Should RI take over Providence Public Schools? Will this fix the "problem" we all live with?

 

This week, Governor Raimondo announced that the state may take over Providence Public Schools.  She says compared to MA schools, Providence schools are failing.  You can read more about her logic here.


Should RI take over Providence schools?  There is not one "correct" answer.

In FNED 346, you all have learned about many concepts that might help you think about this question:  systems of oppression, school segregation, tracking policies, and more.  You have also examined a case study of a Missouri school district "The problem we all live with" that experienced a "takeover" (This American Life).  Some of you have direct experience with Central Falls, which was taken over by the state of RI around 2012.  Many of you have direct experience in the Providence Public Schools through your field experiences.

Check out the statistics below, read through the Governor's logic in the article above.  Also think about the discussions and academic papers we have read this semester.

Should RI take over Providence Schools?  
to answer this question, you need to first answer these questions:
      
      What is the "problem" here?  
      Will a state takeover answer this "problem?"

      

	Rhode Island	Massachusetts
Child Poverty Rate	16.4%	13.2%
Food Insecurity	12.4%	10.2%
Teen birth rate	12.9%	8.5%
Unemployed who are getting helped with insurance	36%	49%
Per pupil spending in providence and boston 2017	$17,500	$20,200
Average per pupil spending in state*	$17,309	$15,900
Per capita GDP	$47,639	$50,577
District student demographics	64% Hispanic 17% Black 9% White 5% Asian 4% Multi-racial 1% Native Am 25% ELL 15% SPED 86% Free/Reduced lunch	42% Hispanic 35% Black 14% White 9% Asian 1% Multi-racial 30% ELL 70% Free/Reduced lunch
4 Year graduation rate	75.4%	72.4%
Dropout Rate	13.7%	3.6%
Suspension Rate	Elem: 8% MS: 67% HS: 19%	Tot:  2.1%
RICAS and MCAS Test results -- meeting or exceeding expectations***	Central falls 9.66% Woonsocket 12.5% Providence 13.5%	Boston 30%**
Number of years RICAS or MCAS in place	2	Over 20 years

**estimate based upon doemass.edu

*In 1993, MA changed the way public schools are funded.  The MCAS was also developed as part of this reform. 
More info is here.

***The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, a research arm of the University President's Office, 
wrote in 2001 that the MCAS do not measure school or district performance because 84% of the variation
 in the scores across schools and districts is due to socioeconomic factors. In other words, as the Donahue Institute 
reported, "One of the consistent findings of this research is that demography explains most of the variation in test 
scores from district to district. Results from this year's research are similar to results from last year's work: 
about 84% of the variation in test results (scores for all of the test-taking students for the nine MCAS tests combined)
 is explained by demography. That is why Weston and Wayland have high MCAS scores and why Holyoke and 
Brockton have low MCAS scores. Thus, though demography is not destiny, it sets a strong tendency."
 In the end, wrote the Donahue Report, the MCAS scores tell more about a district's real estate values than the
 quality of its schools."[11]

Source:  Wikipedia