海角大神

Sandra Sibrian smiles brightly as she ushers energetic students across the street, greeting them in both English and Spanish. Despite her outward cheer, the elementary school crossing guard and mother of five harbors a host of questions about Providence Public Schools.

鈥淔or now, I haven鈥檛 seen any changes,鈥� she says, noting that her son hasn鈥檛 had a math teacher for two months and new principals keep starting over. 鈥淏ut what changes will come? How soon?鈥澨�

Ms. Sibrian鈥檚 anxiety stems from the state takeover of Providence Public Schools, which officially begins Nov. 1. For at least the next five years, Rhode Island鈥檚 unelected education commissioner, Ang茅lica Infante-Green, will hold authority over the budget, programs, and personnel for all 41 schools in the state鈥檚 capital and oversee a major restructuring of the district.听

The release in June of a searing by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy prompted the takeover from the school board and local government, after the study documented academic underperformance, crumbling and sometimes unsafe school infrastructure, and low morale among teachers and students.听

As the legal mechanism for state control rolls forward, community members are grappling with how to have their voices heard. Interviews with parents, students, and community groups in Providence paint a portrait of a community dealing with raw anger and distrust, but also hope that this marks a historic chance to change systemic problems.听

鈥淣obody has said we don鈥檛 want changes, if they transparently involve everyone,鈥� says Lesley Bunnell, member of a new parent group.听

Unlike other cities with histories of tumultuous school takeovers, like Baltimore, Detroit, or Newark, New Jersey, there are signs that Providence could offer a different intervention model. Neither the school board, city council, nor mayor objected to the takeover, and community groups have offered support with the condition that their voices are included.听

Ms. Infante-Green is the first Latina and first woman of color to serve as Rhode Island education commissioner; she started the job in April and will oversee a school district of 24,000 where about 60% meet the criteria for free or reduced lunch and 65% of students are Hispanic. She says she is 鈥渧ery committed鈥� to including community members in the turnaround process, with plans to put parents on the transition team, to hold monthly public meetings, and to work with districtwide parent councils.

鈥淎t the end of the day, my main goal is obviously to change the school system, but to also ensure that parents are part of the system in a way that makes sense,鈥� she says, in a phone interview. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to work in a different way that鈥檚 more accommodating to the community.鈥�

Some are watching to see what happens next.听鈥淚f the commissioner is going to be promoting a policy that looks like other takeovers, I imagine there will be tension,鈥� says Domingo Morel, a political science professor at Rutgers University and author of 鈥淭akeover: Race, Education, and American Democracy. 鈥淓ssentially, not learning from other places, but teaching other places鈥� to create a new model could make a difference, he says.

Failing schools amid cultural riches

In the heart of downtown Providence, local restaurants border performing art centers and independent bookstores. An iconic art-deco skyscraper towers over the city, but has lain vacant for six years. The city is home to prestigious universities and a lively arts and culinary scene, but struggles with a sputtering economy and racial divides.

The Johns Hopkins report said the physical structures of some school buildings are so poor they 鈥渞educed seasoned members of the review team to tears,鈥� including: a leaking raw sewer pipe in a gym ceiling for over a year, rodents in the schools and students with mouse traps stuck to their shoes, lead paint falling from the ceiling, and brown water coming out of a tap.

Ninety percent of students in grades 3 to 8 have not been performing at or above grade level in math, and 86% of students in those same grades are not at or above grade level in English language arts. The report was jointly requested by the Rhode Island Department of Education, Governor Gina Raimondo, and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and was funded by The Partnership for Rhode Island, a group of state business leaders. 听

Parents prep for change

Once news broke of the Johns Hopkins report and commissioner鈥檚 takeover plan, many parents and community groups in Providence sprang into action to argue their right to a role.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e entering into a new structure where money, contracts, and curriculum are controlled by a single party,鈥� says Zack Mezera, executive director of the Providence Student Union, one group pressing for more inclusion in decision-making. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important at the front end that students can ensure a meaningful say in what鈥檚 going on.鈥�

Chelsea Sheasley

Maggie Mian (left) and Lesley Bunnell are parents who joined the Providence Public School Advocates, organizing on behalf of students during the state takeover of public schools that begins Nov. 1.

The commissioner has work to do to prove community engagement isn鈥檛 a 鈥渄og and pony show,鈥� says Maggie Mian, a mother of four. She鈥檇 like the district to be more welcoming of different races, cultures, and religions.听

Ms. Mian attended multiple public meetings run by the Rhode Island Department of Education this summer and was disappointed not to hear more details from the state about their intentions.听

鈥淵ou sat in a room, you talked with people, and they wrote some things down,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know if what鈥檚 being written is just going to be hidden away in a drawer so you can say that there was community engagement, or if there was some type of plan to actually use them.鈥澨�

Ms. Mian joined about 40 other parents to form the Providence Public School Advocates. The group meets weekly and started an online newsletter, social media, and flyer brigades to inform parents.听

A major priority for community groups is recruiting more teachers of color. Overall, 91% of students enrolled in the district are students of color, but 77% of its teacher workforce is white. Many front office staff don鈥檛 speak Spanish.

鈥淭he real issue is that the systems that our young people live in, breathe in, in our schools is extremely inequitable,鈥� says Chanda Womack, founding executive director of the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education.听

Ms. Womack and other activists are especially upset that they flagged problems in the district for years, but feel nothing changed until the business community paid for the Johns Hopkins report. Now they suspect efforts to improve schools will vanish as soon as powerful figures lose interest. For her part, Ms. Infante-Green promises to create a system for school change that withstands political winds, with elections for governor and mayor occurring in three years.听

Takeovers in other places

Professor Morel of Rutgers graduated from Central High School in Providence. He says that the early signs of unity between the commissioner and the community could be quick to fade.听

鈥淥n the one hand, I think there are some promising signs that [the commissioner is] genuinely looking to work with the community,鈥� he says. 鈥淗owever, based on research, these things usually don鈥檛 last. ... The state will come in at some point and make tough decisions that the community rejects.鈥�

Beth Schueler, a professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia, studies the impact of state takeovers on student academic achievement. The results so far are drawn from case studies and are mixed, she says.听听

In a case study she co-authored on the 2012 state takeover of schools in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Professor Schueler found dramatic increases early on in student math achievement as well as gains in English language arts. Officials in Lawrence smoothed community relations by holding a prolonged listening tour, keeping most of the teaching staff, and introducing an intramural sports league as one of the first changes. 鈥淭hat resonated with parents, feeling that these people care about kids as whole people and the community more broadly, not just about test scores,鈥� Ms. Schueler says.听

In a , Ms. Schueler and a colleague found that 70% of the American public supports state takeovers of a school district due to academic failures, and 77% support a takeover in the case of financial mismanagement.听But support for an academic takeover fell to 53% among those living in the poorest performing districts in their state.

And students wait

An early morning stream of high school students flows in and out of the White Electric Coffee shop in Providence鈥檚 West End. Isabela Ribeiro, a senior at Classical High School, a high-performing public magnet school, grips her cup as she heads across the street. She says she hears about the takeover from the news and her mom, who is a special education teacher at another city high school. She knows teachers are worried about jobs, but doesn鈥檛 hear about the takeover at Classical High.听

鈥淭he school hasn鈥檛 told us much about it and I wish they would,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to have a big impact on how the system works and I wish we had the information to know how to deal with it and be prepared.鈥�

Editors note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the new parent group.