Clay Pell, a grandson of Rhode Island’s legendary Senator Claiborne Pell, announced that he is running for governor. Since the other two candidates are allied with corporate reformers, Pell offers hope that he might take a different tack and actually help public education (despite his own elite schooling).
Clay has two distinctions. First, he is 32, which would make him the nation’s youngest governor if elected. Second, he is married to ice skating star Michelle Kwan.
What he should do right now: meet with the Providence Student Union, whose members know more about education than the state board of education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I went to one of several Town Hall meetings Clay Pell has held across RI recently. He made some powerful points in a number of areas, and seemed genuinely in the race to pursue a calling for public service rather than for self-aggrandizement and power. He is not accepting any money from PACs or lobbyists. During the Q & A I introduced myself as a retired teacher from the RI School for the Deaf and a member of the Coalition to Defend Public Education. I said I was very concerned about the policies coming from the federal DoE and the RI DoE, particularly in regard to Common Core and PARCC, as well as the proliferation of charter schools. I mentioned the recent legislation submitted in the RI General Assembly (which did not pass) to investigate the implementation of the Common Core and pause the PARCC, and asked for his thoughts. He agreed that education is going in the wrong direction. He is against the standardization of education and in favor of expanding the curriculum to include the arts, music, languages, sports, and after school programming. He is in favor of encouraging diversity and not standardization, and providing access for all students to an education that will prepare them to fully participate in society. He also stated he is opposed to high stakes testing as a graduation requirement. He wants public funds to support public schools. He didn’t specifically say he would work to get RI out of its commitment to the Common Core and PARCC, but hopefully with enough input from enough knowledgeable and passionate people, he will endorse that position.
I’ve heard that the 26-year-old nephew of Nadia Comaneci is running. He was home-schooled by hedge fund managers but, admirably, supports public education. He has my vote.
In addition to Gina Raimondo and Angel Tavares (who both accepted cash from John Arnold, among others), we have Ken Block running for Governor (who was on the board of RI-CAN, our state’s branch of 50-CAN).
I wish I could believe that Pell would be a good choice, but according to the Providence Journal he “served on President Obama’s national security team as a Coast Guard lieutenant, and then did a brief stint as a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education.”
That’s right, Obama chose him as deputy assistant secretary of education.
In my book, that does not bode well for him.
To be fair, though, he did come down in favor of two bills that recently became law in Rhode Island — one which delayed the use of high stakes standardized tests as a graduation requirement until 2017 and another which offered effective and highly effective teachers some relief from the intense teacher evaluations imposed by state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist.
Of course, this was mere weeks after the Gates Foundation urged states to do these things, so his statement might not have been as bold as you’d think.
In any event, teachers have such horrible other choices in the governor’s race that maybe they will end up voting for him despite any concerns about his ties to Obama’s Department of Education.
To be clear — I’ll be taking another look at Pell now that Diane has endorsed him.
At this point, I would endorse a member of the Providence Student Union for Governor. That is, if they turned 18. At least they understand that Rhode Island is on the wrong track!
Cute comment, Diane. I shared it in the Providence Student Union facebook group. As always, thanks for the support. 🙂
What an awesome recommendation for this candidate, Diane! At the same time, What an indictment of the school board.
I would LOVE to meet with Clay Pell to further his campaign and my understanding for his leadership.
Seriously he can’t even find his own car! He has nothing in experience except a fresh face which is as old as his grandfather was. It is time to have no name people, and people who are willing to state publically that they are against common core. We also do not need any more obuma supporters!!!!
Being married to Michelle Kwan is a mark of “distinction”? The future of education in Rhode Island education is too critical to consider such “distinction” without laughing, or simply uttering “so what’ . Seriously let’s hold the cheering in abeyance and wait for Mr. Pell to fully articulate his positions on educational ‘deform’.
32 is way too young to even be considered for governor.
Duane……..do you know the procedure for amending or somehow changing the Rhode Island constitution? By all means…give it your best shot, but for those willing to listen and choose……you might have to let them do so.
Joe,
I have no idea. My concern is one of lack of overall life experience. At 32 I might have thought otherwise but as I get older I realize so many more “things” and know that much less.