student growth.
“It’s almost as though the state is ignoring socio-economic status and … lack of parental support,” Satchell said. “My students receive free and reduced lunch, have behavioral problems and bounce around from town to town. None of my students is on track to graduate. Am I an effective teacher? … Well, one of my fifth-year seniors told me the only reason she came back this year is because she knew I would help her.”
Hope High changes debated
Posted Tuesday, April 27, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School students on Monday once again turned out in force to keep their school intact, but this time, school leaders came armed with their own arguments for changing the school’s schedule.
The students, who have become eloquent champions of the school’s reform program, say that moving from four 90-minute periods, called a block schedule, to a six-period day will prevent them from developing the trusting relationships with teachers that have transformed Hope from a failing school to a flourishing one.
“Do you see what Hope has turned us into?” said Julio Diaz, a sophomore. “We’re talking politics. Aren’t you proud that we can talk to grownups? Please, let’s talk this out.”
According to students, the district is trying to impose a cookie-cutter schedule that flies in the face of a state order that directed the once-struggling high school to adopt a block schedule, hire new teachers and split into three smaller learning communities.
Students say they are thriving under the new Hope, pointing to lower rates of suspension, improved graduation rates and steady gains in reading and writing achievement. They described how their teachers have inspired them, how the arts curriculum has empowered them and how their principals have provided a safe, structured environment in which to learn.
But Nicole Onye, the director of high schools, painted a very different picture. Hope, she says, has lost 105 days of instructional time over four years because its classes meet every other day instead of daily. The six-period day, which has been adopted by every other high school, will allow students to take Advanced Placement classes and enroll in college classes.
But students said — and teachers have confirmed — that a block schedule allows a student to take 32 classes over four years compared with 24 under a six-period schedule. Students also said that a six-period day would limit the number of electives, especially in the arts, which make Hope special.
Although Onye praised the positive changes at Hope, she said that the school’s academic performance remained disappointing. Hope’s attendance and graduation rates continue to lag behind the district averages and the school’s SAT scores are not good enough to meet admission standards at either Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island.
According to Onye, only 3 percent of Hope’s Arts Academy passed the state math test.
But Hope students said that math scores are abysmal district-wide, with an average of only 11 percent of all high school students achieving proficiency.
“We’ve seen millions of dollars infused into Hope,” Onye said. “Those funds were diverted away from the other high schools. But we did not see the gains we expected.”
Students weren’t the only ones to defend Hope’s current configuration.
Harlan Rich, a member of the East Side Public Education Coalition, urged the School Board to come up with a compromise that would honor Hope’s gains. He also said that the School Department has forbidden teachers to speak publicly about their profound concerns about the changes coming to their school.
And Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith said that the district should be replicating Hope, not taking it apart.
“These schools [including Perry Middle School, which is slated to close] have empowered teachers and students,” he said. “Let’s wait and see if we get a school-funding formula. Let’s roll the dice, and go all in for Hope and Perry.”
AFT president lauds R.I.'s labor/management collaboration
Posted Thursday, April 15, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The president of the 1.4-million member American Federation of Teachers came calling Wednesday and she liked what she saw.
In her first classroom, Randi Weingarten, the union leader, quickly slipped into Weingarten, the teacher.
“If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?” she asked a room full of eighth graders at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence.
“Go to the moon,” said Jonathan.
“I’d stop war,” Marcas said.
“I want to go back in time,” said another boy.
What time, he was asked.
“Ancient times,” he said. “1887.”
“What steps do you have to take to become an astronaut or a scientist or become president?” Weingarten asked. Finish middle school, one child said. Complete high school, said another. Graduate from college, said a third child.
Weingarten, who is diminutive and soft-spoken, visited Providence Wednesday, not because labor and management are at each others’ throats, but because a superintendent and a union leader are willing to put their disagreements behind them and work together. In fact, it looks like Providence is the first district in the country to adopt this collaborative approach, according to the American Federation of Teachers.
Weingarten toured two failing schools, Roger Williams and Charlotte Woods Elementary, and broke bread with school officials and elected leaders because she heard that this was one district that was trying a fresh approach to the painful and often traumatic work of school reform.
“I’ve been president for two years,” Weingarten said. “I race around the country looking for [schools] where things are working or trying to work. I’m delighted to be in Providence because you are doing both.
“You can’t buy trust,” she said. “It’s earned, not given. If we are going to engage schools, the pivotal piece is collaboration. That’s what you are doing here, and it’s breathtaking. I thank you for having the courage to do it.”
Weingarten’s tour began at Roger Williams Middle School on Thurbers Avenue, a hulking brick edifice historically plagued by dismal test scores, leadership turnover and discipline issues. But Weingarten saw something other than failure. She observed teachers working hard to keep their students engaged and students paying attention.
“I’ve just seen two examples of extraordinary teaching in a school that is one of 5,000 schools that need to change,” said Weingarten, who was trained as a lawyer and later taught history at a Brooklyn high school. “Teachers often get labeled as bad teachers. Walking through these hallways defies that myth.”
After visiting the middle school, Weingarten joined Mayor David N. Cicilline, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, teachers and elected officials at a student-made breakfast at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, a $90-million high school full of modern technology.
It wasn’t all hearts and flowers, however. Renee Grant-Kane, a second-grade teacher at Charlotte Woods Elementary School, one of the schools singled out for intervention, said teachers are afraid of the forthcoming changes, including a new hiring method that is no longer based on the time-honored practice of seniority.
“Teachers,” Grant-Kane said, “do not get treated as professionals. How can we build morale? Change means working harder. We need teachers to buy in, and they can’t do that if they feel isolated.”
Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, said that Providence is trying to shake up the old top-down model of school leadership by inviting teachers to be part of the change.
“There is a great risk in what [Providence School Supt.] Tom [Brady] and [Providence Teachers Union president] Steve [Smith] are doing,” Reback said. “It puts the responsibility on everyone’s shoulders.”
And Weingarten pointed out that it takes more than teachers to turn around a failing school. It takes a uniform curriculum that reflects the state’s standards. It takes meaningful professional training. And it takes using test data to see which children are failing and why.
A few months ago, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist identified six of the lowest-performing schools in Rhode Island. Five were in Providence and one was in Central Falls. In Central Falls, a breakdown in communication led to a nasty dispute that pitted teachers against the superintendent and ultimately led Supt. Frances Gallo to fire all of the high school’s teachers and staff, effective this June.
Providence, which has a long history of bitter labor-management relations, chose a different path. Brady and Smith agreed to pursue the road not taken. They put aside their considerable differences (including a lawsuit over hiring practices filed by the union) and decided to hammer out a school-reform plan together, as partners.
Although the details have yet to be worked out, both parties have agreed to collaborate on how each of the four schools will be improved. A fifth school is expected to be closed.
Providence schools seek hike of 5 pct. in budget
Posted Wednesday, April 14, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — In what has become an annual spring ritual, the Providence School Department has proposed a budget where some of its biggest elements — the level of state aid and the city appropriation — are unknown.
The department is recommending a $329.4-million budget for fiscal 2011, which represents a 5-percent increase over the current budget.
According to the School Department’s chief financial officer, Matthew Clarkin, the proposed budget includes a $16.8-million deficit. That budget shortfall, however, could jump to almost $24 million if the General Assembly accepts Governor Carcieri’s budget, which calls for a $7.1-million cut in aid to the Providence schools.
Although there are no guarantees, Clarkin said that City Hall has told the School Department to assume that the city will continue to fund the schools at the same level. Mayor David N. Cicilline and other city officials are pressing Carcieri not to slash aid to cities and towns.
He also said the department’s 2011 budget does not include any savings that would be realized from the proposed closure of Perry Middle School and Feinstein High School.
“We don’t have a number yet,” Clarkin said, adding that school officials will meet on Monday to get an estimate of the savings. Coming up with an estimate is complicated because the department has to figure out how many teachers will be needed, in addition to the cost of busing students to schools outside their neighborhoods.
The School Board will decide whether to close the two schools at its April 26 meeting.
Much of the school budget is absorbed by fixed costs such as salary and benefits, which consume nearly 80 percent of this year’s budget.
According to Clarkin, the district spends $6.6 million maintaining a substitute teaching pool of 204 teachers, which is required by contract to fill vacancies from sick leave and other absences. The proposed 2011 budget sets aside an additional $2.2 million to pay for substitute teachers, a figure Clarkin says more accurately reflects the projected cost.
Clarkin said that the department was able to save almost $700,000 because the city refinanced its pension liability. But that savings doesn’t cover a $1.4-million increase in transportation costs, including a 14-percent proposed hike in the price of RIPTA bus passes, which are used by 2,500 students.
“We didn’t budget for the entire 14 percent,” Larkin said. “We budgeted for 10 percent.”
Although the contract with First Student calls for a 4-percent increase, the School Department is trying to negotiate a lower rate with the bus company. Larkin said, “We’re going back to them and saying, ‘We can’t absorb a 4-percent increase.’ ”
On a positive note, the school district was able to trim $1.3 million in out-of-district tuition, which covers students whose needs cannot be met in the classroom. The savings, Larkin said, represents the School Department’s successful efforts to educate those students within the district.
Students at Hope organize to keep improvements
Posted Monday, March 29, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — On an afternoon when they could be doing so many other things, 25 students from Hope High School gathered on the Brown University campus to strategize how to restore the innovations that led their school from failure to success.
The most passionate defenders of Hope, once considered among the state’s worst high schools, were seniors such as Julio Diaz, who said that his experience has changed the way he thinks about school.
“When I got to Hope,” Diaz said, “I expected to see graffiti, fights, but I saw something different. The kids were happy. The teachers asked, ‘What do you really want to be?’ In class, we were actually learning, not wasting time. Now, they want to do away with the things that make Hope, Hope.”
This fall, Hope will move from four 90-minute class periods, called a block schedule, to a six-period day, bringing the school in line with the district’s other high schools. Late last year, Supt. Tom Brady explained that the academic model adopted by Hope five years ago is too costly to maintain.
The new schedule will also reduce the time teachers spend on common planning. Student advisories, which the state considers a critical tool for building trusting relationships between students and adults, will be slashed from 90 minutes a week to 30 minutes.
Brady, in a December letter to the Rhode Board of Regents, said the district can no longer afford to devote so many resources to one school, adding that the Hope model requires 20 to 30 additional teachers at a cost of about $2.5 million.
But Hope’s defenders say that the elements that spurred Hope’s transformation — longer class periods, ample planning time, student advisories — are being dismantled.
Five years ago, Hope was plagued by lousy test scores, plummeting morale and low graduation rates. The school was so bad that former state education Commissioner Peter McWalters ordered it to make sweeping changes, including breaking the school into three smaller academies, organized around individual themes.
For Raul Gonzales, another senior, joining the Arts Academy was nothing short of a revelation:
“When I signed on to Arts, I found people who were just like me,” he said last week. “Now that they are taking that way, we won’t have that sense of identity.”
The campaign to organize Hope’s students is the brainchild of several Brown students, who visited the high school in January. When the Brown students spoke with some of the teachers at Hope, the conversation revolved around their frustration with the changes imposed by central administration.
For Aaron Regunberg, a Brown sophomore and political science major, the teachers’ despair was heartbreaking:
“Their perspective was, ‘Five years ago, we came to the table. We made all these commitments. We did it. We made progress. Now they are taking it all away.’ We thought we might be in a position to bring people together in a way that they couldn’t.”
Regunberg and Michael Mezera, a Brown freshman, spent the next month speaking with people such as union president Steve Smith and advocacy groups such as Young Voices. Two weeks ago, they turned up at Hope and began passing out fliers inviting students to a meeting at Brown the following week.
To their surprise, 45 students showed up for the first meeting.
At Thursday’s session, students were joined by Paul Sproll, a faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, one of Hope’s partners, Harlan Rich, who helped lead the successful effort to reopen Nathan Bishop Middle School, and Jill Davidson, who runs the Coalition for Essential Schools.
Students are circulating a petition that asks Brady to reconsider switching to a standard six-period day. The teenagers hope to make their case at an upcoming School Board meeting.
R.I. delegation heads to Washington to seek education funds
Posted Wednesday, March 17, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Buoyed by an unusual show of solidarity at the State House, political and educational leaders headed to Washington, D.C., Tuesday night to try to persuade federal officials that Rhode Island deserves a historic infusion of money into its public education system.
Governor Carcieri, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and Providence Supt. Tom Brady are leading a five-member team that will present the state’s Race to the Top application to a panel of judges at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Deputy Education Commissioner David V. Abbott and Maryann Snider, head of instruction and teacher quality at the state Department of Education, will also participate in the 30-minute presentation, which is followed by a 60-minute question-and-answer period. Both portions are closed to the public.
Joining the team are a dozen supporters, ranging from mayors and teachers union representatives to Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and House Speaker Gordon D. Fox.
A spirit of cooperation and goodwill between the Democratic-controlled House and Senate and the Republican governor dominated a rally at the State House Tuesday afternoon to see the group off. Just an hour later, lawmakers passed a bill to expand the cap on charter schools from 20 to 35, a boon to the state’s application.
“This is a huge, huge effort,” Carcieri said, thanking dozens of people for their work in developing the state’s 200-page application. The money would help the state move forward “more quickly and more deeply” with improvements to schools, Carcieri said.
Rhode Island has asked for $126.6 million to implement a range of far-reaching changes that would alter the way teachers are trained, paid and evaluated; revamp the way grades and test scores are used to analyze student and teacher performance; and expand innovative approaches such as public charter schools and alternative teacher-training programs.
Carcieri commended Brady, Providence Teachers Union president Steve Smith and Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline as particularly helpful in the state’s effort to win the unprecedented federal funds. Shortly before the January deadline to submit the application, Brady and Cicilline encouraged Smith to sign on to the plan — a signal to federal officials that the state’s biggest teachers union was willing to embrace profound reforms. The Foster teachers union was the only other local to endorse the plan.
Rhode Island’s application was strong enough to win one of 16 finalist spots — out of 41 applicants that entered the $4-billion competition. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has warned that only a few states will be selected in the first round on April 1. States that are not selected can reapply June 1.
Gist tried to temper expectations that Rhode Island would win the first round even as she exuded enthusiasm. Rhode Island was one of just three states to receive praise this week from a nonprofit organization, the National Council on Teacher Quality, for its “bold plan.”
“We are going to make these changes whether or not we get the funding,” Gist said. “We are going to change from the system we have today to the system we envision. Rhode Island is going to be a leader in education reform.”
Perry, Feinstein schools to close in Providence
Posted Tuesday, March 9, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — About 300 Perry Middle School teachers and parents turned out Monday night to beg Supt. Tom Brady to save their school, saying that the heart of any school lies in its faculty, not its physical plant.
The Providence School Board, however, voted to move forward with Brady’s recommendation to close Perry, a sprawling 80-year-old brick edifice in the North End whose bricks and mortar are crumbling.
During the meeting, teacher Steve Kilsey called the school “a perfect brilliant diamond” where teachers and students functioned as a family.
Another teacher, D. Wolf Fulton, said that Perry has “a caring faculty who put in extra time above and beyond the classroom duties.”
Staff members also said that Perry has made tremendous gains, making yearly progress the past three years.
Brady thanked everyone who turned out for their dedication and their concern, and acknowledged that school closings are always emotionally painful.
Faced with declining student enrollments and spiraling maintenance costs, Brady hired a team of consultants last year to visit all of the district’s 40-plus schools and decide which ones to close, based on their poor condition and the quality of their educational equipment.
In what is largely a procedural matter, the School Board will not formally vote to close Perry and Feinstein High School, a small alternative high school on the South Side, until public hearings are held this spring. The board is expected to follow Brady’s recommendations.
These closings have nothing to do with the schools’ academic performance, which is the driving force behind state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s decision to single out six of the state’s lowest-performing schools. Five of them are in Providence and the other is Central Falls High School.
During a meeting brimming with emotion, the school board also voted to:
•Delay closing Windmill Elementary School and Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street until the School Department studies whether to revive neighborhood schools at the elementary level.
•Reopen and renovate the former West Broadway Elementary School on Bainbridge Street. The popular West End school was closed three years ago after then-Supt. Donnie Evans argued that the school’s fire code violations would be too costly to fix.
•Postpone the creation of three K-8 schools until the school administration analyzes the pros and cons of this model. The district currently has middle schools with grades 6 through 8.
School administrators have said that they are confident that few, if any, teachers from the closed schools will lose their jobs. The teachers affected by the school closures will receive letters saying that they have been “displaced,” not fired, which means they can apply for vacancies elsewhere. Providence typically has dozens of job openings every year.
Providence proposing school changes that include teacher participation
Posted Tuesday, March 9, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The city is poised to embark on an unorthodox method of transforming four of its lowest-performing schools, asking the teachers union, long an adversary of management, to help in an overhaul.
Monday night, Supt. Tom Brady presented his plans to the School Board before sending a letter of intent to state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, who has 10 days to approve or deny them. The School Board is not required to vote on the proposal.
The wide-ranging reforms are the result of an order from Gist who, in January, identified the six lowest-performing schools in the state and ordered them to shape up or else.
Five of them are in Providence. The other is Central Falls High School, which has been torn apart ever since Supt. Frances Gallo fired all 93 teachers and staff after they refused to agree to a series of far-reaching changes. What Brady is proposing, however, is revolutionary in a district where labor-management relationships have often been acrimonious. A lawsuit over the district’s new hiring practices is pending, although the union and the school administration are reportedly close to a resolution.
But Brady and union president Steve Smith have since reconciled, prompted in part by Smith’s decision to sign on to the federal Race to the Top application, which could usher in millions of dollars for the cash-strapped district.
“We wouldn’t be here without the union’s leadership,” Brady said in an earlier interview. “It’s clear, if you have everyone at the table, your probability of success is greatly enhanced.”
Although the details have yet to be worked out, Brady envisions a team of union leaders and school administrators, including himself and Smith, sitting down to craft substantial changes at each of four schools. They are Charlotte Woods Elementary School, Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street, Roger Williams Middle School and the Cooley Health, Science and Technology High School.
Feinstein High School is also on the list, but Brady has recommended closing the small, alternative school under a separate plan that looked at the condition of school buildings as well as enrollment patterns. All together, more than 2,200 students will be affected.
Once a plan for each school has been developed, a teacher from each would work closely with the principal to implement and tweak the proposal. The superintendent, however, would retain the ultimate authority over such matters as curriculum, but individual schools could reorganize or extend the school day.
After extensive public meetings with parents, teachers and community leaders, Brady chose the “restart” model because it afforded much more flexibility than the other three options provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Although a majority of parents and teachers said they preferred the “transformation” model, Brady said that it was too restrictive. The transformation model calls for replacing the principal, a rigorous teacher evaluation, some form of merit pay for teachers and more time set aside for instruction.
“With the transformation model, we must follow every one of the [requirements],” Brady said. “There may be some — like merit pay — that don’t fit our schools.”
The restart option is more open-ended, he said. The only thing it calls for is creating a new management structure, like a charter school, to run the school. In this case, however, the management team would be a union-district partnership.
Although no one would be fired, Brady said teachers at the affected schools would have to re-apply for their jobs. Those teachers who chose not to commit to the new reforms could apply for openings at other Providence schools.
Some of the changes that Brady is considering under the restart option are a longer school day, more common planning time for teachers, a more flexible budget and professional training targeted toward the needs of each school.
Providence parents, educators discuss plans for failing schools
Posted Wednesday, March 3, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A diverse group of parents, teachers and community leaders were very clear Tuesday night: We want to reorganize our schools without taking the dramatic steps that led to acrimony in Central Falls.
The committee, comprising representatives from each of the district’s five lowest-performing schools, said that they want change in the form of longer school days, smarter professional training and more parent involvement. But they do not want to dismantle schools or fire the staff, nor do they want an outside management company, like a charter school, to tell them what to do.
Last night, parents and teachers had to choose one of four options to overhaul their failing schools, identified in January by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist as among the worst-performing schools in Rhode Island. The sixth school is Central Falls High School, whose teachers received termination letters last week after failing to accept a less punitive overhaul.
Here’s what the representatives from each of the five schools recommended to Providence Supt. Tom Brady, who will announce his decision on March 8.
•Feinstein High School chose the transformation model, which calls for replacing the principal, extending learning time, reaching out to the community and increasing teacher effectiveness.
Feinstein, however, is in a peculiar position because a separate school facilities study has recommended that the school be closed because of its poor physical condition. With closure a distinct possibility, parents and teachers urged Brady to keep the staff together if they are moved to another school.
•Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street favors the restart model, which, among other options, calls for reopening the school under a labor-management team. Tuesday night, school officials said that the restart option offers the most flexibility because you can pick and choose elements from the transformation model without being limited to those reforms.
Brady also cautioned the committee about the cost of implementing certain provisions, such as an extended school day. Although Providence will receive additional federal money, once the district commits to a particular model, it can’t say, “We don’t have enough money.”
•Roger Williams Middle School chose the transformation option, but said it could also accept the restart model.
•Health, Science and Technology High School selected the transformation option because committee members said they didn’t want to “change the school entirely.”
•Charlotte Woods Elementary School also favored the transformation model.
Whereas the debate in Central Falls has been acrimonious, the discussion in Providence has been civil, and last night was no exception.
“This is the first time that the district has allowed the community to voice its opinion,” said Rosa DeCastillo, who was speaking as a member of the Latino community.
Although each school is different, several common themes emerged from last night’s conversations. Parents want a greater role in their children’s education. Teachers want more say over their training, which they said is often irrelevant to what is happening in their classrooms. Students said they wanted a longer school day, and one teenager called for additional help after school.
Chris Pride, a teacher at Roger Williams, called for a complete change in school culture, but said he hoped that it could be accomplished without getting rid of the staff.
“These students have had enough change,” he said. “Teachers are often their only constant.”
Several participants, however, said it was important for teachers to “re-commit” to their schools, which might involve teachers re-applying for their jobs, as they did at Hope High School five years ago.
Afterward, Brady thanked the group for its commitment and said, “If we don’t work on this together, we’re wasting our time.”
Parents, school administrator to meet
Posted Tuesday, March 2, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — West End parents and community leaders are meeting Tuesday night with one of the School Department’s top administrators to begin a conversation about how to improve the neighborhood schools.
At a recent school board meeting, Supt. Tom Brady announced that he was creating a task force to study the possibility of returning to neighborhood schools and said he would actively engage parents in the process. Several groups, including the West Broadway Neighborhood Association and the newly formed West Side Public Education Coalition, took up Brady’s call to action.
“This forum is the first of what we hope to be a series of ongoing conversations about the future of our neighborhood schools,” said Kari Lang, director of the neighborhood association. “Previously, we didn’t have a seat at the table. Now we do.”
For three years, West End community leaders have pleaded with the School Department to reopen West Broadway Elementary School on Bainbridge Avenue, which former Supt. Donnie Evans closed in 2007 over the vehement objections of parents and teachers. At the time, Evans shut down the school because of fire code violations.
Brady recently announced that he planned to reopen the Bainbridge Avenue school, although it remains to be seen whether West Broadway students return to that location. A team of consultants recommended moving students from the nearby Asa Messer Elementary School to Bainbridge, but many West Broadway parents would like to see their children return to the Bainbridge location.
“The School Department is on the right track,” said Brian Principe, a parent and leader of the West Side Public Education Coalition, which is modeled after a similar organization on the East Side. “I hope that we can start to make progress on bringing back the [Bainbridge] elementary school. But we’re not just about West Broadway.”
Principe said his group is interested in creating high-performing schools throughout the West End, including quality middle schools. Although the consultants called for the school’s closure, Brady has recommended that the Bridgham Middle School on Westminster Street remain open.
Tuesday’s forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, 1560 Westminster St., Providence. Carleton Jones, the School Department’s chief operating officer, will attend the meeting on behalf of the School Department.
More collaboration than conflict in Providence over education
Posted Monday, March 1, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — In January, after five city schools were named among the worst in Rhode Island, Providence Supt. Tom Brady had a choice: he could reorganize the schools with — or without — the union’s support.
Brady approached Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, who was currently suing the district over hiring practices, and asked if he would join him in speaking with teachers at the affected schools.
As they toured the schools, Brady would ask teachers with 20 years in the system to stand up, then those with 10 years and so forth. Each time, Brady said, “You all deserve a round of applause.”
Call it a tale of two cities.
While the superintendent and union president have been going at it in Central Falls, Brady and Smith have worked together on a plan to radically reshape five of the state’s lowest-performing schools.
On Friday, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said that she hopes the partnership between management and labor in Providence is the wave of the future.
“I think that we have to acknowledge that change can be difficult,” she said. “I’m really encouraged to see them working together. Providence teachers are fortunate to have leadership that represents teachers while collaborating on what’s best for students.”
The latest collaboration was no small breakthrough. Last fall, the union sued Brady after then-state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters ordered Providence to abolish seniority, the time-honored way in which teachers are assigned to fill openings.
When Brady arrived in Providence in summer 2008, he inherited a protracted labor dispute and the staff’s deep distrust of school administration, a legacy of former Supt. Donnie Evans. Both parties were close to reaching a contract agreement when Mayor David N. Cicilline announced a change in health-care providers, which infuriated teachers and blew a hole in negotiations.
Then McWalters stepped in and gave the district three months to do away with seniority.
So what brought about a rapprochement?
In a joint interview Thursday, they said their arguments were never personal.
“I like him personally,” Brady said. “That was never the issue.”
The two leaders decided to sit down while the city was preparing its part of the state’s application for federal Race to The Top funds — expected to reap millions of dollars for cash-strapped Providence schools if the state is one of a few chosen nationwide for the money. Under federal guidelines, union participation in the application is an important asset in the competition. With all those dollars at stake, Smith said he couldn’t afford to be an obstacle in getting valuable resources that would benefit his 2,000 members.
In a series of weekend-long negotiations involving Brady, Smith and Gist, Gist offered several concessions that made her plan palatable to Smith.
Risking his own political future as leader of the state’s largest teachers’ union, Smith endorsed the commissioner’s school-reform plan because it was “the right thing to do for kids.” He was the only teachers union leader to do so.
According to Smith, this is the future of labor-management relationships — more collaboration than conflict. Smith remembers Brady saying, “OK. This has to be a partnership. We can’t say this is a collaboration if we’re at each others’ throats.”
The partnership is playing out in other ways, too. Last year, when the School Department was developing its annual layoff list, the union waited until the names were completed, then pointed out every mistake, what Smith calls a game of “gotcha.” This winter, the union and administration worked on the layoff list together, even over school vacation. Last week, Brady announced that only 99 teachers would receive pink slips, a dramatic decline from the previous two years, when 650 and 584 staff received notices.
“Marcia Reback congratulated us,” Smith said of the former president of his union who is now president of the union statewide. “Not since 1973 has Providence had less than 100 layoffs.”
On March 11, Brady hopes to submit his plans for the five schools to Gist and Smith fully expects that the superintendent’s recommendations will honor what teachers want.
“Do I think he is in favor of closing schools? No.” Smith said. “My sense is that the superintendent will run his recommendations by me. This isn’t about agreeing on everything. It’s about doing what’s right for kids and teachers.”
Parents are scarce at meeting to improve education system
Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Stephanie Jones wanted an answer: Where are all the parents?
Jones was one of only seven parents who showed up at her child’s high school one evening recently to hear what officials have in mind for dramatically improving — or perhaps shutting down — five of the city’s worst schools.
“There is something very, very wrong here,” Jones told the administrators running the meeting at the Health, Science and Technology Academy, a South Side high school. “We’re missing the parents. We’re not going to have a successful school if we don’t get parent engagement.”
On orders from the state education commissioner, Supt. Tom Brady must decide which of four approaches he thinks is best for each school. He can close down one or more of them; turn them over to a charter company, transform them by making substantial changes from within, or follow a “turnaround” model that calls for firing the entire staff and rehiring no more than half.
As part of the state-ordered decision-making process, Providence must gather the opinions of parents and other community representatives on what they think would be the best approach or approaches to radically changing the five schools. Two weeks ago, teachers from each of the five schools met privately to discuss which of the reform models they preferred.
The School Department faced the challenge of getting parents to weigh in on an inherently complicated process and to do so under a tight deadline. Brady has until March 17 to tell the commissioner, Deborah A. Gist, what he proposes for each of the five schools.
The Central Falls School Department, under similar orders to overhaul its high school, already has completed the initial process and has proposed the turnaround model, which requires clearing out the school’s entire staff at the end of the current school year.
With so much at stake, why did only a handful of parents show up for the informational meetings, which were held at each of the five schools on weeknights and Saturday last week. Annetti Perrea, a parent of two children, says that parents feel overburdened by the demands of their own lives.
“Parents are overwhelmed trying to pay the bills and put food on the table,” she said. “If I have two jobs, I can’t tell my employer I’m taking time out for a meeting.”
Glen Perdereaux, a parent of two elementary school children, doesn’t buy the excuse that parents are too busy to make time for their children’s education.
“I don’t buy this nonsense,” he said. “This is your child’s future. What can be more important than that?”
Although Perrea commended the School Department for providing Spanish-language translation at each meeting, she said Spanish-speaking parents are sometimes afraid to speak out publicly, especially if the event is being filmed.
The department, she says, should hold meetings in places where parents already congregate, such as churches and Boys & Girls Clubs. The School Department should also ask local community groups to get out the word about important meetings or major changes to the school system.
“We certainly believe that our parents have a great interest in what happens to their children,” said school spokeswoman Kim Rose. “Our goal is to disseminate the information as widely as possible.”
According to Rose, Providence has gone above and beyond what Gist called for in terms of community engagement. Parents were given two opportunities to hear about the intervention models: during the week and again on Saturday morning. The district also invited teachers and staff to participate in a separate set of meetings held at each of the five schools.
The school district tried to get the message out, in English and Spanish, through the mail, notifying parents of the meetings. It also sent out two phone messages, also in both languages. The first call was made a week before the meetings and a reminder was sent the day before.
On a separate front, Providence is also considering closing six schools because of their poor physical condition. The School Department recently held a series of well-attended public meetings on the plan, which went before the School Board on Monday night.
Meanwhile, parents and children are anxious about what these changes will mean for them. Some Providence parents mistakenly think that their schools are closing right away, while others believe that Providence will follow Central Falls, where the superintendent plans to fire its high school staff.
“People are afraid,” Perrea said. “There are so many things happening at once.”
On Tuesday night, all of the stakeholders — teachers, parents, principals and community leaders — will share their recommendations for fixing each school at a public meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. at School Department headquarters.
Perdereaux applauded the department for trying to reach out to parents, but says he felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information presented at the meeting he attended. “I hope something good can come out of this,” he said.
Brady to delay closing of two elementary schools
Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Supt. Tom Brady earned high praise from parents and elected officials Monday night for listening to his constituents and deciding to keep two elementary schools open.
After listening to hours of public debate on the proposed school closings, Brady made the following recommendations:
•Delay closing Windmill Elementary School and Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street until a task force studies how to restore neighborhood schools at the elementary level.
•Postpone the creation of three K-8 schools until the School Department is able to thoroughly explore the pros and cons of this approach. The district currently has middle schools with grades six through eight.
•Close Feinstein High School and Perry Middle School, but keep Bridgham Middle School open. Brady decided to keep Bridgham open because the building is in much better condition and has superior educational facilities.
Feinstein High School teachers and parents, however, said that it would be a shame to close a school that has made amazing gains in reading and writing recently, beating the state average. They described Feinstein as a family, and said that the small high school has had great success in not only sending graduates to college, but keeping them there.
“When our grades went up, we never heard from anyone,” said Melissa Parkerson, a Feinstein teacher. “Our students have been torn apart. Please let them know they matter.”
•Re-open and renovate the former West Broadway Elementary School on Bainbridge Street.
Brady’s proposal represents a significant departure from the consultants’ original recommendations, which called for closing both elementary schools together with Perry, Bridgham and Feinstein High School.
Last night, several city councilors who had been highly critical of the consultants’ original proposal applauded Brady for changing his mind. And Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith said Brady and the union have “turned a corner,” adding that both sides are really focused on “doing what’s right for kids.”
In an interview Monday, Brady said he took to heart the concerns of parents, teachers and elected officials, who called for a return to neighborhood elementary schools, in spite of their poor physical condition. In fact, parents and politicians described these schools as “anchors” in their community and argued that they should be spared.
According to School Department policy, 80 percent of elementary school seats are reserved for students who can walk to school. In many cases, however, only a fraction of neighborhood children attend the nearest elementary school. At Windmill Elementary School, for example, only 21 percent of the students come from the neighborhood.
In any event, Brady wants to appoint a task force to study what can be done to correct the shift away from neighborhood schools.
During the latest round of community meetings, parents and politicians also questioned why the district was spending so much money busing students across town when that money could be better spent elsewhere. An inordinate sum of money — between $7.7 and $8.5 million — is spent busing elementary and middle school students.
“It would be disingenuous to close elementary schools when we have this larger issue,” Brady said, adding that he wants the task force to study the entire $16-million transportation budget, which includes money to bus private and parochial school students.
Brady said he also heard loud and clear that parents are not ready for a K-8 school model. Although some research says that, K-8 schools provide students with more stability, parents repeatedly said that they were afraid of putting their children in the same building with larger and more socially advanced adolescents.
“I think it’s a great model,” Brady said. “But you can’t impose that on people.”
Meanwhile, school officials said they are confident that few, if any, teachers from Feinstein or Perry will lose their jobs. If Feinstein and Perry are closed, those teachers will receive letters that say they are “displaced,” not fired, which means they can apply for vacancies elsewhere. Carlton Jones, the department’s chief operating officer, said it appears likely that most of those teachers will be rehired because the district typically has to fill dozens of vacancies.
The task force will begin to study the twin issues of neighborhood schools and busing costs in April with final recommendations expected in 10 months. The school board will vote on the proposed school closings March 8.
Budget plan would deeply cut aid to schools
Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri’s spending plan for fiscal year 2011 would reduce state aid to schools by at least $27 million — the deepest cut to education aid in nearly two decades, since the height of Rhode Island’s banking crisis. If approved by the General Assembly, the state’s 36 school districts and 10 of the state’s 13 charter schools would receive an across-the-board cut of 3.8 percent, compared with this year. (Three charter schools are operated by the Providence and Cranston school districts and would sustain cuts through those districts.) The four state-operated schools — Davies Career and Tech, Rhode Island School for the Deaf, the MET, and the Training School — would also sustain significant cuts.
Carcieri has laid out a plan that would reduce school aid by as much as $38.2 million. That includes the $26.7 million across-the-board reduction, and additional cuts equal to the amount that, he says, each community would save on teacher retirement costs if the legislature revokes the promise of guaranteed annual pension increases for future retirees.
The impact on communities would be severe. Providence, the state’s largest school district, would lose $7.1 million if the across-the-board education cuts are approved. Schools Supt. Tom Brady called the potential reductions “grave” and said they threatened his district’s ability to serve its 24,000 students. Providence schools have already lost $5.8 million in state funding over the past two years.
“Continued cuts in state aid to local school districts will further compromise our school district’s ability to deliver crucial educational services to our students,” Brady said in a statement.
Central Falls, which is financed almost entirely by the state, would lose $1.7 million. Other large districts, including Warwick and Woonsocket would take a big hit — $1.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively. Pawtucket would lose about $2.5 million.
Some districts have been bracing for the potential cuts. Cranston, for example, assumed it would lose about $750,000 next year and planned accordingly. But the governor’s proposal would slash far more from Cranston schools — $1.26 million.
Though the state’s charter schools would lose $1.3 million, teacher union officials have expressed dismay that the governor’s budget also includes $6 million extra for the expansion of five existing charter schools and the addition of two new charters this fall.
Four charter schools are adding grades, as their charters allow: Paul Cuffee, Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley, Learning Community and Segue Institute. And International Charter School is expanding by 25 students.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has defended the additional money for charters, which are publicly financed schools that are free from many of the rules and restrictions that govern regular public schools. Gist says that many charter schools are showing positive results for students and says they are centers for innovation that other schools can learn from.
On Tuesday, Gist said she was concerned about the proposed cuts to schools. Gist is overseeing an ambitious array of reforms, many of which will require additional resources.
Carcieri’s budget also expands a tax-credit scholarship program from $1 million to $2 million. Businesses can donate up to $100,000 a year into the scholarship program, receiving a tax credit of up to 90 percent for their donation. The scholarships go to low-income students who attend parochial or private school. The program, which began in 2007, serves between 300 and 500 students a year.
“There continues to be a growing unmet need of families who want to choose the right educational environment for their children but are unable to do so due to financial constraints,” said Dan Corley, board president of the Rhode Island Scholarship Alliance. “Raising the cap will help meet the needs of more eligible families.”
Parents oppose proposed closure of 7 Providence schools
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Our schools are much more than brick and mortar. They are the centers of our community, the repository of our hopes and dreams.
That was the message that parents, teachers and politicians shared with school leaders at the first of six public hearings on a proposal to close seven public schools and turn three schools into kindergarten-through-grade-eight buildings.
The consultants, Fanning Howey, have recommended closing three elementary schools, including Windmill Elementary in the city’s North End. The proposed closures are driven by declining student enrollment in Providence, the condition of the school buildings, many of which are at least 60 years old, and an increasingly grim financial picture.
Last night, the public was especially upset with the proposed closing of Windmill. The plan calls for sending Windmill students to the nearby Hopkins Middle School. Parents, however, questioned why a popular elementary school was being closed.
“You have a $360-million school budget and you want to close a school that has been the center of the community for years?” said state Rep. John D. Simone to loud applause. “How much would it save? $471,000? No way I’m going to let you close a school for $470,000.”
Parents also questioned the wisdom of placing small children in a building with much bigger and more emotionally advanced students.
Teachers also defended Windmill, saying that it was a school on the rise.
“Our test scores are up,” said teacher Traci Bowen. “Why are we being punished?”
Edward Schmidt, a Fanning Howey consultant, said that it was the building, not the academic program at Windmill, that was being dismantled, but that didn’t assuage the concerns of teachers, who wondered what would happen to them at Hopkins.
Harlan Rich, a parent and member of the East Side Public Education Coalition, asked whether closing two middle schools, Perry and Bridgham, would result in overcrowding at the other middle schools. He said that research has shown that 600 students is the ideal capacity of a high-performing middle school.
Schmidt said that the plan does not call for exceeding the 600-student threshold at any of the middle schools. (Fanning Howey recommends that the following schools be transformed into K-8 schools: Vartan Gregorian Elementary School on the East Side, Carl Lauro Elementary School and Hopkins Middle School, which currently has grades 6 through 8.)
Gregorian parents worry that turning it into a K-8 school would undermine the school’s success. With a waiting list of 100 students, Gregorian is the most popular elementary school in the city and a growing number of East Side parents are returning to the public schools because of Gregorian and Nathan Bishop Middle School, which just underwent a $35-million renovation.
“Why would you build two new middle schools in one neighborhood, when other neighborhoods don’t have anything?” said Kira Greene, a Gregorian parent.
According to Greene, this proposal would “sabotage” Nathan Bishop by funneling students into the K-8 school at Gregorian. Gregorian is one of the primary “feeder” elementary schools for Bishop.
Schmidt said that the district would need to build an addition to Gregorian so that students wouldn’t have to be moved during extensive renovation. Once the work was finished, the district would need to find a use for that extra classroom space.
But several parents noted that the school is boxed in by a highway and a park and said that there is no place to build an addition.
Feinstein High getting $1,000,000 from anonymous donor
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein has announced that an anonymous donor has given $1 million to keep Feinstein High School from closing.
Feinstein, whose name adorns numerous buildings in Rhode Island, including at least four public schools, said he was disheartened when he heard that the high school was one of six schools that may be closed due to its shoddy physical condition and declining enrollments throughout the district.
“I was very unhappy to hear that Feinstein was closing,” Feinstein said. “It has a high college-acceptance rate. Only Classical High School beats it.”
Feinstein donated $500,000 to the school when it opened in 1994 amid much fanfare. At the time, it was one of several iconoclastic new high schools that were trying to create lively learning environments for disaffected youth. Teachers worked in teams and written evaluations replaced letter grades. The school itself was built around a two-story atrium, with tons of natural light. Exposed ductwork gave the building the look of an urban loft.
Today, however, Principal K.C. Perry said the two science labs are woefully inadequate; they lack sinks, Bunsen burners and adequate technology. Classrooms are cramped and there is no gymnasium. Perry acknowledges that the building has outlasted its mission and agrees that students would be better served in a modern facility such as the nearby Adelaide High School.
But he disagrees with news reports that say that the school is failing. Although its scores are still low, in 2007, Feinstein High was one of two Providence high schools to make double-digit gains in writing and math.
“We created a place where students were successful,” Perry said Monday. “Teachers and kids worked in teams. The persistence that students have learned here has followed them into college.”
At 59 percent, Feinstein has the second-highest rate of college enrollment, after Classical High School, the district’s jewel in the crown. And 40 percent of its graduates remain in college four years later, a rate only exceeded by Classical. The high school also performs well when you look at five-year graduation rates. Nearly 70 percent earn their diploma when given an extra year, Perry said.
But state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist identified Feinstein High School as one of Rhode Island’s lowest-achieving schools. Using a complex federal formula that takes into account test scores, graduation rates and student improvement over time, Gist singled out Feinstein as one of five Providence schools (six statewide) that must be fixed or face closure.
Yesterday, a School Department spokeswoman said that Supt. Tom Brady will meet with Feinstein officials to discuss the challenges facing the high school and the school district.
“The generosity of his offer is much appreciated,” said spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly.
That said, O’Reilly said that there are “significant challenges” facing Feinstein beyond the purely physical limitations. It would cost several million dollars to upgrade the science labs alone.
Union chief wants a say in school reforms
Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Risking his own place in the labor hierarchy, the president of the state’s largest teachers union said he supports the education commissioner’s controversial school-reform plan because it is “the right thing to do for kids.”
The 2,000-member Providence Teachers Union was the only urban union local in Rhode Island to sign the state’s Race to the Top application, which could bring as much as $125 million in federal money to school districts in Rhode Island. As the largest school system, Providence stands to gain the most from the reform proposal. The union’s support is considered critical to the plan’s success in the competition for the money.
“For the first time,” PTU president Steve Smith said, “we have been guaranteed not only a seat at the table, but a partnership. This doesn’t mean that I’ve conceded anything. It means we will be part of the discussions.”
Smith’s decision puts him at odds with other urban teachers unions and, he says, it could threaten his reelection this spring. Smith’s decision to approve the plan triggered the endorsement of Marcia Reback, president of the PTU’s state umbrella organization, the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Care Professionals.
While none of the other Rhode Island urban unions joined Smith, the leaders of several big-city teachers unions elsewhere, including Boston and Philadelphia, supported their states’ bids for the federal money.
With millions of dollars at stake for the cash-strapped district, Smith said he couldn’t afford to turn down valuable resources that would directly benefit his 2,000 members. Besides, he said, Deborah A. Gist, education commissioner, has already said she intends to intervene in Providence by ordering the district to dramatically change, perhaps close, five of its lowest-performing schools.
But, Smith said, in feverish negotiations over the weekend, Gist offered several concessions that made her plan more palatable. Most importantly, she agreed to include other measures of student performance, not just test scores, when evaluating a teacher’s effectiveness.
According to Smith, Gist also agreed to ensure that any issues involving wages, benefits and working conditions must be subject to collective bargaining. Gist’s plan includes a memorandum that says that any contract violations would be submitted to binding arbitration.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity to receive funding that the district desperately needs,” Smith said in a letter to his membership. “In uncertain economic times, our union must have a voice at the table.
“The alternative — to obstruct the application — is unacceptable. Should we face the same issues without an assurance of negotiation and arbitration and without a chance for funding? Should we further jeopardize our public support and our support in General Assembly?”
Mostly though, Smith said that this was the right thing to do for students, who will ultimately benefit from teachers who are better trained and have access to the latest technology.
“Steve was shrewd,” said Tim Duffy, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. “He took a look at the landscape and decided that it was better to be involved in the process early on than left sitting on the sidelines.”
Meanwhile, Smith earned high praise Tuesday from both Mayor David N. Cicilline and Supt. Tom Brady who called Smith’s leadership “courageous and bold.“
Smith’s approval signals at least a temporary thaw in the contentious relationship between Brady and the union. The union filed a federal lawsuit against Brady last year after the district, under orders from the state, decided to eliminate seniority as the method of assigning teachers to vacancies. The suit is in mediation.
Providence union signs on to ‘Race to the Top’ school reform
Posted Tuesday, January 19, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist flies to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to hand-deliver her $125-million school-reform proposal bolstered by the long-sought approval of the Providence Teachers Union — a key endorsement that improves the state’s chances to win the federal education aid.
The 2,000-member Providence local was the only affiliate of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals to support the reform plan, and it did so in the 11th hour. Gist also received the endorsement, with reservations, of the RIFTHP, Marcia Reback.
The National Education Association of Rhode Island, which represents most of the suburban and rural districts, withheld its support of the state’s Race to the Top application in the competition to win a portion of a $4-billion federal pot.
Tuesday is the deadline for states to apply to the U.S. Department of Education.
RIFTHP’s 10 other teacher locals, including Central Falls, Cranston, Pawtucket, Warwick and Woonsocket, declined to sign off on the application, which has received support from virtually all superintendents and school committees in the state. Of the state’s 50 school districts, charter schools and state-operated schools, 47 have embraced all the reforms outlined in the application. Coventry agreed to some of the reforms; only Little Compton and Chariho school officials balked at participating.
The 370-page proposal calls for ambitious reforms that would change every aspect of public education in Rhode Island. It demands improvements in teacher quality and student achievement, especially in the state’s worst schools.
Education officials expressed their appreciation for the RIFTHP’s endorsement.
“I think we are thrilled to have received the widespread support that we have, and through good faith negotiations on everyone’s part we’ve been able to receive the support of the state’s largest teachers union, notwithstanding the concerns I know they had,” said Robert G. Flanders Jr., chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. “We are very happy to have their support.”
Gist, architect of the plan, described the endorsement of the Providence Teachers Union as “incredibly important” to the success of the proposal.
“It shows they are willing to sit down with us and work through changes that will benefit every teacher and student across the state,” she said.
Despite serious disagreements with Gist over teacher evaluations, Reback said she realized union support was critical.
“I said from the beginning that if any of my locals wanted to sign on, I would send a letter of support,” Reback said. “I believe that with the support of the RIFTHP and Providence, the application stands a good chance of being funded, and without it, the application would not be funded.”
NEARI declined to endorse the plan, although one of its locals, Foster, did sign on.
“At this time, we see no reason to send a letter and don’t think a letter would be helpful to the cause,” said Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of NEARI. “Our list of objections is quite extensive and has not been adequately addressed.” The application includes several reforms that vex union officials, including the expansion of charter schools and opening Rhode Island’s classrooms to teachers not trained in the traditional way.
In recent days, the main sticking points involved the degree to which standardized test scores should be used to evaluate teachers and Gist’s proposal to link teacher evaluations to certification.
Gist wants 51 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on whether his or her students’ improve on tests. The unions say that other indicators of student performance, including grades, portfolios and writing samples, should carry more weight when assessing student growth and educator effectiveness.
After several days of intense discussions, Gist compromised on a few details. For example, she agreed to gradually phase in the 51-percent requirement over three years: 40 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. In addition, a plan to revoke the certification of an ineffective teacher within three years was extended to five years to give struggling teachers time to switch schools and receive additional training.
Teachers, R.I. education chief still at loggerheads over reform
Posted Thursday, January 14, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Responding to complaints from teachers’ unions, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and her staff are making changes to the state’s application for millions of dollars in federal money awarded to states that embrace education reform.
Gist said Wednesday she is willing to compromise, but is unwilling to water down changes she considers crucial to boosting student achievement.
“We are working around the clock to make the changes,” Gist said. “We are adjusting language.”
Unions were given until Wednesday to decide if they would sign on to the state’s effort to get as much as $100 million under the competitive Race to the Top program. That deadline has been extended, Gist said. Now, education officials will fine-tune the document over the next several days and she will hand-deliver it to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19.
Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of National Education Association of Rhode Island, said he is unsure the two sides can reach an agreement.
“We spent five hours with her today and several issues were discussed, but some of the major issues remain unresolved,” Walsh said Wednesday. “I don’t know. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. I got the impression there was some rigidity on the other side that might not be resolvable.”
Walsh declined to specify what aspects of the application troubled union leaders.
The dense document touches upon many areas of reform that the unions oppose, such as expanding publicly financed charter schools, inviting in alternative teacher-training programs and requiring all educators to be evaluated yearly –– based, in large measure, on student performance.
“I am unwavering in my commitment to ensuring the plans we move forward with — whether we get Race to the Top money or not — result in better achievement for our children,” Gist said. “But I am more than willing to work to come together and find a way of doing that in a way everyone can support.”
The public had the chance to read the 120-page plan for the first time on Monday and Tuesday. While some response has been positive, teachers’ unions and some other groups have objected to parts of the application, Gist acknowledged.
Widespread public support — including from the unions — is crucial to Rhode Island’s ability to win the federal funds. Gist hopes to secure at least $100 million to make dramatic improvements in Rhode Island schools.
Among the changes that Gist’s staff has already made to the application is removing a section stating that if a student is taught by a teacher deemed to be “ineffective” two years in a row, a letter would be sent home to the parents.
That provision also worried school superintendents, who questioned how that situation would be handled, said John L. Pini, executive director of the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association.
“A child shouldn’t have a bad teacher one year, let alone two years in a row,” Pini said. “But we were puzzled about how that would be implemented.”
Another section that promised the state would move to merit pay for teachers was broadened to say the state will consider multiple methods to reward excellent teachers, including school-wide bonuses that would benefit the entire school community. Gist said she is still holding out hope the unions will come on board. Across the nation, some teachers’ unions are supporting state applications, while others are encouraging locals not to sign on. The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals and NEARI have not yet decided what they will do.
“My greatest hope would be we can come together as a state — every single one of us, parents, students, teachers and local and state leaders — to support an ambitious agenda that stops at nothing short of excellence for every child,” Gist said.
Education officials asked school districts to let the state Department of Education know by Jan. 8 if they intend to participate in the reforms. More than 30 of the state’s 50 districts, charter schools and state-run schools signed memoranda to that effect, said Elliot Krieger, department spokesman.
Chariho Regional District declined to sign on, said Supt. Barry Ricci.
“I think the School Committee was concerned about increasing oversight from the state Department of Education,” Ricci said. Some committee members also balked at some of the reforms promoted by the federal guidelines, particularly the emphasis on charter schools, he said.
Chariho spent $875,000 last year to send more than 70 students to charter schools, Ricci said.
“In the research, charter schools are no better than regular public schools,” he said. “There are good and bad charters, just like there are good and bad regular schools. To say that charter schools are going to save the system is absurd.”
R.I. education chief targets 6 schools for overhaul
Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2010
PROVIDENCE — Six of Rhode Island’s persistently lowest-achieving schools have been singled out by state officials with unprecedented orders to get better fast.
The schools, which serve more than 3,000 of the state’s poorest and most ethnically diverse students, have had dismal test scores for years. They are among the bottom 5 percent of schools statewide, officials say.
The move by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist signals the biggest, most ambitious state effort to fix failing schools. The six schools will be given four choices for their future, from closure to complete overhaul.
The schools are: Central Falls High School and five Providence schools: Charlotte Woods Elementary, Feinstein High School, Lillian Feinstein Elementary, Roger Williams Middle School and William B. Cooley, Sr. Health, Science and Technology High School.
“While there are great teachers in every school in Rhode Island, these schools have struggled to provide a high-quality education,” Gist said. “The time has come to act more decisively and comprehensively. Our students and their families deserve access to the very best education system, and the economic well-being of our state depends on it.”
“This just isn’t targeting five or six schools,” said Providence School Supt. Tom Brady. “This is the beginning of the transformation of the system.”
The designated schools have failed to serve students in multiple ways, officials say.
These are highlighted by extremely low test scores in reading, writing, math and science, a failure to help students improve over time and low graduation rates in the high schools. Their students are among the state’s must vulnerable — those receiving special-education services, newcomers learning English, low-income students and black and Hispanic students who achieve at lower levels than their white peers.
But Rhode Island has dozens of schools that struggle with extremely low test scores and graduation rates. And in 2008-2009, the Rhode Island Department of Education named 56 schools that had failed to show progress among various student groups.
“As a practical matter, do we have more than six schools that need something? You bet; no doubt about it,” Deputy Education Commissioner David V. Abbott told the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education on Thursday.
But Rhode Island used a specific set of criteria required by the federal government to determine the bottom 5 percent of elementary, middle and high schools, Abbott said. Of the state’s 311 public, charter and state-operated schools, about 120 receive a significant amount of Title I money, federal aid for high-poverty schools. The bottom 5 percent was selected from this smaller group, Abbott said.
Rhode Island has about $11 million in federal funds to fix low-performing schools, and is in line to receive $4 million more over the next couple of years, Abbott said.
In Central Falls, Supt. Frances Gallo said she already has a plan she hopes to put in place this fall.
“It comes as no surprise,” she said Monday. “We’ve been a failing district for a number of years and the high school has been failing for seven years. We will embrace it and make it work for us.”
Gallo, who was hired in Central Falls four years ago, has already chosen an “intervention model” for the high school. It calls for replacing the principal, implementing schoolwide reforms, involving the community more and offering more flexibility around school schedules and the length of the school day.
Gallo said she chose this particular approach because “it honors our dedicated teachers and their expertise.” Moreover, she said that the three other models — closing the school, firing half the staff and asking a charter organization to take over — had significant drawbacks.
Gallo said she began meeting with teachers and the public several months ago, knowing her district might be selected for intervention.
She also convened a think tank composed of social-service agencies and higher-education partners such as the University of Rhode Island, that will provide public input on how the high school should be reorganized.
Brady met with the principals of the five schools Monday to explain that these interventions are not meant as a judgment of their leadership skills.
“I have the greatest respect for our teachers,” he said. “This didn’t happen overnight. This is the culmination of at least eight years of data.”
Brady also said that he hasn’t decided how to reform these schools: “There is no plan. There is no secret plan. We will ask for public input and make our recommendations to the state, and the school board will make the final decision.”
Warren Simmons, who chaired Governor Carcieri’s Urban Education Task Force, said Gist’s action “increases the level of urgency and focus.” Simmons is the executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.
Gist estimates each school will need $750,000 to $1 million in start-up money to make real changes in the first year. She said she hopes to similarly intervene in other struggling schools once these six are on the road to improvement. She says it take three to five years to successfully turn around a failing school.
Central Falls and Providence will be given 30 days to gather public input from students, parents, teachers, school leaders, unions, school committees and business and community leaders; the districts have 15 days after that to tell Gist which of the four options they want to use for each school.
Within 10 days, Gist must approve the district’s approach or work with them to find another solution. Then, the superintendents will be given 120 days to draft a comprehensive school-reform plan.
That means by the end of June, both Central Falls and Providence should have clear plans in place to transform these troubled schools.
Gist said she hopes some changes can move forward quickly, perhaps in Central Falls by next fall, while plans to fix Providence’s schools might not be in place until the 2011-2012 school year.
“I absolutely feel a sense of urgency, but I also have a sense of commitment that this is done correctly,” Gist said. “We don’t want to run into it without a plan.”
KEY POINTSFour options for school intervention
Turnaround model: Replace the principal, rehire no more than 50 percent of the staff, and reorganize the school day.
Restart model: Bring in a charter-school operator or other education-management organization to run the school.
School closure.
Transformation model: Replace the principal, institute schoolwide instructional reform, increase learning time and improve the school’s connections to the community.
New commissioner opens a conversation with R.I.’s best teachers
Posted Thursday, January 7, 2010
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — On a recent visit to North Providence High School, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist noticed a lanky student with a scruffy haircut slouched in a chair, looking adrift.
Gist said she made a beeline over to him and asked what he was working on.
“He said he was working on his senior project, and he just lit up,” Gist told a gathering of 35 of the state’s best teachers, principals and superintendents on Wednesday. “He told me he was a drummer and his project was on drums, and he started talking about it … I was totally blown away.”
Since September, Gist estimates, she has visited 300 classrooms as she traveled to every school district, charter school and state-run school.
“The quality I have seen lets me know we have much to be proud of,” she told the group of award-winning educators she invited to meet with her every few months, giving her feedback and advice. “I know how hard you work and what an amazing job you do every day, how important it is and the challenges that come with the job.”
At the same time, Gist has made improving teacher quality the cornerstone of her seven-month tenure and has pushed hard for Rhode Island to make profound changes. These include making it harder to become and continue to work as a teacher, tying student test scores to new yearly educator evaluations, and supporting the expansion of publicly financed charter schools — reforms that have made some teachers uneasy.
“The challenge we have is to figure out, from a system perspective, how we can provide a quality education to every single child every single year,” Gist said, “and to support our educators so they can continue to improve every year and continue to make a difference in the lives of children.”
The audience included about three dozen of the state’s most distinguished educators, all of whom have received either the Teacher of the Year award or the Milken Award, which recognizes educator excellence. The event was open to the media.
“I’m here because I want to listen and learn what concerns you have, what we need to change and what you are proud of,” Gist told the group.
Gist shared details about the state’s application to capture federal funds through the $4.3-billion Race to the Top competition. Applications are due Jan. 19 and, if Rhode Island wins, the state could receive tens of millions of dollars to improve schools.
Gist wants districts to offer more high-quality professional development to teachers and to create induction programs for new teachers. She also wants the state to intensively intervene in schools that have struggled with low test scores for several years.
Several educators jumped in with questions.
“There’s a lot of anxiety about the teacher performance piece around teacher evaluations,” said Janine Napolitano, chairwoman of the English department at North Providence High School and a 2006 Teacher of the Year recipient. “That’s just one piece of the pie. There’s concern if you link it strictly to NECAP [standardized state tests] and don’t look at the other wonderful things going on.”
Gist said that test scores would only be one factor in examining a teacher’s effectiveness, along with samples of student work and how much students in the classroom have improved over time. In addition, test scores from multiple years will be reviewed, not just one year in which a teacher could have had a particularly challenging class, Gist said.
“We want to have educators at the table when we develop [the new evaluation system],” Gist said.
George Goodfellow, who received a 2008 Teacher of the Year award when he was a science teacher at Scituate High School, said he is concerned that the new standards and regulations do not consider “multiple intelligences” and the different ways students learn.
Gist said she agreed that looking at just standardized tests is too narrow and that other measures, such as senior projects and portfolios, should also be considered.
“I think it’s really important that my friend the drummer I spoke about, that he be excited about what he’s doing,” Gist said. “But I also want to make sure that when he leaves high school, he can read and write and compute and have the knowledge he needs to be successful.”
Linda Bello, Cranston’s district math coach, asked about another aspect of the Race to the Top application, one that would require districts struggling with low test scores to work with outside consultants for guidance and training.
Gist said the federal funds would provide the resources to work with groups such as the Dana Center at the University of Texas in Austin, which is helping Providence and a handful of districts develop high-quality math and science programs.
“We need the support, but we also need to learn to do it ourselves,” Gist said. The Dana Center trains teachers in Rhode Island, so the expertise remains in the state and can be shared with other teachers, she said.
Jennifer Theroux, a fifth-grade teacher in Barrington and winner of the Milken Award in 2008, said the meeting left her energized.
“This is just the beginning, a glimmer of who we can be, in this little state,” she said. “You can see the enthusiasm in the room.”
McWalters’ plea: Sustain the reforms that revived Hope High School
Posted Tuesday, January 5, 2010
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Changes to the nationally recognized reform program at Hope High School — prompted in part by city financial pressures — will be a tragedy, former state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters said Monday.
The problem is: “We know what works and we can’t afford it,” McWalters said.
One of the architects of the transformation of the once-failing high school, McWalters was asked to comment on Supt. Tom Brady’s decision to make changes at Hope.
When McWalters intervened at Hope five years ago, he said, all of the parties recognized that turning around a large urban high school would require a serious financial investment. Over the next several years, the state invested $1.3 million to help Hope restructure the school day, create student advisories and carve out weekly planning time for teachers.
Since then, the school has earned national recognition for building a nurturing environment and creating individual learning plans for each student. And teachers and students agree that the school has moved from a building marred by violence and low morale to one with a shared sense of purpose. Test scores are improving.
Brady has said Hope will shift from the longer periods to the same six-period day in place at other city high schools. That change, according to teachers and students, will reduce the time devoted to common planning and student advisories.
Although he doesn’t blame Brady, McWalters said the superintendent is dismantling the very things that led to Hope’s success: 90-minute classes, extensive common planning time for teachers, additional staff and lengthy class advisories.
“Providence has every right to be doing this,” McWalters said. “We know there are no resources, but don’t take apart the whole school.”
But state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said McWalters was well aware of the schedule changes when he returned Hope to the control of city school officials in February. And Gist made it clear that Brady, not the commissioner or the Board of Regents, is responsible for Hope’s future.
“The only thing that’s changing is the schedule,” Gist said Monday. “It’s not that there won’t be common planning time or student advisories,” Gist said. “My responsibility, and that of the regents, is to set standards for the state and to enforce those standards. Our responsibility at the state level is to make sure that the gains this community has worked so hard to achieve are sustained.”
While agreeing that Hope has made dramatic improvement, Brady, in a recent letter to state education officials, said that the school’s academic model is too costly to maintain. But Brady also said that the changes, which will take effect at Hope next fall, are not meant to diminish the school’s academic structures, but rather build on the school’s successes by bringing it into conformance with the district’s new curriculum.
“At the time the order was put in place,” Brady wrote, “the school was operating under a much different educational climate than it is today.”
Since Brady became superintendent about 18 months ago, the district has adopted uniform math and science curriculums, improved teacher training and imposed a more rigorous set of graduation standards.
According to Brady, the new curriculums have been written to be delivered in 50-minute segments. The six-period day will also allow more students to take college courses and Advanced Placement courses because the schedule will be the same at every school. And, in a district where students frequently switch schools, a uniform schedule will ensure that every teacher is on the same page.
In the end, McWalters said, the real tragedy is that the state doesn’t have the political and moral will to make the necessary investment in school reform, especially in the urban districts.
“We knew Hope was a joint responsibility,” McWalters said. “And we knew that it would have to come back to a state funding formula, or something like it, because we couldn’t hand this over to the city alone. When Tom [Brady] says he can’t afford it, he’s right. It’s a no-win situation, and that’s the tragedy here.”
Superintendent to regents: Providence can’t afford Hope High School reforms
Posted Wednesday, December 30, 2009
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — While acknowledging that Hope High School has made dramatic gains, Schools Supt. Tom Brady says the district can no longer afford to devote so many resources to one of the city’s many high schools.
In a letter to the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, Brady recognized that Hope’s teachers and leaders have made significant strides in improving the school’s climate and culture but said that the academic model adopted five years ago is too costly to maintain.
The regents asked for an update on Hope after more than 50 teachers, students and staff implored them to prevent the high school’s academic model from being dismantled.
Beginning in September, Hope will move to a six-period day like all of the other high schools in the city. The high school currently has a so-called “block” schedule composed of four 90-minute periods a day, a schedule that teachers say allows them enough time to delve more deeply into subjects.
The new schedule will also reduce or eliminate Hope’s various common planning periods that teachers say are vital to revamping the school’s academics, creating individual learning plans and developing student advisories.
But Brady, in his letter, said that his changes “are in no way an attempt to dismantle the academic structures at the school,” rather they are meant to build on the school’s successes while bringing the school into conformance with the district’s new core curriculum and graduation policy.
Brady pointed out that Hope operated under the authority of former education Commissioner Peter McWalters for five years, starting in 2005. During that period, the high school received more than $1.2 million in additional support from the governor. Hope was allowed to hire and assign its own staff, have smaller class sizes, offer students weekly advisories and provide frequent teacher planning time.
According to Brady, this model requires 20 to 30 additional teachers at a cost of roughly $2.5 million a year.
“At the time the order was put in place,” Brady wrote, “the school district was operating under a much different educational climate than it is today.”
Since then, the district has adopted a uniform curriculum, improved teacher training and imposed a more robust set of graduation standards.
When McWalters returned control of Hope to the district in February, he acknowledged the need to provide the same level of human and financial resources to all schools. Hope High School was told that it would move to a six-period day beginning in the 2010-11 school year.
Brady provided a rationale for imposing the same schedule across all high schools:
•The new curriculum has been written to be delivered daily in segments of approximately 50 minutes.
•Students will have more opportunity to take college courses with a fixed schedule.
•Students will be able to take Advanced Placement courses offered at other high schools since the schedule will be the same at every school.
•Students will see their teachers every day as opposed to every other day.
After listening to the laments of Hope students and staff, the regents agreed to discuss the issue at a subsequent meeting. At a recent workshop, the central question was, “How can we preserve the significant gains made by Hope High School, once considered one of the state’s worst performing high schools, without interfering with the school district’s authority to decide how its high schools are staffed and scheduled?”
“We were having a difficult time figuring out what balance to strike,” said Anna Cano-Morales, a regent. “They do have a school board and an able superintendent. We are a policy and regulatory board, not a school board.
“Speaking for myself,” she added, “I don’t understand the one-size-fits-all model. It was a historical moment when Peter McWalters reconstituted Hope High School. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to learn” from those changes.
Another regent, Karin Forbes, said she likes the way that Hope has transformed itself from a large, impersonal high school — the old factory model of high school — into one where students feel known and respected.
“At the same time,” she said, “we can’t replicate that in every school. It’s a dilemma.”
During the past five years, Hope has gone from a school marred by violence, vandalism and abysmally low test scores to a school that is safe, organized and full of a shared mission, teachers say. Last year, reading scores increased dramatically.
“We have to recognize that the teachers who stepped up to the plate are to be highly commended for their additional effort and commitment,” said Patrick Guida, another regent. “But we have to weigh the reality of what the superintendent has to deal with with respect to fiscal realities. We just want to make sure that whatever happens next year, it’s in the best interest of the students.”
In the end, the regents decided to put the issue on a future agenda for further discussion.
Blue Cross lands deal to manage benefits
Posted Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By Philip Marcelo
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Mayor David N. Cicilline has reached a new three-year contract with the city’s long-time benefits administrator Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island that will save $2.8 million and reverse an unpopular agreement he made last year with United Healthcare of New England.
The Blue Cross deal, along with an agreement reached earlier this year with CVS/Caremark, is expected to save the city $11 million over three years.
Neither United Healthcare, nor the city’s six unions, which had been opposed to the deal with United, have said they will challenge the new contract.
“While we believe that the contract was rightfully awarded to us last year, we are pleased that our bid produced additional savings for the city and taxpayers,” Stephen J. Farrell, CEO of United Healthcare, said in a statement. “When the three-year contract is up in 2011, we’ll be back.”
Donald Iannazzi, business manager of Local 1033 of the Laborer’s International Union of North America, said that his union of 1,900 city workers is not opposed to any deal that preserves the benefits that the union had negotiated in its contract.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Paul Doughty, president of the 450-member firefighters union. “Under the current language, Blue Cross is the best solution.”
Last October, in an effort to rein in health-care costs, the city awarded United Healthcare the contract for the city’s medical benefits administration (the city is self-insured), and CVS/Caremark, its drug-benefit management.
Cicilline’s administration wanted to impose the change on Jan. 1, but the city’s six labor unions objected and filed a lawsuit that went to state Supreme Court.
Then-Chief Justice Frank Williams allowed the CVS/Caremark deal to go through, but ordered the United Healthcare deal to binding arbitration, where it was for the greater part of this year.
In August, arbitrator Girard Visconti ordered the city to award the medical-benefits administrator contract to the firm that matched the city’s existing network of doctors and medical specialists. According to city Director of Administration Richard I. Kerbel, that ruling essentially ordered the city to rescind United Healthcare’s contract.
Since the ruling, the city has been negotiating with Blue Cross and United Healthcare for a contract. According to Cicilline, Blue Cross significantly improved its offer.
The new deal, he says, provides the exact physician and facility network currently in place as well as a “reduction of the administrative fees associated with the self-funded plans, increased performance and discount guarantees, and added programs that previously had been available only for an additional fee.”
Under the agreement, Blue Cross agrees to charge the city $37.67 (per employee per month) in year one of the contract, $38.68 in year two, and $38.20 in year three, which is less than what the company had initially proposed ($41.45/ $43.17/ $45.28, respectively).
The deal, which is effective July 1, 2009, affects approximately 9,000 current and retired city workers.
Combined with $5 million in savings from the CVS/Caremark deal and another $3 million in savings from a program audit, the Blue Cross deal ensures the city reaches its targeted $11 million in savings over three years.
The savings are already reflected in the current budget, which means that it won’t factor into the city’s current fiscal problem: Governor Carcieri, in an effort to close a $219-million state budget gap, has proposed slashing state aid to cities and towns, including $17 million for Providence. Carcieri’s proposal is under review by the Assembly.
R.I.’s education leader takes dead aim at reform
Posted Monday, December 21, 2009
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Despite the threat of cuts to funding for public schools, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist says the state’s schools need wholesale transformation and she has issued an aggressive agenda to make that happen.
Among her goals, she says the state must aggressively recruit and train effective teachers and principals, link teacher certification to student achievement and toughen academic standards.
Her plan also calls for intensive intervention in the state’s chronically underperforming urban schools.
At the same time, she is asking local school districts if they want to participate in a fast-track agenda and dangling the possibility of millions of dollars in federal aid if they do.
The money would come from her ambitious bid to secure at least $100 million in federal “Race to the Top” funds. In the urban districts, she wants to invite charter management corporations like KIPP and Achievement First to run schools ranked among the bottom 5 percent.
She also wants to establish a leadership program that would train master teachers and principals who would “turn around” the lowest-performing schools.
These struggling schools would also have to agree to publicly release information on teacher performance, something never before done.
Gist has said she intends to pursue these reforms whether or not the state receives the competitive Race to the Top grant, and she has already redesigned the Rhode Island Department of Education to meet her goals. For example, she created the Office of Transformation, which will work closely with underperforming schools.
But given the department’s reduced budget and staffing, an infusion of federal funds would be vital to fast-tracking many of the changes.
In a work session Thursday with the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, Gist released a draft of initiatives she would require districts to agree to in order to receive the federal money, should Rhode Island be among the handful of selected states.
Districts that want to participate would receive millions of dollars, but would have to commit to rigorous training programs for master teachers and principals; provide intensive professional development for teachers, and learn how to use student data more effectively.
Urban districts that receive funds would have to commit to other reforms, including inviting in charter school operators, teaching coaches and technical assistance experts to help them improve.
Gist addressed concerns that Governor Carcieri’s recent announcement that he wants to cut about $40 million from public schools would imperil the state’s application.
“We have absolute confidence we are not in jeopardy of making ourselves ineligible because of [the proposed cuts],” Gist told the Regents. “But there is an aspect of our competitiveness that relates to the state’s commitment to education that could be affected. However, because the state overall is supportive of education, we are hopeful [the cuts] won’t be a problem.”
The Obama administration established the $4.35-billion Race to the Top fund to prod states into embracing substantial reforms, including expanding charter schools, improving teacher quality and using data systems to boost student performance.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said only a few states will be selected for the first round of competitive grants, although rejected states will have an opportunity to reapply later in 2010. The first applications are due Jan. 19.
Although Rhode Island has some strikes against its application, including a statewide cap on the number of charter schools and the lack of an education financing formula, Gist says the state also has many strengths.
These include new regulations that require rigorous, yearly evaluations of teachers and principals; a new educator code of ethics; tougher requirements to become a teacher in Rhode Island, and high academic standards that show students are improving in English and math on annual tests.
Duncan said small states such as Rhode Island could receive between $20 million and $75 million, but Gist says she plans to ask for more when the state applies next month.
“We think we need at least $100 million,” Gist told educators and community members who met in Warwick in November to discuss the Race to the Top application. If Rhode Island were to be selected, half the money would flow directly to participating districts and the other half would be doled out by her department, she said.
Districts have been asked to let the state Department of Education know if they intend to participate in the Race to the Top program by Jan. 8. Gist asked school committees and teacher unions to also weigh in on the decision.
“We think there will only be a handful of districts that participate,” Gist said. Another set of districts may choose to be “involved,” which means they would agree to some of the reforms and receive some money from the department to help them.
“But even for the districts that do not participate or are not involved will benefit,” she said. “We want to create models other districts can replicate.”
Plan to raise standards for new teachers proceeds
Posted Monday, December 7, 2009
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
Starting next fall, it will be harder to become a teacher in Rhode Island.
As promised, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, who has made improving teacher quality the cornerstone of her five-month-old administration, is moving forward with her plan to raise the standards for prospective teachers.
But in a compromise, Gist said she will phase in the tougher requirements over a two-year period instead of one, as she originally proposed.
Over the objection of several of the state’s teacher training programs — including the largest at Rhode Island College — Gist is significantly increasing the scores people who want to become teachers must achieve to be accepted into the teacher training programs. She says the change is part of a larger effort to revamp the entire career track of educators, starting with who is allowed to become a teacher.
“We know that while there are many factors that contribute to student success, teachers’ own academic achievement is an important factor,” Gist said. “This change is just a tiny step in an entire strategy we have to raise expectations for our educators and for ourselves, in supporting educators at every point in their careers.”
Gist informed local colleges and universities that they have to increase the “cut scores” students must achieve on a basic skills test required by all of the state’s teacher training programs starting next fall, and raise it even higher in the fall of 2011.
Currently, Rhode Island ranks among the lowest in the nation, alongside Mississippi and Guam, with cut scores in math, reading and writing set at 170 in each subject. At that score, about 30 percent of test-takers in Rhode Island fail the test, called Praxis I or the PPST, pre-professional skills test.
Gist says she wants to raise the scores to the highest in the country. She was willing to phase in the changes over two years, she said, to give the eight colleges and universities and one nonprofit program time to adjust and to avoid a dramatic drop in the number of new teaching students in a single year.
In addition to RIC, the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Providence College, Salve Regina University, Johnson & Wales University, Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the New Teachers Project train new teachers.
“We worked closely with higher education and we know this is a pretty significant change for them, to go from worst to first,” Gist said. Next fall, Gist will require teacher training programs to increase scores to 175 in math and reading and 173 in writing. By 2011, they must raise the scores to 179 in math and reading and 177 in writing, a level that 54 percent of test takers would be expected to fail, according to RIC’s Dean of Education, Roger G. Eldridge, Jr.
Eldridge opposes raising the scores that high, saying the change could have a dramatic impact on the size of teacher training programs next year, particularly at RIC, which trains about 375 new teachers a year.
“I was always in favor of raising them, but not as high as 179,” Eldridge said. “I can live with 175. That’s fine.”
Eldridge estimates his program could shrink by as much as 40 percent next year, but says the college is taking steps to mitigate a steep drop in the number of teaching students.
RIC is planning to require that students take the Praxis I exam in their freshman rather than sophomore year, he said. Students at risk for failing will be given additional tutoring and will take the test again.
“We are hoping the scores will go up,” he said. “So I am not as worried as I was about losing a huge number of students. We may lose 10 to 15 percent.”
Increasing scores to 179 in a single year “would have decimated us,” he said. David Byrd, director of URI’s School of Education, said he is comfortable with boosting the cut score requirement. URI already requires higher scores than the state. But Byrd said he is not convinced that it is necessary to make the scores the highest in the nation.
“Being in the range of 173 to 176, I think gives you confidence in the overall skill level of the teacher, but above that level, it no longer predicts the quality of the teacher,” Byrd said. “These are tests that evaluate your ability to do math, not to teach math.”
Good teachers also need to develop skills such as classroom management, diverse teaching strategies and analyzing data to improve student performance, he said.
Teacher training programs are also concerned that raising the cut scores will disenfranchise minority candidates, even as the state Department of Education wants to encourage more diversity among the mostly white, female teaching ranks, said acting Higher Education Commissioner Steven J. Maurano.
Students who receive strong scores on SAT, ACT or GRE exams are exempt from taking the basic-skills test. Gist wants those scores to increase as well. For example, starting in the fall of 2010, prospective teachers must score 1,100 combined verbal and math on the SAT and 1,150 starting in 2011 to avoid taking the Praxis I.
“We have an opportunity in Rhode Island right now,” Gist said. “We don’t have a shortage of teachers. We have a surplus of teachers. This is the time to do this, when the system can afford to be more selective.”
Annual teacher evaluations get go-ahead by state Regents
Posted Friday, December 4, 2009
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
LINCOLN — The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously approved two initiatives Thursday designed to improve teacher quality: requiring yearly evaluations of all educators and establishing an educator Code of Professional Responsibility for all teachers, principals and superintendents.
Both take effect immediately as state regulations, but education officials say they will work out ways school districts can implement the changes over the next several months, and will offer more details in March.
Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has made teacher quality the cornerstone of her five-month-old administration, although these two initiatives –– annual evaluations and an educator code of ethics –– started under her predecessor, Peter McWalters, who stepped down June 30.
Public input, gathered at a series of forums held this fall, helped shape the final drafts of the evaluations and ethics code.
A student group, Young Voices, pushed for tougher consequences for ineffective teachers and a meaningful voice for students in evaluating their teachers.
“We want to know that recertification won’t happen [without taking into consideration] what happens in the classroom on a day-to-day-basis,” said Amanda Pereira, an 11th grader at Classical High School. “It is extremely difficult, almost impossible, to get rid of ineffective teachers.”
About 100 people packed the Lincoln High School library where the Regents held their monthly meeting as part of its effort to meet in communities throughout the state. Many were there to voice their displeasure over plans to switch Providence’s Hope High School’s schedule from four longer classes a day to six shorter classes.
The Regents postponed adopting an ambitious strategic plan laying out Gist’s blueprint for improving the public school system. Instead, the Department of Education will continue to gather input and refine the plan before submitting a final draft to the board, Gist said.
The Regents also approved a spending plan for the 2010-2011 school year that offers communities roughly the same level of financing as the current year. The state relied on an infusion of federal stimulus money to prop up public schools last year and this year, and will rely on another $30.9 million in stimulus money next year.
Regent Colleen Callahan cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she could not support a budget plan that supplies additional money for public charter schools — $7.3 million — while level-funding local school districts.
The Regents’ next work session will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 17 at 255 Westminster St., Providence.
Teachers, students ask Regents to save Hope High
Posted Friday, December 4, 2009
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
LINCOLN — In an unprecedented move, more than 50 teachers, students and alumni implored state education leaders to save Hope High School, once one of the state’s worst high schools, from being dismantled piece by piece.
Providence School Supt. Tom Brady is imposing a six-period day on all of the city’s high schools because, in a district where students move from school to school, a uniform curriculum means that all students will be on the same page whether they attend Hope or Central High School.
But Hope’s teachers say that replacing the school’s “block” schedule of four 90-minute periods a day with six 48-minute classes will effectively undermine five years of hard-won reforms, changes that have earned the school national recognition as well as praise from Governor Carcieri.
“We will no longer have weekly advisory periods, weekly [schoolwide] planning time and our every-other-day team planning will be eliminated completely,” said Marianne Davidson, a faculty member, at Thursday’s board of regents’ meeting.
Student advisories, considered a critical tool for building trusting relationships between students and adults, would be slashed from nearly 90 minutes a week to 30 minutes, maybe less.
“The district is dismantling Hope piece by piece,” said Laura Maxwell, a 10th-grade English teacher. “We need more time on instruction, not less. We should be structuring more schools to look like Hope High School.”
In February 2005, then-Education Commissioner Peter McWalters ordered Hope High School to reorganize or face a state takeover. At the time, the school was beset by violence, vandalism and staggeringly low test scores. Under McWalters’ order, Hope broke into three smaller theme-based academies, hired three new principals and told teachers that they had to re-apply for their old jobs.
Five years later, teachers and students agree that Hope is a safe, orderly environment imbued with a spirit of trust and cooperation. Reading scores in the Leadership and Arts Academies nearly tripled and the Arts Academy’s score of 65-percent proficiency was one of the highest of any urban high schools in the state.
Thanks to Hope’s progress, the state returned the school to the district’s control about a year ago. Since then, one of the academies has been closed, two administrative positions have been cut and the school is slated to lose about one-third of its faculty next year, according to Davidson.
In February, McWalters described his vision for Hope: “We wanted adults watching over each kid. To do that, you have to respect teachers by giving them time for student advisory meetings, time for planning, time for professional development. And they need stability.”
That’s precisely what will be lost if the changes take place, teachers and students said.
Regents Chairman Robert G. Flanders promised that the board would follow up on their concerns.
R.I. education commissioner unveils sweeping reform plan
Posted Monday, November 23, 2009
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — State education officials have unveiled an ambitious plan to increase student proficiency, revamp failing schools, improve teacher quality and shrink gaps between low-income and middle-income students, even as the state struggles to dedicate enough resources to public education.
State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist shared a draft of her strategic plan with the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education on Thursday. The 20-page plan is the result of more than four months of work by Gist, who became the state’s top schools chief July 1, and her staff at the state Department of Education.
The document is Gist’s blueprint for how she wants to improve the school system over the next three to five years. The regents are expected to endorse the final draft at a Dec. 3 meeting.
“I want the plan to be ambitious,” Gist told the regents. “I also want it to be doable.”
Gist said the plan is “a living document” and will be updated or modified along the way, as education officials gather more information.
“We need to keep our eyes wide open and be flexible,” she said. “In many ways, it represents not just the work that’s happened since I’ve been here, but also the work that’s gone on for several years. We are getting a little more ambitious and emphasizing … the sense of urgency we have about this work.”
The plan calls for several significant changes, including:
• Increase the state’s high school graduation rate to 80 percent by 2012 and to 85 percent by 2015, up from 70 percent.
• Make it harder to become and continue to work as a teacher in Rhode Island.
• Pay the best teachers more, based on data that shows they have improved student performance.
• Reduce achievement gaps by 50 percent among low-income and minority students.
• Expand online courses and develop a statewide virtual high school.
• Transform failing schools, particularly in low-performing urban districts.
• Develop data systems that help teachers improve their instruction.
The document also lays out an aggressive timeline for boosting student proficiency in English, math and science.
For example, just 27 percent of 11th graders score proficient in math on standardized tests. Gist wants 37 percent proficient by 2012, and 52 percent proficient by 2015.
Similarly, just 40 percent of fifth graders score proficient in science; Gist wants that percentage to jump to 50 percent in 2012 and to 65 percent by 2015.
She also wants middle school English scores to climb from 68 percent proficient to 73 percent by 2012 and to 80.5 percent by 2015.
Gist said her staff is still fine-tuning this portion of the plan, as they struggle to balance the need to significantly improve student performance with realistic goals.
A couple of the Regents questioned how districts could achieve these higher standards during a period when most schools are making deep cuts in programs and personnel, and the state is unable to increase its investment in education. In fact, Rhode Island currently relies on tens of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money to prop up school budgets — extra money that runs out after next year.
“This is our plan, regardless of whether additional resources come into play,” she said. “We are confident we are organizing our staff and redirecting the resources we already have to these priorities.”
Gist said she hopes the state will receive some additional federal aid in the form of Race to the Top funds, competitive grants designed to make states embrace far-reaching education reforms. Rhode Island will apply for a portion of the $4.35 billion in January, she said.
She also hopes, she said, that the state will adopt a fair and equitable school financing formula in 2010 that could help districts achieve these goals.
Since she arrived in Rhode Island, Gist has forcefully criticized the state’s low test scores and troubling achievement gaps between the state’s most vulnerable students — low-income, minority and special-education — and their more advantaged peers, calling such discrepancies “shameful.” Gist has also made teacher quality a cornerstone of her tenure, raising the bar for future teachers and promoting two other changes: an educator ethics code and rigorous yearly evaluations for teachers and principals.
More substantial changes are coming. Gist said the state Education Department will also move aggressively to help the state’s lowest-performing schools.
“We absolutely have a commitment to intervening comprehensively in our most struggling schools and districts,” she said. “What we are working on right now is developing our strategy to do that successfully.”
School superintendents told to abolish teacher seniority
Posted Monday, October 26, 2009
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Dropping a bombshell on the teachers’ unions, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist ordered school superintendents to abolish the practice of assigning teachers based on how many years they have in the school system.
Gist, who sent a letter to superintendents on Tuesday, is upending tradition and taking on two powerful unions, the National Education Association Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFT), who together represent 12,000 public school teachers.
On Friday, the unions said they were blindsided by Gist’s announcement, adding that the commissioner made no attempt to confer with labor before going public with the decision.
“We’re going to court,” said Marcia Reback, president of the Federation of Teachers. “I’m startled that there was no conversation with the unions about this. I’m startled there were no public hearings, and I’m startled at the content. This narrows the scope of collective bargaining.”
Gist says she has the authority to do away with seniority under the new Basic Education Plan, which the Rhode Island Board of Regents approved in June and which takes effect July 1.
“Our response is that we have authority to set educational policy and to establish rules and regulations that are in the best interest of students,” said Regents Chairman Robert G. Flanders Jr. “To the extent that there are contract provisions that are at odds with the Basic Education Plan, it’s our view that those provisions would be unlawful. If a challenge were to be brought, we would expect to prevail.”
According to the new regulations, districts must select and train only the most highly effective staff, and teacher assignments must be based on student need. The Basic Education Plan requires that each district “shall maintain control of its ability to recruit, hire, manage, evaluate and assign its personnel.”
Districts have until July 1 to negotiate the new policy, and Gist told superintendents that “any contract law that conflicts with existing state law may be unenforceable.” However, Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the Education Department, said that there is nothing in Gist’s letter that says that school committees must re-open contracts to deal with the issue of seniority.
Gist’s shot across the bow at labor comes just four days after the RIFT announced that it had secured a $200,000 grant to create a rigorous new-teacher evaluation system. The union will partner with four urban districts to develop the evaluation system.
Asked about the timing of her announcement, Gist said, “I’ve been very clear that every decision I make will be made in the best interest of children. And there is nothing more important than the placement of a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.”
Reback contends that teacher assignments rest squarely within the purview of collective bargaining and said that the commissioner doesn’t have the authority to intervene.
“There is nothing in state statute that gives her the right to dictate what will be in school committee contracts,” Reback said Friday.
She also said that there is nothing in the new regulations that mentions abolishing seniority, and said that state education officials promised that public hearings would be held on the details of the Basic Education Plan.
“The commissioner has taken very broad language,” Reback said, “narrowed it significantly and ordered school committees to negotiate [with] her interpretation.”
While the unions were seething on Friday, school committees were quietly applauding Gist’s dramatic move.
“It’s a big deal,” said Tim Duffy, the executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. “We’ve been crying out for this sort of management prerogative for a long time. What Gist is saying is, ‘We’re putting you on notice that you can’t lock in a system based on seniority.’ ”
Duffy said that Gist’s decision reflects a national sea change that is giving superintendents and principals more authority to put the most-qualified teachers in classrooms with the greatest needs.
The first nibble at seniority was actually made by former Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, who ordered Providence to abolish seniority as a way of filling teacher vacancies. The district began the new “criterion-based” hiring system in six pilot schools this fall and will adopt it districtwide in September.
McWalters argued that he had the authority to intervene under state law, because Providence is classified as an “intervention” district, and under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which gives states broad latitude to intervene in failing school districts. The Providence Teachers Union, however, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the commissioner’s authority.
From the moment she arrived in July, Gist made it clear that she would not shrink from making unpopular decisions. At a Regents’ meeting last month, she publicly criticized three school districts that she said were not putting the needs of students first.
Two weeks ago, she took aim at teacher training, saying that Rhode Island’s “cut” score (the score that aspiring teachers must reach on a basic skills test) is among the lowest in the nation. And she successfully urged the Regents to take over the Rhode Island School for the Deaf, which has suffered from years of leadership turmoil and low test scores.
“I will use every tool available to put a system in place that is child-centered,” Gist said Friday. “We have a lot of systems that focus on the grown-ups. Change is always hard. It’s always going to mean that people feel uncomfortable.”
Students state case for input on R.I. teacher evaluations
Posted Friday, October 23, 2009
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — We stand before you as par
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