After First Year of Providence Schools Takeover, PTU Has Offered Transformative Plan

After First Year of Providence Schools Takeover, PTU Has Offered Transformative Plan

When the state took control of the Providence Public School District one year ago, the educators of the Providence Teachers Union did not object, hoping that a new team, working collaboratively with teachers and community members, could actually make progress in transforming our schools and students’ outcomes.

Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in the middle of the first year of the state takeover. The district’s response by any measure has been chaotic for parents, students and educators alike. Early this summer, educators offered to set up working groups of public health experts, community members and educators to work with school leaders on a plan that would be safe and instructionally sound. Unfortunately, the district refused to work collaboratively despite other districts across Rhode Island using that approach. There are still no metrics or standards on temporarily closing schools due to COVID-19, keeping appropriate social distancing or handling inadequate staffing due to quarantines, again in contrast with other school districts.

We’ve had 50 years of collaboration, culminating in contract agreements that have served our students well. That’s why the contract being negotiated now and at the bargaining table is the best place to hammer out a binding agreement—a promise in writing—that would be the foundation for creating safe schools and equity in student resources and teaching in Providence. This should be evidence-driven and student-centered, should put greater focus on family and community engagement, and should support educators as frontline workers for our students. Educators must be integral partners for ensuring equity and success.

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The PTU has laid out a student-centered five-point road map for change. In contract negotiations over the past several months, and on our TogetherforPVDstudents website, we’ve presented a clear vision for transforming our schools, one created after receiving educator and community feedback and drawing from programs that have proved successful in many school districts across the country. The vision includes concrete strategies and specific programs that create a path forward to make a positive difference for our students.

The pandemic has made clear the central role a school plays for its surrounding community. Envisioning a better world after COVID-19 should propel us to embrace our schools fully. We should develop community schools that would be transformative for the whole school community. Community schools involve parents, students, educators and community in assessing an individual school community’s needs and providing the wraparound supports and programs inside and outside of school hours. Across the country, community schools have proven to lower absenteeism, provide for the physical and emotional health of students and families, and increase academic performance.

Because our students speak as many as 50 languages, we need to invest in excellence and equity for multilingual learners (MLLs). The district needs to recruit more MLL coordinators, MLL-certified teachers and bilingual staff. It should help educators earn MLL certification and provide more and consistent training on best practices for MLL education, including culturally responsive instructional practices.

Just as attorneys, pilots and engineers need continuing professional development, the same is true for educators. We want to work with the district to create a high-quality, equity-driven training, something that has been ignored for years, with too many excuses. Particular areas that teachers want and need include team teaching for early childhood, special education and MLL classrooms; rich professional development on social and emotional learning; and collaborating on a curriculum that is culturally responsive and reflects the realities facing our community, including confronting racial and economic injustice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the poor condition of our aging schools and the digital divide that has disadvantaged so many low-income families with virtual learning. Our schools have suffered for decades with lead, asbestos and chronic bad air quality. There is poor lighting, rodents, mold and HVAC issues, non-working water fountains and broken classroom furniture. Let’s ensure Providence prioritizes the worst buildings first, drastically improves the maintenance request system for more timely repairs and provides safe outdoor play spaces at every school.

For a school district to be successful, it must engage with parents, families and community, especially on ending racism and bias, reducing punitive discipline and developing programs to recruit and keep teachers of color. Collaboration fosters buy-in and therefore confidence in a school system.

We have been, and continue to be, ready, willing and able to work with state and school district leaders on transforming Providence schools. So much in the last 12 months has been exceedingly disappointing and disheartening. Teachers feel devalued and unappreciated. We have a chance now to create a plan of action that is tied to student-centered specifics put in writing in an impactful contract. When educators and school leaders roll up their sleeves together and hammer out a meaningful student-centered plan, it’s a win-win for the entire Providence school community.

 

Maribeth Calabro is president of the Providence Teachers Union