Progressives Are Progress Hoarders: Guest MINDSETTER™ Sanzi

As Providence gets ready to begin the hard work of climbing out of decades of dysfunction and failure to adequately educate its children, we must be wary of anyone who expresses certainty that the solutions lie in “progressive” policies that aim to block, curtail or eliminate school choice. While political leaders love to boast of cranes in the sky, thriving restaurants, and a hip art scene, they are far less honest about the reality that only some city residents have access to all that progress while others never even get a taste of it.

Progressives are progress hoarders. They think they are changing the world and standing up for justice by demanding paper straws and donning t-shirts with the word “equity” emblazoned on the front but are often oblivious to how many of their fellow residents are barely getting by and don’t have the luxury to spend time worrying—letting alone lecturing others— about what kind of the straw they should use.

In Providence, these residents are poor and rarely white. They do not have children enrolled at Moses Brown or The Wheeler School—and if their children have a learning disability, the Hamilton School at $49,000/year is totally out of reach. Chances are they don’t know a soul who lives in the new high-rise condos or has a private tutor who comes to the house to help them with math. They shop at PriceRite, not Whole Foods. And they are zoned to chronically underperforming schools but lack the financial resources to send their children somewhere better.

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According to a recent report by brightbeam, an education advocacy nonprofit (for whom I consult), America’s most progressive cities have the largest achievement gaps in the country between white students and students of color. That may seem counterintuitive to those who think of progressivism as the promise that the most disadvantaged and marginalized people will experience the most progress. But that isn’t how progressivism plays out in real life.

Progressive cities are bastions of income inequality where “the haves” live like kings and queens and the “have-nots” are in pretty dire straits.  All one has to do is look at San Francisco to see how dystopian a city controlled by progressive leaders can become, especially for poor people of color.

The achievement gaps in San Francisco are also astounding — for example, the gap between white and black students in math proficiency is 58 points. In Providence, where only 9 percent of students are white, 94 percent of 8th-grade boys and 89 percent of 8th-grade girls are not proficient in reading. In math, 93 percent of 8th-grade boys and 94 percent of 8th-grade girls do not show proficiency in math.

These literacy and numeracy outcomes are gut-wrenching—but not inevitable if we radically transform the system and enable parents to have more self-determination when it comes to the education of their children.

Providence is not listed as one of America’s most progressive cities in the study—it is too small to have even been considered. But we do know that Providence is governed exclusively by Democrats and has been for decades. The Rhode Island General Assembly consists of 99 democrats and 14 Republicans—the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and treasurer are Democrats and the attorney general is also a Democrat. Providence residents haven’t elected a Republican to the city council since 1986 and the last Republican mayor was Buddy Cianci during his first term. Regardless of whether or not Providence fits neatly into the “progressive” box, it has certainly been a very blue city for decades, with a school system that the Wall Street Journal aptly referred to in July of last year as “an education horror show.”

Progressives—and most Democrats—oppose expanding choices for low-income families (despite the fact that most of them who live in Providence have opted their own children out of the Providence schools.) The education commissioner and the governor, who both send their children to private schools, have said publicly that systemic change in Providence schools will take at least a decade even though they both know—we all know—that students don’t have ten years to wait.

To Infante-Green’s credit, she has acknowledged on the record that the people who don’t think parents should have options are the people who already do have options.

Providence is a city of progress hoarders—many who wear their progressivism as a badge of virtue are living the high life, their children enrolled in the best schools, while the majority of residents in their city neither see nor feel any progress at all.

So go ahead and have your paper straws, hot yoga, and overpriced coffees. Just stop hoarding education.

 

Erika Sanzi is a full-time consultant with brightbeam, formerly known as Education Post. She is chief editor at Project Forever Free, writes the blog Goodschoolhunting.org and is a senior visiting fellow at the Fordham Institute. She is the mother of three school-aged sons.

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