Guest MINDSETTER™ Dan Lawlor: 2012 Should be a Year of Growth for RI
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The greatest city in these United States, Providence, RI, is 375 years old. In some ways, how could I not celebrate?
Amazing foods alone - Cambodian, Ethiopian, Italian, South Asian, Liberian, and Tina's Caribbean - show the diversity and good appetites found in this metropolis.
The city's eclectic art scene- from One Way Gallery to AS220 to City Arts to Manton Ave Project to La Salle Academy's theater program to Hope's award-winning drama productions to Trinity Rep- I love this art aficionado's dream!
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe stagnant political culture of Rhode Island- from multiple sitting legislators facing civil and criminal charges to continuing mismanagement of community agencies - is what it is - one of several albatross holding us back.
I look forward to a year of gallery openings, community arts fundraisers, scholarships dinners, park clean-ups, and work to try to build a better city. From the hours put in by dozens of after school workers across the city, to the work of neighborhood churches and soup kitchens, a healthy civil society is produced by dedicated, hardworking residents and friends of Providence.
Our Politics Have Stagnated
While the arts culture has improved, our politics have stagnated. Many graduates leave- I have many friends who are working (or aspire to soon be working) in Boston, DC, New York, San Francisco and the like. This is not bad. People are free to live their lives, and the networks and connections they make might help enrich lil' Rhody one day. Yet, at the same time, I know of friends, in Virginia, in California, in Georgia, who have no desire to live here again.
Friends have mentioned some folks in this state as "political," "parochial," and "racist." Rhode Island has many wonderful assets- we're located between New York City and Boston, we're enriched by a beautiful coastline, we're home to amazing colleges and universities, and we foster some of the best after school programs in the nation. Yet, that's not enough. What about jobs? What about a common future?
This is a tiny New England state marked by a flurry of divisions. In many district schools and community centers, varying levels of accountability, limited arts and business education for the students, weak staff support structures, uncertain funding, and continuing mismanagement hold us back. A friend of mine remarked that for many schools and community agencies, we witness "low accountability and poor management." To that criticism, I would add, we have a lack of professional support and organized community engagement. A state this small could be very strategic and selective about teacher training and family engagement. For instance, considering Massachusetts has the reportedly hardest teacher entrance exam, why don't we one up them? Considering Boston has piloted parent advocate academies, why don't we do the same across the state? The private sector is just as polarized between the well-resourced, and the not. Consider the tax deals given to firms like GTECH versus the hoop jumping for many small businesses to start up. These territorial divisions hurt us from thinking about the neighborhood, the city, the region as a whole - and we fight over scraps of land or cash, instead of a broad vision.
Time to Address Major Challenges
The last decade has seen us weaken the public colleges and universities of Rhode Island. Student tuition has increased during a time when wages for most Rhode Islanders have not. Similarly, the state is seeking to potentially invest millions to increase transit between Brown and RI Hospital, yet what about strategies for college access and transit statewide? Cuts to higher education affordability (and cuts to bus lines serving college students) are cuts to the state's future scholars, writers, business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, doctors, builders, and nurses.
Zooming in on Providence, the picture isn't much better. Perry Middle School was forced to close in the last few years because the state and city did not spend money on its upkeep. Gilbert Stuart Middle School has a nearly 90 year old auditorium of peeling paint and leaks, not to mention a crumbling facade along the roof. Many of the children in the West End, South Side, and Mt Pleasant, have experienced their public education in poorly maintained, asbestos-ridden, school buildings, with bathrooms occasionally full of noxious odors due to poor ventilation. These site specific building challenges do not even include ongoing environmental health risks at places such as Mashapaug Pond, near Alvarez High School, on the Providence-Cranston line. ( http://www.urbanpondprocession.org/)
All people in this 375 year old city matter. I hope for a year of growth, and action. In 2012, may we celebrate a better political and civic culture, one where we stop gaming each other, and work for the common good.
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