Taveras Hires Education Adviser

Taveras Hires Education Adviser

Mayor Angel Taveras yesterday announced he had appointed Angela Romans to serve as his Senior Adviser on Education.

The $93,000-a-year position is a new one, although it uses existing funds, according to David Ortiz a spokesman for the Mayor’s office.

The new position is intended to help promote communication by serving as an intermediary between the community and the Mayor’s office. Taveras stated that Angela brings “deep expertise in both policy and practice and invaluable real world experience working with students and communities who face many of the same challenges we face in Providence.”

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Romans recently served as the New England and Southern Network Manager for Diploma Plus, a nonprofit organization that helps high school dropouts obtain degrees. She also spent 11 years working in the Brown University admissions office, where she oversaw recruitment strategies that resulted in the two largest classes of minority students in the university’s history. Prior to this, Romans taught high school math and science in small public school in Boston and New York City.

In an official statement, Romans said “there is nothing more important than strengthening our schools and creating opportunities for all our young people to succeed,” adding that she is looking forward to making, “Providence public schools the best in the nation.”

Taveras’ announcement comes on the heels of the release of the most recent NECAP scores, in which Providence saw relative improvements. Taveras commended the improved performance, especially at the elementary school level, but stressed the need for continued reform efforts. “While I am encouraged by the results at some schools, we cannot pretend that our city schools are the best they can be. They are not,” Taveras said.

Romans will begin her work on February 25, 2010.