EDITORIAL: Two Rhode Island State Senators Call for All Children To Be Left Behind

Friday, February 26, 2021

EDITORIAL

 

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An opinion piece written by two Rhode Island State Senators -- Sandra Cano and Ana Quezada -- was sent out by the press office at the Rhode Island General Assembly on Thursday to try and justify their efforts to cancel over 5,500 seats at charter schools for this coming year and block future charter school expansion.

The title of the column is “Charter school expansion would leave most children behind” – you can read their claims below, but what we did was pull a few of their points and offer some reality to their specious claims.

Cano and Quezada: The moratorium on charter school expansion recently approved by the Rhode Island Senate is neither anti-education nor anti-charter school. Rather, it is about saving traditional public schools, thereby ensuring every child in our state has a fighting chance at a quality education before it’s too late.

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Reality: What? Huh? You're "not opposed" to charter schools? You are working to pass a law that cancels retroactively more than 5,500 new charter school opportunities for urban, poor children -- who, along with their parents, wanted out of their traditional public school, which you are forcing them to stay at, despite their wishes. 

 

Cano and Quezada: Rather, it is about saving traditional public schools, thereby ensuring every child in our state has a fighting chance at a quality education before it’s too late.

Reality: Providence and Pawtucket schools are terrible. How terrible? The folks at Johns Hopkins University called us among the worst in the country. Just check the scores at the Pawtucket schools – they are just as awful as Providence’s dismal results. So, let’s make sure all the kids stay there – separate and equally condemned to an inferior education. Brilliant.

 

Cano and Quezada: Recently, the Board of Education granted preliminary approval of 5,835 more charter school seats. Any increase to the number of seats at charter schools inherently draws financial resources from traditional public schools, and the estimated fiscal impact of this expansion exceeds $90 million. The new and expanded charter schools would be funded through $25.4 million charged to the sending districts directly. Those sending districts would also forego state aid of approximately $66.9 million, which would instead be directed to the new charter schools. That is on top of the increased demand for resources from school district struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reality: Yes, the Board of Education did make that decision. That is what they are there for -- to try and fix the mess of Rhode Island's urban education system. The fact is, neither Senator said a word during the process. And, the dollars follow the child in Rhode Island -- so if the Board of Education believes that we need to break this multi-generational failure and create better opportunities then yes, we need to adjust budgets. We can't throw more money at a broken system and just hope for different results. These poor kids shouldn’t have to suffer another year in inferior schools. 

 

Cano and Quezada: As the appropriating authority, we have a responsibility to look holistically at the entire education structure. Moreover, we have a moral obligation to ensure that every student, in every school district, has the opportunity to receive a quality education.

Reality: So, let’s get this straight, you want to talk about a moral obligation? Really? Cano was on the school committee in Pawtucket when those schools went from simply poor performing to a complete train wreck. Let’s get to reality – these schools are unacceptable and your insistence that because there are not enough lifeboats to get all the kids off, that all kids should then go down to the bottom of the bay, is dangerous and misguided. And when push comes to shove around Rhode Island, top elected officials kids are rarely at Hope, Central or Shea – they are at Moses Brown, La Salle or some other top private school. Let them eat cake. 

Let’s get as many children to as many good educational opportunities as possible. High performing public charter schools won’t ruin anything except give some children an opportunity to a better education.

 

Below is their entire piece unedited.

Charter school expansion would leave most children behind

By Sandra Cano and Ana B. Quezada

Providing access to a quality public education is a primary responsibility of policymakers and elected officials. All children are entitled to a quality education no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or zip code.

The moratorium on charter school expansion recently approved by the Rhode Island Senate is neither anti-education nor anti-charter school. Rather, it is about saving traditional public schools, thereby ensuring every child in our state has a fighting chance at a quality education before it’s too late.

Recently, the Board of Education granted preliminary approval of 5,835 more charter school seats. Any increase to the number of seats at charter schools inherently draws financial resources from traditional public schools, and the estimated fiscal impact of this expansion exceeds $90 million. The new and expanded charter schools would be funded through $25.4 million charged to the sending districts directly. Those sending districts would also forego state aid of approximately $66.9 million, which would instead be directed to the new charter schools. That is on top of the increased demand for resources from school district struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These districts, which range from Pawtucket to Providence to Woonsocket to Warwick, simply cannot afford it. We’ve already seen what losing these precious dollars could mean: cuts to career and tech education, ELL programming, services for students with special needs, or even sports and music. The moratorium recently approved by the Senate isn’t about teachers or unions, it’s about giving the General Assembly and policy makers the necessary time to review the current funding structure for public education before it’s too late.

While we appreciate the opportunities created for some children by charter schools, the fact remains that these opportunities do not exist for every child in Rhode Island. In part, charter schools were created to raise the bar for all public schools by developing innovative practices that could be replicated in a traditional public school setting. Instead, they have been an anchor around the neck of public education. Two parallel education systems in Rhode Island now exist: the charter schools flush with public cash and traditional schools starved of resources.

It is imperative, for the sake of all schoolchildren, that we pause and reexamine our funding formula. In 2019, the General Assembly passed sweeping education reforms modeled on successes in Massachusetts that will raise curriculum standards and increase accountability. In 2018, voters approved an historic $250 million investment in public school facilities to create first-rate classrooms and institutions of learning. As these investments and reforms take hold, now is not the time to starve school districts of precious resources for instruction and programming.

Let’s be clear, we are not “anti-charter school.” The General Assembly has permitted considerable charter school expansion over the last decade. We are now asking for respite and a three year pause to ensure the expansion of charter schools does not come at the expense of every other child left behind in a public school classroom.

As the appropriating authority, we have a responsibility to look holistically at the entire education structure. Moreover, we have a moral obligation to ensure that every student, in every school district, has the opportunity to receive a quality education.

Sen. Sandra Cano (D – Dist. 8, Pawtucket) is Chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee and Sen. Ana B. Quezada is Deputy Senate Majority Whip.

 

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