The public schools of Providence have been taken over by the state because of very low test scores. The interim superintendent Frances Gallo is the same person who threatened to fire the entire staff of Central Falls High School in 2010 because of its very low scores. Central Falls was taken over by the state. It still has the lowest scores in the state.
From the Boston Globe, which is behind a pay wall:
After a tough summer, the interim superintendent of Providence schools wanted to do something uplifting for students returning to class in a system labeled as one of the most troubled in the country.
She searched through Amazon and selected a motivational book, ordering thousands of copies at a cost of $187,000. The plan was to have all middle and high school students read it this month.
But after teachers and school board members complained that “Shoot Your Shot: A Sport-Inspired Guide To Living Your Best Life” was filled with religious overtones, Frances Gallo asked educators to pause their use of the book in class…
Gallo, who retired from running Central Falls schools in 2015, was named Providence’s interim superintendent shortly before Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced the state would take control of the struggling district.
The state’s intervention comes after a report from researchers at Johns Hopkins University found the school system is plagued by widespread dysfunction, poor test scores, and abysmal building conditions. One member of the research team cried after visiting a school. Others called Providence the worst district they had ever encountered…
Gallo said the purchase of the books is a relatively small expenditure inside of a school budget that is approaching $400 million, but the district has been forced to put off technology upgrades and cut partnerships with nonprofit partners in recent years due to a lack of funding.
Read the full story:
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I thought I would just add a little more to the article that people should read here in case they cannot get it:
Interim Super Fran Gallo, a 69-year-old veteran administrator who was appointed in August to temporarily run the cash-strapped school district, admits it was a “mistake” to not thoroughly vet the book before buying 16,500 copies. In hindsight, she said she would have picked a more mainstream title.
And there is this paragraph: Council President Sabina Matos said Gallo’s decision to spend nearly $200,000 on books that will largely go unused is an example of why there should be more oversight over district decisions.
“In the past, I’ve gone on the record advocating for more financial accountability from the school department to the City Council,” Matos said. “This is another example of the errors that can occur when oversight and checks and balances are lacking. The families in our city deserve better.” I thought readers would find this of interest…
The public schools of Providence have been taken over by the state because of very low test scores. AND…
incompetent people think that the proper start of a turnaround can be inspired by spending $187,000 on a motivational book.
Sounds just like educational reform NOW, with a little help from Angélica Infante-Green, a TFA alum and a pick by Jen Bush’s “Future Chiefs for Change” for her position. Where is the accountability for these people?
Providence schools were taken over for reasons that go way beyond extremely low test scores, though the scores are a primary indicator of its dysfunction. Teachers have been demoralized, principals hamstrung, and parents marginalized for years. This has resulted in very low expectations for students, ineffective instruction, poor curriculum, and unsafe schools. While the Johns Hopkins review team found many caring teachers and principals, the lack of support, professional development, and continuity of instructional decisions have resulted in a chaotic rudderless system serving an overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged Hispanic student body.
Infante-Green was not the one who decided to spend almost $200,000 on an “inspirational” book and require that it become the curriculum for the first couple of weeks of school. That decision was apparently made entirely by acting superintendent Fran Gallo.
Big payday for Bezos.
Could the books have been ordered through a Rhode Island book retailer (if they had to be put in the hands of students at all)?
Why does the “grit” message seem to be so often linked to religion? Answer- that’s the way billionaires use theocracy to achieve oligarchy (give up your freedom to men of God like Trump).
Really … excused self by saying, “…we all have blind spots.” This is more than a blind spot. Purchasing those books without a review is “JUST PLAIN WRONG and INEXCUSABLE.”
I’m trying to be sympathetic, but:
“Gallo said the purchase of the books is a relatively small expenditure inside of a school budget that is approaching $400 million, but the district has been forced to put off technology upgrades and cut partnerships with nonprofit partners in recent years due to a lack of funding.”
Oy vey. They bought books, but they could have had more technology or consultants? Really, is that the complaint? Couldn’t they just ask for better books?
Are the books “inspiring” the kids to have “grit”? To have a test score “growth mindset”? To have “character traits” that don’t threaten the wealthy, insular establishment? If so, there’s a neolib billionaire behind it.
How many state education superintendents could be viewed as pushing Christian religion, vouchers that go mainly to Catholic schools, etc.? How does a person describe a state that spends $50 mil. to $130 mil. on vouchers even though the senate education committee chair, herself a conservative, said they make no sense?
A similar point was made about Illinois kowtowing to voucher proponents. Add in Rhode Island. (Supt. Gallo, Ed Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green, Gov. Gina Raimondo)
How many of the billionaire-funded think tanks have joined with the Koch-linked Manhattan Institute and Gates-funded Fordham (Petrilli, Pondicio) to make the case for Catholic schools?
The Republican Party (60% of white Catholics voted for Trump) sells cultural resentments, demands authoritarianism and delivers national wealth to the richest 0.1%.
The privatization schemes of billionaires are going through the front and back doors to erode the common good.The Superintendent of Los Angeles Catholic schools joined Gates Pahara Institute last year.
And, which side was the Catholic Church on, in the great Irish hunger?