Archives for category: Rhode Island
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Cast a Vote to Help Student Leaders Win $100,000 for Organizing

By dianeravitch
September 14, 2014 //
4

The Providence Student Union Is an inspirational group of high school students who have shaken up Rhode Island. Due to their creative protests against high-stakes testing, especially the use of a normed, standardized test for graduation, they won the support of the Boston Globe and then the state legislature, which declared a moratorium on using tests for high stakes purposes.

Take a moment and help PSU organize other high school groups.

This is a letter from Aaron Regunberg, one of the PSU leaders who just won the Democratic primary for a seat in the State Senate:

“PSU was nominated for an award from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation for $100,000 dollars. Here’s all the information:

http://www.rifuture.org/help-the-providence-student-union-win-100000.html

And here is the award site:

http://www.nmefoundation.org/grants/larry-o-toole-award.aspx

As you can imagine, $100,000 would be game-changer – not just for our organization, but really for the fight for public education across our state. Everything we’ve been able to do has been on a shoestring budget; with that level of resources, we could create a student union in every urban district in Rhode Island and really change the power balance for public ed in RI.

In order to win, we need to get more online votes than the 5 other nominated groups. We’ve had a really late start – as we’ve been working on the actual state elections until this last Tuesday – and now need to kick into high gear.

If you could encourage your loyal readers and fans to vote (takes 10 seconds) and spread the word, it truly could make a radical difference here in RI. You can use the language from the post on RIFuture above.

–Aaron”

Categories Rhode Island, Students

Charter Schools Expand Rapidly in Central Falls, R.I.

By dianeravitch
September 14, 2014 //
8

Remember Central Falls? That is the small district in Rhode Island where the superintendent Frances Gallo decided to fire every staff member at the high school in spring 2010 because of low test scores. Gallo got the support of State Commissioner Deborah Gist, and the firings got the approval of Arne Duncan, who was supported by President Obama. The Rhode Island firing squad was hailed as heroes, even though none of the fired staff had been individually evaluated. The firings set the stage for the national conversation about “reform,” and reflected Duncan’s belief that the first step in reform was to fire everyone and start over. That fall, “Waiting for Superman” was released with a mammoth publicity campaign about bad teachers, failing public schools, and amazing charter schools.

Central Falls has now become a magnet for charter schools. Superintendent Gallo welcomes them, as does the mayor. One-third of the students in the district are enrolled in charters, and more are on the way.

“A nonprofit organization backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is spending $7.5 million to buy and renovate a former Catholic school for the Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy.

“The group, Civic Builders, of New York City, has purchased the former St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Academy on Lonsdale Avenue. According to Civic Builders, the sale will provide a permanent home for BVP’s middle school while helping the Holy Spirit Parish pay for improvements to its buildings….

“Roughly a third of Central Falls’ students attend a charter school. But rather than view charters as a threat, Central Falls Supt. Frances Gallo welcomes the diversity of choices they offer.

“Blackstone Valley Prep has proven itself as a model of academic success,” she said. “Don’t we want what’s best for our kids?”
The success of charter schools such as BVP is linked to a longer school day and setting high expectations, Gallo said, noting that homework is mandatory.

“It’s not because our teachers can’t compete,” Gallo said.

“These kids get only one shot at an education,” said Central Falls Mayor James Diossa. “It’s important that if parents feel strongly about a school, they can go. We welcome the almost 400 students, teachers and staff to Central Falls, more than 100 of whom call our community home.”

Not everyone was happy to see charters picking off students and resources from their public schools.

“Because of its size, Blackstone Valley Prep has come under criticism from some surrounding districts, which fear the charters will siphon limited resources from district-run public schools.

“We have way too many charters serving the Central Falls area,” said Jane Sessums, president of the Central Falls Teachers Union. “But we have a mayor and superintendent who have supported charter schools. That sends the wrong message to parents.”
Sessums said Gallo and Diossa “should be advocating for our public schools.”

“The nonprofit also has access to New Market Tax Credits, a program set up by the IRS to encourage development in needy communities such as Central Falls.” These tax credits enable investors to double their money in seven years.

Categories Charter Schools, Rhode Island

Politico Reports on RI Governor Race

By dianeravitch
September 8, 2014 //
8

Politico.com reports on Rhode Island governor’s race.

Teachers favor Clay Pell, whose grandfather established the Pell grant program. Pell opposes standardized testing as a graduation requirement.

The other candidates are Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who supported the mass firing of teachers and charter schools. He was endorsed by DFER. And Gina Raimondo, who “is reviled by public-sector workers because she pushed cuts to their retirement benefits in an effort to stabilize the state pension system.

Stephanie Simon breaks down the three-way race: http://politico.pro/1tDh0ge.

My view: vote for Pell. RI has suffered enough disruption at the hands of corporate reformers.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Rhode Island

Rhode Island: Gist and Education Leaders Will Review Over-Testing

By dianeravitch
September 2, 2014 //
12

This is a surprising story. State Commissioner Deborah Gist and other state leaders will review whether there is too much testing in the schools of Rhode Island. This is a battle that the Providence Student Union has been waging for the past two years. They held rallies and staged political events to call attention to the state’s testing program. They criticized high stakes testing, standardized testing, and too much testing. They fought Gist’s and the state board’s plan to use a standardized test as a high school graduation requirement. The kids knew that many of their classmates would not pass because of the nature of the test itself. It is too soon to say they have won, but not too soon to say that they changed the public debate in Rhode Island.

“In a letter to school superintendents, Katherine E. Sipala, president of the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association, and Gist wrote:

”Over the past year or more, many of us have heard from some students, teachers, and parents who expressed their concerns about over-testing in our schools. We share their concerns, and we want to take action on this matter. None of us wants to test students too much, and each of us can consider ways to streamline the assessment process, to eliminate assessments that do not advance teaching and learning, and to ensure that we use assessments to help us make good decisions about instruction. If assessments do not give us information that informs instruction, we should not administer those assessments.”

By the way, if you live in District 4 in Rhode Island, one of the leaders of the Providence Student Union is running for state representative. Aaron Regunberg deserves your support. He is a thoughtful, hard-working, dedicated young man. Just what we need to improve the politics of our nation.

If you live in

Categories Rhode Island, Testing

Rhode Island: Why Deborah Gist Kept Her Dissertation Under Wraps

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2014 //
32

State Senator John C. Sheehan was one of many people in Rhode Island who wondered what State Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist wrote in the dissertation she completed in June 2012. It was about creating a new teacher evaluation system for the state, and Gist would not allow anyone to read it.

Sheehan eventually got a copy of the embargoed dissertation, and he understood why she wanted to keep it under wraps. The theory she wrote about was leadership based on respect and collaboration, on trust and “buy-in,”but her practice was heavy-handed, confrontational, and top-down.

Sheehan recalled the mass firing of staff at Central Falls High School, then the mass firing of teachers in Providence.

Sheehan wrote:

“As soon as students underperformed on tests, teachers were blamed for the failure, resulting in unprecedented low morale. The Gist reaction was on national display when all of the teachers at Central Falls High School were fired. The individual merits of the teachers did not matter nor did it matter if students had applied themselves or were disadvantaged. Under Gist’s leadership philosophy (corporate reform), all teachers were held strictly accountable for low school test scores. Educators were again broadsided by the mass firing of all of the teachers in Providence, a year later. What hurt the commissioner’s credibility in Providence was her defense of wholesale firings, calling them a “good and just cause” [ignoring RIDE’s own case law which would have prohibited firing all teachers].”

“Good leaders lead by example. If Gist were to do so, she would hold herself to the same standard and consequence for performance failure as she does teachers. In the new evaluation, teachers must develop Student Learning Objectives to be used to demonstrate their students are continually making progress based on standardized tests or other measures of student performance. If teachers do not meet this standard, they can be deemed “ineffective”. If teachers do not improve after a year, they face termination as had teachers in Central Falls Ironically, the Department of Education, at Gist’s request, has set 33 targets for statewide student performance. The bulk of them are related to closing the achievement gap while a few involve graduation rates and how students do after high school. In 2012, the state reached just 1 out of those 33 targets. In other years, under Gist’s leadership, RIDE did not fair much better. Yet, the commissioner is not held to account for these dismal results.”

He added:

“Gist failed to get the level of “buy-in” necessary to create a fair evaluation system that would garner the support of a majority of teachers. That failure was not due to teachers’ fear of change or being held accountable, but to the Commissioner’s own poor leadership ability. Befittingly, 82% of public school teachers polled had a negative view of Gist’s job performance! All things considered, I can appreciate why she wanted to keep her dissertation out of the public eye as long as possible.”

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Rhode Island

Clay Pell: A Fresh Face for Rhode Island Governor

By dianeravitch
July 14, 2014 //
13

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.

Categories Rhode Island

Rhode Island Supreme Court Rejects Equality of School Funding: Sorry, Kids!

By dianeravitch
May 17, 2014 //
4

Almost sixty years to the day of the U.S. Supreme court’s historic Brown decision, the Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit against the stste’s inequitable funding system. The court said it was “deeply concerned” and acknowledged that the funding disparities hurt poor urban children most, but passed the buck. “Not our problem,” the court said.

Here is a summary from the Education Law Center.

RI SUPREME COURT IS “DEEPLY CONCERNED” BUT DENIES RELIEF TO SCHOOL CHILDREN

May 15, 2014

On May 3, 2014, the Rhode Island Supreme Court dismissed the fair school funding case, Woonsocket v. State. The Court concluded that conditions in the plaintiffs’ schools “make a strong case” against the current funding system. Nonetheless, the justices denied plaintiffs the chance to present their evidence in a trial on the merits of the case.

The Court wrote, “We emphasize that we are deeply concerned by the conditions of the schools in Pawtucket and Woonsocket as alleged by plaintiffs, as well as by the alleged predicaments of those municipalities regarding their inabilities to allocate the funding required to meet state mandates.　Installing a means of providing adequate educational opportunities to every child in the state is not only an admirable goal; it is ‘perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.'” (quoting the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education)

In its written opinion, the Court summarized plaintiffs’ allegations, which detail the state’s adoption of higher and higher standards while failing to align funding to those standards. Insufficient resources mean students do not have the opportunity to reach the standards, plaintiffs assert. More recently, the state went so far as to cap local taxing authority so that municipalities attempting to make up for state shortfalls were not allowed to do so, plaintiffs add.

The Court also quoted plaintiffs’ complaint with regard to the most recent funding formula adopted by the state in 2010, noting that the formula “fails to provide adequate resources to allow children, especially in poor, urban communities, to obtain a quality education [and] a reasonable opportunity to meet the [state’s] academic standards.” The Court summarized plaintiffs’ description of the dire state of school facilities, books, and supplies, and the low test scores that flow from the state’s allegedly inadequate funding.

The state defendants filed a motion to dismiss this case, and the Court explained that its decision on the motion depended on interpretation of the Rhode Island Constitution’s Education Clause, which states that:

“The diffusion of knowledge, as well as of virtue among the people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the general assembly to promote public schools, and to adopt all means which they may deem necessary and proper to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.”

Although earlier precedent held that the Rhode Island General Assembly has exclusive authority over school funding, plaintiffs argued that repeal of a particular clause in the state constitution rendered that precedent irrelevant for the Woonsocket case. Plaintiffs also claimed that changes since the earlier precedent meant the state had replaced local control with state mandates. However, after an analysis of the impact of that repeal and other changes, the Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly’s broad discretion in how it complies with the Education Clause was not impaired.

The Court indicates that the political branches could solve the problem of school funding without a court order by improving the states’ system. But the justices appear to ignore the General Assembly’s history of allocating inadequate funding for schools in low-wealth communities.

Based on that history and the current ruling, it appears that meaningful relief and educational opportunity will come to the students in under-resourced Rhode Island communities only if and when voters amend and strengthen the state constitution’s education clause. Only then will future plaintiffs with similar claims finally be granted their day in court. Some education advocates are proposing such an amendment.

Education Justice Press Contact:
Molly A. Hunter, Esq.
Director, Education Justice
email: mhunter@edlawcenter.org
voice: 973 624-1815 x19
http://www.edlawcenter.org
http://www.educationjustice.org

Categories Poverty, Rhode Island

Rhode Island House May Not Pass Moratorium on High-Stakes Test for Graduation

By dianeravitch
May 15, 2014 //
18

Just a couple of hours ago, I posted a story about the Rhode Island State Senate’s decision to impose a three-year moratorium on the use of a standardized test as a high school graduation test. The vote was 29-5. The test is called the. New England Comprehensive Assessment Program and bears the appropriate acronym (NECAP, pronounced “kneecap”). The test was not intended to be a graduation test; it is a cardinal rule of testing that tests should be used only for the purpose for which they were designed.

But today, the speaker of the state’s House of Representatives, Nicholas Mattiello, said he opposes any change in the policy. He has the support of State Commissioner Deborah Gist and the State Board of Education, who want to keep the test.

Here is a modest proposal:

How about if Speaker Mattiello, Commissioner Gist, and the state board take the NECAP and release their scores?

Then, the House can decide whether NECAP is a necessary and useful.

Categories Rhode Island, Testing
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