Jencunas: Gist's Departure Leaves RI Education at Crossroads
Brian Jencunas, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER
Jencunas: Gist's Departure Leaves RI Education at Crossroads
This crossroads exists because Dr. Debra Gist has decided to resign and become the Superintendent of the Tulsa Public Schools.
Gist’s six-year tenure as an education reformer was a rebuttal to the usual perception of Rhode Island government. In a state known for insider politics, Gist was an outsider. In a government known for reluctance to change, she enacted sweeping reforms that improved education for Rhode Island students. In a state with a strong teacher’s union, Gist made improvements despite staunch union opposition.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHer leadership increased the graduation rate, created innovative charter schools, and Rhode Island now beats the national average in gains to student achievement. Thanks to Gist, Rhode Island, teachers are now given yearly evaluations. Judging employee performance seems like common sense, but the teachers union considered it an unforgivable sin.
Those unions want a commissioner who will roll back Gist’s reforms. They know this is the last chance to undo teacher accountability and charter schools. Once the policies have been in place for two successive commissioners, they will become part of the status quo that is so resistant to change.
Governor Raimondo will choose Gist’s replacement. The choice will show whether Raimondo is continuing her iconoclastic political career or is changing to become more like the average Rhode Island politician.
As treasurer, Raimondo was a kindred spirit to Gist, taking on unions and enacting polarizing reforms.
These changes earned Raimondo praise from wealthy liberals and reform-minded academics, but were despised by organized labor. Yet despite labor’s opposition, Raimondo easily won the Democratic primary.
Unfortunately, she could choose an ineffective education commissioner to appease parts of the Democratic Party. Raimondo might want to fix her relationship with labor, viewing them as essential to pressuring more conservative parts of the General Assembly to adopt her budget.
Additionally, she may want to appeal to liberal hardliners, who some view as the future of the Democratic Party in Rhode Island. That crowd, epitomized by the bloggers at RI Future, view charter schools as a corporate takeover of public education. They were as critical of Gist as they were of Republicans like Scott Walker and Chris Christie, lumping them all into the category of union busters.
Appointing a pro-union commissioner would be a political and policy mistake for Raimondo. Her brand as a politician was built on siding with taxpayers over unions, and Rhode Island is ready for that brand.
Union Power
The Central Falls bankruptcy and Providence’s near-bankruptcy have weakened unions’ political power. It’s not a coincidence that none of labor’s favored candidates prevailed in last November’s election. Unions simply aren’t the political force they once were. Any benefit Raimondo gets from an olive branch to the teachers union will be cancelled out by the damage done to her public brand.
Liberal hardliners have won a string of victories in the last few years, defeating incumbent Democrats in the General Assembly and becoming more visible in the party’s infrastructure. But they’re still the minority in a Democratic Party ruled by business friendly centrists. Those are the people Raimondo needs to court to have success with the legislature, and those are people who want to continue reforms in the Rhode Island schools.
Though Rhode Island will miss Debra Gist, replacing her with an equally effective reformer lets Raimondo to deliver the change she promised voters. The governor was elected as a reformer, and she can prove it by picking an Education Commissioner who will continue to put students first.
Who Could Be RI's Next Education Commissioner?
Clay Pell
The not-so-dark horse who might be in consideration for Gist's spot (or the Board of Education's Eva Mancuso's) could be Raimondo's primary opponent Clay Pell, who comes from the education policy world at the federal level -- he was Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education.
Given the millions Pell poured into his own campaign -- as well as how politics might have played out to give Gina the edge over opponent Allan Fung -- Pell might be well-positioned to maintain his profile in Rhode Island as he more than likely might be taking a look towards another run for higher offfice soon.
Susan Lusi
Current Providence Schools Superintendent Susan Lusi has a resume that includes having been Superintendent in Portsmouth, Chief of Staff for the Providence Public Schools -- and as Assistant Commissioner at the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Lusi has served as a consultant to RIDE, as well as groups such as the LAB at Brown, Education Resource Strategies, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Learning First Alliance. Lusi has a Ph.D. and Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, as well as a MAT in social studies and an AB in economics from Brown University. Lusi could well be considered for the call up to the state's top education post.
Tom Brady
Lusi's predecessor in the Providence Public Schoools Brady the helm in 2011 after serving for three years, and has worked in education consulting and served as Director of the Department of Defense Educational Activity, over seeing all Defense Department K-12 schools, both stateside and overseas -- 191 schools in 14 districts, serving more than 82,000 students. A return to RI to fill Gist's shoes would be step up the education ladder in the state should Brady be in consideration -- and have the interest returning to RI.
Angela Romans
Providence Mayor Taveras' former education advisor, who has been at Brown's Annenberg Institute, while in the city helped secure over $5 million in education grant funding from local, regional and national public and private sources for the city and served as a tri-chair of the Mayor’s Children and Youth Cabinet (CYC).
Prior to working in city government, Romans served as New England Network manager at Diploma Plus, Inc., a Boston-based, national organization that in partnership with school districts and communities, designs schools and programs to improve the academic results of predominately urban, African-American and/or Hispanic youth.
Dave Abbott
As the Deputy Commissioner at RIDE, Abbott has had to fill the shoes of Gist at meetings and events many times -- and could probably quite easily make the move up given his working knowledge of the office.
Jennifer Wood
Lt. Governor Roberts' Chief of Staff has an extensive background -- and interest -- in education, serving as Chief of Staff and legal counsel for RIDE for 9 years, and general counsel for NEARI before that. Roberts was an instrumental supporter of Raimondo's during the campaign.
