BREAKING NEWS: Gist ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Providence Schools
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Gist released the following statement:
"Superintendent Tom Brady has been a powerful force for change in the Providence Public Schools, and he has been a true partner in our work toward transforming education in Rhode Island. Under his leadership, the Providence Public Schools have taken major steps toward developing a uniform curriculum across the district, reforming the lowest-achieving schools, and building productive partnerships between management and the teachers union," Gist said.
She added: "With the announcement about his departure and with the departure of his deputy, Sharon Contreras, I am deeply concerned about a leadership gap in the Providence Schools and I will offer my assistance to Mayor Taveras and the School Board to help ensure that the Providence Schools continue on the path toward greatness. I wish Superintendent Brady and Sharon Contreras well as they move on to the next stage in their careers."
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Comments:
Charles Drago
5:53pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
This is long, but definitely worth the read.
On August 23, 2010, Commissioner Gist received the following information in the form of an open letter.
Sorry, Commissioner Gist. You are shedding crocodile tears for two individuals who were partly responsible for the terrible situation detailed below.
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In describing your recent trip to Washington, D.C. in support of Rhode Island’s effort to secure Race to the Top Funds, you expressed that, “We have ... the sense of urgency and the courage to do it right.” It is with precisely that urgency that I write to address the terrible failures and inequities of Providence’s public schools, the suspect manner in which the district is utilizing Title I and perhaps other federal funds, the measurably inadequate performance of the district’s Central Office, and the consequences of such mismanagement for not only the current generation of students in the Providence system, but also, and by logical extension, the economic and cultural well-being of Rhode Island for decades to come.
I know that you are all too aware that professional assessments of proficiencies in the Providence school district reveal that the city’s students, to commit understatement, are not receiving adequate resources. In recorded test results at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, students do not demonstrate an understanding of essential academic skills.
In point of fact, certain critical levels of proficiency decrease as students “progress” through the system. An example: According to results from the 2009 New England Common Assessment Program, mathematics proficiency for Providence students decreased from 35% at the elementary school level, to 28% at the middle school level, to 15% at the high school level. The situation is even more alarming at specific city schools: at the Providence Academy of International Studies, no students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics.
I trust you will agree that the first steps on the path to solving any problem are for those most responsible for it to acknowledge that the problem exists and to accept their culpability. How, then, must we consider the institutionalized denial, embedded at the highest levels of Providence municipal government, regarding the city’s failed public schools?
When Mayor David N. Cicilline insists upon characterizing his schools as offering “first-class education” – despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary with which he clearly is familiar – he encourages dangerous levels of complacency and confusion that, left in place, will preserve the status quo and have disastrous impacts upon the socio-economic systems of Rhode Island for decades to come.
As you are aware, under the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are identified as having met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), or as being In Need of Improvement (INI) if such progress has not been met for two or more consecutive years. The No Child Left Behind Act also contains several provisions, including a transfer option – Public School Choice – for students at schools in year one of their INI status. In year two of INI, students eligible for free or reduced price meals are entitled to receive Supplemental Education Services (SES) if they remain at their assigned home school.
For the 2010-2011 school year, eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and nine high schools in Providence have been identified as INI. Eight city high schools additionally qualified for SES. And these figures do not take into account the twelve schools currently in Corrective Action status – that reserved for schools in the terminal stage of failure.
However, in a letter to parents and guardians of students at these schools, Providence Superintendent Thomas Brady specified that there were no high school options available for Choice. To my knowledge there are no middle school options, and elementary school options are severely limited.
I applaud your commitment to finding and implementing long-term solutions to these and related grave problems. Yet the luxury of time is not enjoyed by students currently enrolled in Providence Public Schools; their abilities to join a 21st century workforce and to enjoy the benefits society provides to its best educated and productive members have been placed in grave jeopardy by those who have failed to care for their educational requirements.
A medical metaphor seems appropriate: Before the radical surgery required to save public education in Providence can be performed, the patient requires triage, or immediate attention. I am committed to help provide such attention, and toward this end I ask you to respond to the following questions in the most timely manner.
1. In Providence, some $3.5 million in Title I funds are being used to pay administrative salaries (which historically had been provided by local budgets). In my judgement, this practice violates the spirit and perhaps even the letter of laws governing a program created to allocate funds directly to programs that enhance student outcomes. QUESTION: Can you demonstrate that all federal funding sources, including but not limited to Title I, are being used within legal parameters to maximize opportunity and achievement for Providence students?
2. It is my understanding that Providence Public School employees whose salaries and benefits are paid, in part or in whole, with Title I funds must dedicate to Title I-sanctioned activities exclusively a percentage of their workday directly proportionate with the percentage of their federally provided compensation. QUESTION: Can you demonstrate that this requirement is being met within the Providence Public School system?
3. It is my understanding that in excess of thirty-five administrators – nearly ten times as many as in previous mayoral administrations – are being paid $3.5 million in salaries and benefits to manage the allocation of some $23 million in Title I funds. These salary set-asides are separate and distinct from the Indirect Cost allocation noted below in Item 4. QUESTION: Does the allocation of Title I funds for administrators’ compensation as noted above conform to the letter and spirit of governing federal statutes?
4. A small percentage of Title I funds legally may be set aside for so-called Indirect Cost expenses directly related to the administration of Title I-funded educational programs. It is my understanding that A), Providence has set aside over $1 million for Indirect Cost, and B) those funds, rather than being used for approved purposes, have been misdirected to the City’s General Fund and/or other unapproved uses. QUESTION: Can you demonstrate that Indirect Cost funds in Providence have been and are being used according to the letter and spirit of federal law?
5. In February of this year, you issued the Executive Summary of the Commissioner’s Review of the Providence Central Office. Some 31 performance areas were analyzed. In category after category, you concluded that there was “no evidence” or “little evidence” of Central Office meeting acceptable standards in such areas as course alignment, student opportunity to achieve proficiency, full implementation of personalization structures, and consistent levels of expectation for graduation requirements. This appraisal is shocking in the picture it paints of an incompetent, failing administration that is consuming for administrators’ salaries alone well in excess of $10 million in public funds annually. I am informed that, subsequent to the release of this Executive Summary, you conducted and issued another Commissioner’s Review of the Providence Central Office. That Review and its Executive Summary, if they exist, effectively have been sequestered. QUESTIONS: Will you immediately make these documents available and accessible to the public? Will you release all other currently sequestered documents relating to the performance of Providence Public Schools?
Specifically, how do you plan to address the established poor performance of Providence’s Central Office?
6. As noted above, the Public School Choice option provided under the No Child Left Behind Act is effectively unavailable in Providence. QUESTION: What are your plans to provide Choice options immediately to Providence students?
7. According to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Hispanic students in Rhode Island had the lowest scores in the country – averaging 30 points below Caucasian students in reading and math. African-American students fared similarly, averaging 30 points below Caucasian students in math and between 27 and 29 percent in reading. As recently as July 11 of this year, you characterized such conditions as being “shameful.” I agree. You also are aware that more than 59% of Providence students are of Hispanic origin, and 22% are African-American. QUESTIONS: What are your plans to address immediately these terrible inequities in Providence? How do you plan to reduce this achievement gap by at least 50% by 2015?
These questions should be understood as my initial effort to address what by all rational measure are intolerable conditions in the Providence Public School system. As you are well aware, I am a candidate for Congress in Rhode Island’s First District. I have pledged both to my prospective constituents and to all Rhode Islanders that, if elected, I shall use the full authority and resources of my office to align federal, state, and municipal agencies to maximize the timely delivery of services - including those related to education.
I reiterate: Meaningful and even drastic remedial action is called for immediately. Given the option open to you to step in and take control of a dying public school system, are you prepared to intervene thusly in Providence?
I shall remain focused on the educational needs of all Rhode Island students. Your own dedication to the welfare of students in our public schools is both obvious and inspirational. And so I turn to you not just with obvious questions and not merely in the posture of a candidate for public office. Rather, I seek your counsel and assistance as I offer my own.
I eagerly await your reply.
Gary Arnold
10:48pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Considering that Gist has little support from the inept school boards, councils and unions she has has done an outstanding job of TRYING to get some semblance of intelligent planning in place for the kids of RI.
That is not to say anything has changed because she is one person against a legacy of incompetence that runs throughout the education system.
There needs to be a reform and RI can not reform itself as in Central Falls that wanted to go into bankruptcy to facilitate reorganization and our incompetent GA wouldn't allow it, why, because it would have forced changes that would have benefited the kids and NOT the UNION and self serving educational system.
Education is failing and all of the administration and UNION influences are the cause, fire them and give our education back to competent teachers.
Joe Bagori
11:48pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Maybe Gist can get Carrulo to run the Providence Schools.
We hear the current political speech that administrators salaries represent "investments" in education.
When the kitchen got hot Brady left with our investment.
We can hire three talented Rhode Islanders to work in his place for this "investment".
For that matter Gist could leave and we could hire some native Rhode Islanders in her place, if in her mind a true partner is one that leaves when the going gets tough.
Some maturity lacking here.
Bob Council
5:42pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Great questions by Mr. Drago #1. This woman, Ms. Gist, has inherited a hornet's nest in this mismanaged and union run education system. She needs ALL the support she can get from those who realize the dilemma she faces in turning around the Titanic being steered by teacher unions, self serving politicians and lobbyists.
If all schools were charter schools we could get rid of the unions and their negative impact on student education.
Charles Drago
6:03pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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1. Not my questions, I'm afraid. I'm quoting someone else. But thank you for the compliment.
2. Mr. Drago is PRO Organized Labor.