On Thursday night the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education approved a plan from the state commissioner of education to keep the Providence Public School District under state control for up to three additional years.
Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said during the council meeting that the schools should be “proud,” of the progress they’ve made since the pandemic, but ultimately, she felt her job as an interventionist is not yet complete.
She pointed to a recently commissioned study from The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and one from education consulting company SchoolWorks to show that students have made progress in terms of attendance, math and reading since the pandemic but that students are not where she wants them to be before she relinquishes control.
“We don’t want it to backslide at this critical point. We cannot afford to be complacent and return to the ways of the past,” said Infante-Green.
Public data show, in 2023, just 15.1% of students in Providence schools were proficient in reading and just 13% were proficient in math. That’s compared with the statewide average of 33.1% proficiency for reading and 29.6% proficiency for math. Providence’s numbers are up since the academic year following the pandemic, but lower than the academic year prior to the pandemic.
According to the studies from Harvard and Schoolworks, when compared with similar districts in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Providence schools meet or exceed post-pandemic progress levels. However, the study from Harvard also said there was insufficient data to prove the improvement was due to the state takeover.
Infante-Green said she plans to return the school district to local control in no more than three years and explained it could be less time than that. The decision on when to give back control to the city will be based on progress on the state’s Turnaround Action Plan, or TAP, as well as reports from Harvard and SchoolWorks. However, Infante-Green said the schools will return to local control within three years even if “aspirational” benchmarks are not met.
The state is currently engaged in a legal battle with the City of Providence over its funding contribution towards the schools. The city has not contributed as much funding to its public schools as the state would like since its takeover, and the state is suing the city for additional contributions.
“We want steady, consistent funding that meets the needs of the kids,” said Infante-Green, adding that should come from “all entities.”
In a joint statement, Providence mayor Brett Smiley and City Council President Rachel Miller disagreed with the decision for the state to keep the schools under its control.
“We are disappointed by the recommendation that the state takeover continue for an additional three years,” the statement said. “The City is well on track to begin the transition year in school year 2025-2026 with schools returned to municipal control for the 2026-2027 school year.”
