990WBOB
  • WBOB Radio
  • Crush Cancer
  • Past Casts
  • Weather
  • Contact
  • About
    • WBOB Press Releases
    • Join Our Team!
    • CHARITY GALA

I Can't Get Over Providence School Conditions (From a Recent out-of-District High School Graduate

8/2/2019

Comments

 
Picture
Image from WJAR
Mark Colley

I haven’t been studying Rhode Island for long. I wrote a piece last month about my first impressions of the state, and I’ve been researching since then. 

While most of what I’ve learned has sunk into the back of my brain as useless knowledge, likely already forgotten, one fact still astounds me: the horrible conditions of Providence schools.
I can’t get over it. 

In a district of 24,000 students, a 93-page report from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy found students “completely disconnected from the environment around them,” teachers “missing with no clear reason” and principals with no “clear picture of who was where, teaching what, and when.” The buildings themselves are falling apart; running water is sometimes brown, there are no locks on bathroom stalls and floors are crumbling.

This translates to a horrible standard of education for students in the Providence system. Results from standardized tests showed that nine in ten students did not meet levels of proficiency in math, and eight in ten students were not proficient in English. The report stated that Providence represented “an exceptionally low bar for instruction and low expectations for students.”

That’s 24,000 students — 24,000 future workers — being stunted at a critical point in their development for no other reason than systemic dysfunction. It is unacceptable.

To some degree, this story — to me — is about them. I do not live in Rhode Island. But on a larger scale, this is about me. I just graduated from high school in New Hampshire, where I attended a STEM-based charter school ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best in the state. While our resources as a charter school were limited, we did the most we could with it, and I received a high-quality education from dedicated teachers with a community that helped me succeed.

This isn’t meant to brag. 

I know the region of New Hampshire that I received my education in is better off than Providence, where almost forty percent of families live below the poverty line; because of a system where nearly half of school funds come from property tax, this matters more than it should. I bring up my education to show why I, living almost one hundred miles away with little connection to Rhode Island, have a connection to the Providence school board’s dysfunction.

I know first-hand how fulfilling and valuable a strong secondary education can be, and how imperative it is to one’s success. Without an effective education, I would not be able to attend the university I do. And without a college education, what I hope to do with my life could become a pipe dream. 

Eliminating the crucial launching point that is a competent primary and secondary education can have disastrous impacts that span generations. And already might have.

Today, we are talking about students. But tomorrow, we’ll talk about workers and employees. We’ll be talking about salaries and unemployment numbers, poverty levels and GDP. The students of today will drive the economy of tomorrow. I mentioned that forty percent of families in Providence live below the poverty line; that may never change without improvements in education.

What is the government doing to solve this problem?

In late July, the Rhode Island Council of Elementary and Secondary Education gave the education commissioner authority to intervene in Providence. “[Education commissioner Angélica-Infante] Green now has the power to revamp the teachers’ contract, revise how the school district is governed, even make decisions over hiring and firing,” Linda Borg of the Providence Journal wrote. Given the idle quality of Providence schools since the 1990s, when a similarly-scathing report was issued, this is a step in the right direction. 

Providence has made little headway over the past 20 years; it’s time for someone else to step in.

It certainly won’t be easy. 

A 2017 report found the cost of making Providence schools “safe, warm and dry” sits between $400 and $500 million, while the cost to fully modernize the schools may be up to $4 billion. Meanwhile, because of lower funding from property taxes, Providence has less money to work with. While the buildings may not be the chief concern in this debate — after all, every level of the system, from teacher to principal, is enveloped in dysfunction — it provides a picture of how much money and dedication it will take to solve the problem.

At this point, I’ll get down from my ivory tower. I’ll stop throwing stones from my glass house. I don’t know how to solve the problem; frankly, it’s above my pay grade, and I can openly admit it’s infinitely easier to complain than fix. It’s been encouraging that Rhode Island is already taking steps in the right direction, but it has yet to be seen whether the changes make any impact. But change, in any case, is the solution here.

Providence needs something different. I hope it can get it.

Read More 990WBOB

  • Even if Bernie Loses, He Still Wins
  • There’s Still No Obstruction
  • Taste Test: Burger King's New $1 Tacos
  • Why won't Joe Biden Just Apologize?​
Comments

    WBOB
    Original
    ​Reads

    Picture

    Unbiased, Unfiltered. WBOB's Original Reads feature our brightest and boldest personalities, offering their two-cents on the goings on of news, sports, politics, entertainment, and business. -- Are our opinions always PC? Nope. Are they always perfect? Nah. But, are they always 100% authentic? Absolutely!


    LISTEN
    ​TO WBOB ORIGINAL PODCASTS

    Picture
    Listen to
    ​Past BOBCasts

    WBOB 
    Best Reads
    Brought To You By
    TripAdvisor.com

    Picture

    Celebrating David Clyde: A Wild Passionate Friend To All


    Picture

    Search 
    The Archives


    Reads From Our Friends

    Picture

    The Best Game Development Tools: How to Make Your Own Game


    Contact Us
    [email protected]


    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

Search For Your Favorite WBOB Author,
​or BobCast

990WBOB 
An Independent Media Outlet.

The views opinions and thoughts expressed do not  reflect those of 990WBOB, its management or its staff. All Rights Reserved 990WBOB.com 2007-2020
​
Contact WBOB HERE
Photo from nzhamstar
  • WBOB Radio
  • Crush Cancer
  • Past Casts
  • Weather
  • Contact
  • About
    • WBOB Press Releases
    • Join Our Team!
    • CHARITY GALA