Guest MINDSETTER™ Sam Zurier: Don’t Give Up on Providence’s Public Schools

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Guest Mindsetter Sam Zurier

 

View Larger +

My experience reading Wendy Lawton’s “Tale of Two Cities” was a tale of two reactions.  I admired the lively writing and enjoyed the description of our bright “Creative Capital.”  In contrast, I could not disagree more with its “dark and dyspeptic” view of the Providence Public Schools.  Despite these disagreements, her tale helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our public schools, and the path towards further improvement.

While Ms. Lawton does not specify why her decision to leave Providence “is largely due to the schools,” it may relate to her decision to send her daughter to private school. Her choice confronted her with the challenges many Providence families face – as much as the parents enjoy living in the City, the combination of the City’s property tax plus the “tuition tax” can be unaffordable.  As Ms. Lawton correctly points out, public education is important for economic development – families often choose where to live based in large part on the public school system, and Providence must win the competition with the private schools and/or other neighboring communities to prosper over time.

Some Providence schools are winning that competition.  My children all attended Nathanael Greene Middle School and Classical High School, where my son is finishing his junior year, and my daughters graduated well-prepared for rigorous college programs. All of my children (as well as their friends from many different City neighborhoods) appreciate the social diversity of the Providence Public Schools, which provided them with an education in “emotional intelligence” that has shaped their character just as their academic education has shaped their intellect.  As parents, it was not always easy to navigate bureaucratic issues that created unnecessary hurdles, but the rewards made it worthwhile.  There are other quality schools, both on the East Side and elsewhere throughout the City, that are popular with families who have a choice about whether to send their children to public school.  This is not to say that every Providence school is of the highest quality, or that the best public schools are free of problems.  Instead, the possibilities were there for our children, and we are grateful for the public education they received.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

When I was on the School Board in 2000-02, we commissioned a survey of Providence parents in private school, asking them how the public schools would need to change for them to consider sending their children to one.  The highest rated choice was advanced academic programs.  Parents are willing to forego top-rated athletic facilities or state-of-the-art technology if the quality of instruction can help their child gain admission to and success at Brown University.  This was an encouraging finding, because you do not need a large budget to have advanced academic programs – you only need a good curriculum and capable educators.  Providence’s best public schools benefit from enlightened principals who can attract a core team of talented and dedicated teachers.  In those schools, the goal is not limited to achieving “proficiency”; instead, the school measures its success by the opportunities it provides students to excel.  I love attending Classical High School’s awards ceremony in the school’s auditorium.  Despite the dilapidated setting, the children’s stories and achievements are an inspiration, giving me hope for the future of our City, our State and our country, as well as our public schools.  I view this scene as a metaphor for much of our City – the conditions are gritty, many of the kids came from nothing, and the underdogs triumph over their wealthier neighbors in more privileged communities.

View Larger +

While the opportunities that some of our schools offer students to excel are valuable, the Providence Public Schools cannot stray from their essential task of providing a quality public education to all students.  Ms. Lawton’s tale recounts some of the grim data, and the State’s recent report card for the City’s schools is far from satisfactory.  I regret that not every Providence child receives the educational opportunities my children did.  With that said, I believe that Ms. Lawton’s proposed solution of new leadership is inaccurate, simplistic and potentially quite harmful.

In my experience, we have been fortunate to have Superintendent Lusi’s steady leadership.  She has helped instill a focus on student achievement on the School Board, and that body’s leadership includes some strong, quality people.  The School Department has instituted a new curriculum that, over time, can provide a platform for future growth.  Our Mayor has helped find new resources for our public schools, including competitive grants that for innovative programs such as the Providence Speaks initiative to improve the vocabulary of disadvantaged children.

Despite these efforts, the progress of Providence’s children towards proficiency has been frustratingly slow, and each year hundreds of children age out of the system without the baseline of learning they need to succeed in today’s society and economy.  In my opinion, however, the problem does not lie with a lack of mayoral leadership, but instead with the need for more resources and gains in educator quality.  We do not receive enough help from the State, which is one of a minority nationally whose Constitution does not clearly guarantee a right to education.  It is my hope that we address this failing of our State in a constitutional convention next year.

A visionary principal can bring dramatic change to a building, just as visionary teacher can bring a dramatic change to a child’s education.  We need many more of both, and we need to improve our accountability systems to either improve or remove those educators who are not performing well enough for our children. 

A story is told of a man who dreams that an angel takes him on a tour of Heaven and Hell.  The first room he sees contains a group of people seated around a sumptuous banquet table, piled high with the finest of food and drink.  When the visitor asks if this is Heaven, the angel directs his eyes towards the arms of the guests.  Their arms are all down by their side, chained to their neighbor’s from wrist to shoulder, so that nobody can eat.  In this way, their Hell consists of seeing the greatest gifts imaginable without being able to enjoy them.

The angel then takes the visitor to a second room, which features a similarly sumptuous banquet table surrounded by guests whose arms bear the same heavy shackles.  The visitor asks whether this is another portion of Hell, and the angel says no, it is actually Heaven.  When the visitor asks how this can be, the angel asks him to look closely at the guests, who are helping each other to enjoy the meal.

The picture of our public schools is mixed, but it is a mistake to view it as a dark cloud on our City, and it would be a mistake to charge our next Mayor with the responsibility of bringing dramatically better results immediately or else be declared a poor leader.  Instead, we must view our public schools, be it as parents or as a community members, as a half full glass in need of our patience and support.  Frustrations abound, but hard work and dedication can become even more rewarding.  By making that investment, those of us who choose to stay in our City can help it advance towards brighter days.  

Sam Zurier is a member of the Providence City Council, representing Ward 2.

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook