August 2013 – RI Future

August 31, 2013September 2, 2013

Rhythm and Roots returns to Ninigret Park

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For the 16^th year in a row, the Rhythm and Roots Festival will return to Ninigret Park for Labor Day Weekend. According to the festival’s website festival goers have the opportunity to enjoy “Cajun, Zydeco, Tex-Mex, Blues, Bluegrass, Vintage Rock and other forms of roots music.” Among the musical acts performing are Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole, Jim Kweskin, Taj Mahal Trio, Carolina Chocolate Drops, as well as many others.

In addition to the music, there are two dance tents where attendees can dance the night away and participate in Zydeco and swing lessons. The festivities begin for those that are camping at the festival at 9 AM on August 30th and at 3 PM for regular ticket holders. Tickets for the festival can be purchased here.

August 30, 2013

Welcome to the Jungle

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The greatest divide between Americans is political party; outdoing race, income, and education gaps. Instead of viewing issues in black and white, it’s red and blue. It’s natural then that political observers would look for solutions to our growing partisanship. One I’ve seen advanced is the nonpartisan blanket primary. It has many pseudonyms, but the one I like best is “jungle primary”. The idea is that instead of holding a primary for each party, all candidates are grouped into a single ballot; regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof). The two highest vote earners then proceed on to the general election.

In theory, this looks alright, and the Wikipedia article (linked above) has examples from real elections to demonstrate various campaign dynamics. The jungle primary already exists in Louisiana, Washington, and California; so all the examples are from American elections.

Let’s run through the political calculus first. Since the political parties can’t pick and endorse a candidate, they can’t control who runs under their banner. Remember, there’s no limit on the number of candidates, regardless of political affiliation. Ostensibly, this should mean that candidates should focus on attracting as wide a spectrum of voters as possible, forcing candidates to move to the center to pick up the most votes.

However, one only needs to win the second most votes to go to the general election. And in primary elections, which have reduced importance in voters’ eyes, the winner is determined by who can get their voters to the polls. And determinedly partisan voters turnout more in primary elections (which are, after all, about choosing parties’ candidates). Thus, there’s an incentive to move to heavily partisan positions to attract the most voters from your party; leading to a general election featuring two radicals rather than two moderates. We can already see this dynamic in regular primaries: candidates tack towards partisanship during the primaries and then tack center in the general election.

The classic example of the failure to select moderates is from Louisiana, where David Duke, the former KKK Grand Wizard, knocked out a moderate Republican incumbent in the jungle primary for governor. Republicans should’ve waltzed to a reelection victory. But Duke (who ran as a Republican) mobilized voters who shared his views, and the structure of the jungle primary meant he went onwards to lose spectacularly (his opponent and architect of Louisiana’s jungle primary, Edwin Edwards, makes Buddy Cianci look like a boy scout; it had been suggested that the only way Edwards could win another election was to run against Adolf Hitler).

Another issue is that it can produce two candidates of the same party. Now, in some races, this leads to one or both candidates tacking center to gain voters of the unrepresented party. But in a place where one party’s dominance is so complete that the other can only succeed in extraordinary circumstances, why bother? Take the 2010 races for US Congress in RI. The general election would’ve seen exactly zero Republican candidates, if the votes had stayed the same. The same would’ve held true for Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. Demoralized Republicans may have well sat out the election in the face of so many one-party races, which could have further eroded support for Republican gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille. We should expect Democratic dominance to worsen in Rhode Island, should the jungle primary be put in place; at least in the immediate short-term.

Proponents might counter that the victorious candidates would’ve been the more moderate ones. Fine. Let’s examine the 2010 race for US Congressional District 1. A jungle primary would’ve produced a general election match-up between Anthony Gemma and David Cicilline. Gemma was an incompetent candidate in 2010, but the depths of his incompetency have only recently been revealed. This was a man who recklessly cast aspersions on the legitimacy of Rhode Island elections without proof. If he were supposed to be the “moderate” candidate in 2010, we have to ask ourselves how well he would’ve served Rhode Island should he have triumphed over Cicilline. The moderate candidate is not always the correct one.

The jungle primary also punishes parties with multiple candidates. For instance, if multiple candidates see a chance to win the partisan vote, and they run, they split that vote up. So while that bloc of voters could be a majority of all voters, a handful of relatively similar candidates could end up ensuring that none of them even make it to the general election. Hypothetically, it becomes possible where a party becomes tired of this situation and sets up a primary to select a single candidate to contest the jungle primary.

And if it gets to that point you’ve caused parties to reinvent the primary. This is unnecessary, because the primary is supposed to serve as the party primary. The primary is a function of the political party. The state operates the primary on behalf the political party. There’s nothing inherent to a political party that requires that it even hold elections, it just wouldn’t be very popular if it didn’t (although there is tricky language that the state’s passed mandating that primary elections be held like general elections “as nearly as may be” and prevents political parties from holding conventions and caucuses to elect candidates).

That primaries are for political parties is exactly why you’re required to temporarily affiliate if you’re unaffiliated and cast your ballot in a primary. For that moment, you’re a Democrat or Republican. If the Moderates needed a primary, the state would create one for them. And this gets to a more troubling part of the primary system: state law determines who has one and what form it takes. Parties can request changes from the General Assembly, but the will of the state is the ultimate arbiter of how those primaries work. The jungle primary excises the political party from a process held on behalf of the party.

“Good!” you may say. “After all, political parties are a stain on American democracy, George Washington warned us not descend into political factionalism, etc., etc.” Yes. But they’re also a remarkably effectively organizing tool, such that there are virtually no democracies that operate without them. Factionalism in the United States predates the Declaration of Independence; it’s how any group of people organizes themselves to take on complex tasks like passing items. Parties wouldn’t collapse, they’d figure out new ways of organizing around the constraints.

The final argument against the jungle primary is that there’s a better system in existence for achieving a more representative result. It’s called a run-off election, and it’s what a jungle primary is trying to be without succeeding. The major difference between round one of a run-off election (where multiple candidates compete with the hopes of being one of the top two vote earners) is that a properly-operated run-off election ends if a candidate receives a majority in the first round. Primaries, by their nature of being nominating contests, can’t end in that manner (nor would you want them to, given that they take place so far from election day).

Take the last election for mayor of Central Falls. Because candidates participated in a jungle primary that took place on election day in November, the city was unable to elect a mayor on the date they should have. They had to wait until December. However, it was a foregone conclusion that James Diossa would win, since he annihilated his opponents in the primary. Under a rational system, Diossa would’ve been declared the winner in November. As it was, Central Falls had to wait another month, plus face a conflict over the expense of polling places.

This is because the jungle primary is wedded to the form of the primary, without regard for its purpose. And if we lose the sight of what the purpose of our elections are for, then why bother holding them in the first place?

August 30, 2013September 5, 2013

Teachers, hotel workers unite for Labor Day

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Working Rhode Islanders from across the economic spectrum (well the lower 99% of that spectrum, anyways) will unite this Labor Day as Jobs for Justice and the the Coalition to Defend Public Education will be marching together through downtown Providence Monday.

Jobs for Justice will be calling attention to the struggles of the staff at the Renaissance Hotel, who have long been fighting the poor conditions imposed by the multinational management company that owns the hotel. The Coalition to Defend Public Education does much of the grassroots organizing among teachers.

This could be a powerful coalition if these two groups figure out more ways to work together. The teachers begin their protest at 3 pm in front of City Hall in Providence. The hotel workers begin at 4:30 on Francis St, across from the Providence Place Mall.

August 30, 2013

Election gloves and Matunuck sinking: local art at RISD Museum

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For the first time in more than 20 years, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum is showcasing Ocean State talent in an exhibit called “Locally Made.” According to the museum’s website, the exhibit is “celebrating the rich and diverse talent in the city and nearby communities.” The upper gallery is filled with locally made pieces, while the lower gallery has live demonstrations and lectures.

One of the artists being featured in this exhibition is Allison Bianco, a Providence native. Her piece, The Sinking of Matunuck, is a panoramic view of the area of Matunuck.

“My goal as an artist is to create images that connect specific history and collective memories, and my works often include iconography specific to Rhode Island.”

She said the Rhode Island-only show “elevates the term ‘local art’ to an important visual history of our state and provides meaningful examples of the artistic profession happening in Rhode Island.”

Election Gloves full frontal — The Election Gloves by Jessica Rosner

Another artist’s politically driven artwork was commissioned specifically for Locally Made. Jessica Rosner’s piece, The Election Gloves, is a diary-style account of the 2012 presidential election written upon rubber gloves.

“I followed the election obsessively for the year preceding election day, keeping a diary of important ups and downs in politics, as well as in my own life. The gloves reflect the responsibilities, deadlines, and minutiae of all our lives, while big stories happen around us.”

In the close up below, the last glove in the series reads, “Obama won. Now I can go back to worrying about my mom, my work, my lack of income. Am cool with that.”

Close up of the Election Gloves by Jessica Rosner

Rosner went onto say that she is honored to have been a part of such a unique exhibition and that it gave her a chance to get to know other artists living in the state.

Both Rosner and Bianco’s pieces, as well as many others, can be viewed in the Locally Made exhibit until November 3^rd.

August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

ProJo reports on anti-union narrative that doesn’t exist

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“Union effort may face fight,” declares the headline on the front page of this morning’s Providence Journal. “Stage is set for vote by childcare workers across R.I., as foes prepare legal arguments.”

The story then begins: “Amid objections from the National Right to Work Foundation, the Chafee administration has signed an agreement that sets the stage for a vote within the next two months on the drive to unionize upward of 580 private contractors who provide state-subsidized childcare in their homes.”

Wow, the opposition was cited three times on the front page, there must be some serious conflict with these 600 low-wage workers organizing for better wages. Let’s go to the jump page (you know, the one that typically has ads paid for by big box stores) to see what the controversy is all about.

Oh, here it is:

In a related development, a local research group made public an opinion letter from a lawyer associated with the National Right to Work Foundation, which has taken the lead in challenging the unionization of childcare workers elsewhere in the country.

“Nothing imminent, but we are keeping an eye on Rhode Island,’’ said foundation spokesman Anthony Riedel in an interview earlier this week.

And I’m sure they’ll be in touch with the Providence Journal if and when anything comes to mind; and that the ProJo will in turn let us know what author of said opinion letter thinks. Worth noting, I think that the newspaper’s rhetoric is more fiery than the advocacy group’s.

But wait, there’s more. Former pro athlete and union member Mike Stenhouse also sent an email. He says he’s not considering legal action but he is considering contacting the soon-to-be-organized employees to let them know he thinks this is a bad idea for them, and that their free speech is being limited.

I hope, for the ProJo’s sake, that it didn’t have to stop the presses to squeeze in that scoop. Because after all, the guys who operate the machinery are all in unions and they get paid whether that critical bit of information gets delivered to news-reading Rhode Island in a timely fashion or not.

August 30, 2013

Health care, medical costs and quick decisions

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It’s 7:00 in the evening. You, a Rhode Island resident, are at the mall in Attleboro. You’re out to dinner in Seekonk. You’re on vacation on the Cape. Suddenly, your teen-age child collapses, unconscious.

What do you do?

Do you call an ambulance? The child is unresponsive. His eyes are rolled back in their sockets. He appears to be breathing shallowly. I repeat: what do you do?

Do you call 911? Or do you try to assess whether the situation is dangerous, whether you should try to take him to the hospital yourself, or whether you should just take him home and call a doctor in the morning? Which do you choose? And no, you’re not a doctor, and no, you don’t even play one on TV.

Some would suggest we should choose the latter route. Or, if we decide to go the ambulance route, we should call several providers, trying to see who has the best price, then see if we can haggle it downward a bit. Or maybe ask if they’ll take a chicken as a discount. In the meantime, your child is still unconscious. But being the hyper-rational homo economicus that you are, you pull out the copy of the local yellow pages you always carry in case of situations like this, or you use your smart phone to search the web for the local services, and then you coolly work the market and see what sort of price you can get.

OK, you’ve done that, only to find that the best deal you can get is $2,999.99. Now, you have insurance, but it will only cover 80% of the charge after the deductible is satisfied, and only if the situation is deemed an emergency. Well, your kid is unconscious; does that, in and of itself constitute an emergency? Are you a doctor? No. Do you have a clue whether it’s truly an emergency? No. And, 20% of that ambulance bill still comes to $599.98, assuming that everything goes as planned, that your deductible has been met, and the insurance will actually cover the 80%.

So what do you do? Does this change your behavior?

And remember: you get your insurance through your employer, so it’s not like you can negotiate your own deal with the insurance company. And that’s a good thing.

And what if your checkbook balance is somewhere south of $800 at the moment, and you still have to make the car payment? That $599 will take a pretty good bite out of that. If you’re making RI median, your next check will come in somewhere between $1200 & $1300 (depending on deductions, etc). And remember, this is just the ambulance. If you do go to the ER, there will be a plethora of other charges: for tests, x-rays, CAT scans/MRIs, physician services, and so on.

One thing that’s important to remember is that something like an ambulance, or an ER, has to be staffed and prepared at all times. An ER will probably use its facilities on a fairly constant basis, so there isn’t a lot of down time. That is not necessarily true for an ambulance. Maintaining and staffing that ambulance 24/7 costs money. Now, if you depend on paying for the ambulance by billing the people who use it, a significant part of the bill will be for maintaining that service when it’s not in use. So that means the price has to be a lot higher than just the cost of that particular run. A lot higher.

Now, we could subsidize the ambulance service as a common good; but that means taxes have to go up to pay for that. Since people who decide the level of taxes probably don’t have to worry about a couple of grand if they need an ambulance, they won’t see the point of having to pay taxes all the time to support an ambulance service that they may never need. Let the people who need it pay for it. Sounds ever-so-sensible. So the poor schnooks who do have to worry about having to pay a couple of grand for an ambulance will pay for all that down time out of their pocket.

But that’s fair, isn’t it? If you make the bad choice and get sick, well, hey, you made that choice. No one put a gun to your head and made your kid pass lose consciousness.

So you go that route. You kid goes to the ER, gets half-a-dozen tests, and, thank the Lord, appears to be fine. So you all go about your business for another month or so. And then the bills (note the plural: bills) start to come in. The first is for the ER, and that’s around $4,500. But your insurance works as planned, so your only responsible for $900 (which is 20% of the total). Then there are the bills for the MRI, the blood tests, physician services, yadda yadda yadda. These clock in at another $1,500, so you only have to pay $300. So we’re over a grand already.

Then the ambulance bill comes. Oh, that was out of network. So sorry! You’re not covered!

So now you’re faced with the whole $2,999.99.

And the whole episode cost something like $9000 (Well, technically, $8,999.99, using the figures I’ve presented).

Now, how would you have acted when your kid collapsed? Would you have rationally balanced a potential bill of about $4,300 against some unknown ailment with unknowable consequences? Would you have considered the hole this was going to blow in your budget and said, “well, I have no idea what’s wrong with my kid, but maybe it’s not a big deal?” Or do you go the ambulance/ER route with no clue what it’s going to cost?

Would you have done anything differently?

August 29, 2013

Atheists convene in Boston this Labor Day weekend

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People might be surprised to learn that just as there are many different ways to believe in all the different religions and gods currently in vogue, there are also many different ways to not believe. There are atheists, new atheists, confrontationists, accomodationists, Humanists, secular humanists, religious humanists, Ethical Culturalists, freethinkers, Brights, naturalists, strong and weak agnostics and many, many more. Every major religion can count among its devotees those who doubt or plainly disbelieve the teachings of their church, synagog or mosque. One poll suggests that 15% of Catholics don’t believe in God, but most of them don’t identify as atheists, they call themselves Catholics.

There are many different organizations that seek to cater to the concerns of nonbelievers, just as there are many different organizations (we call them churches or religions) that cater to believers. Those looking for simple answers and easy labels will be frustrated.

This weekend in Boston one such group, the Atheist Alliance of America (AAA), will be holding their annual convention just outside Boston at the Westin Waltham Boston Hotel. First formed in 1991 as the Atheist alliance, the group quickly expanded, becoming the Atheist Alliance International (AAI). In 2010 and 2011 the AAA and the AAI became two separate organizations. The AAI is positioning itself as a group to deal with international concerns while the AAA focuses its efforts here in the United States.

The convention in Waltham/Boston starts Friday night and continues throughout the labor day weekend. Sunday night’s speaker will be “renowned scientist, esteemed researcher and noted author” Dr. Steven Pinker of Harvard University. Another notable guest will be Rebecca Vitsmun, who, when in the aftermath of a tornado that wrecked her home was asked by Wolf Blitzer live on CNN if she thanked the Lord for her survival said, “I’m actually an atheist.”

Other guest include Rebecca Hale, president of the American Humanist Association, Maryam Namazie, and Iranian born atheist and feminist, Paula S Apsell, executive producer of NOVA for PBS, and many more guests local, national and international. A full list of speakers is available on the conventions website.

I’ll be attending the convention and will be recording and writing about the various speakers and programs thanks to AAA President Chuck VonDerAhe. It promises to be an interesting weekend.

August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

The conservative counterpunch to the March on Washington

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I like to believe that more Americans believe in the concept of equal justice today than in 1963. The 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington will evoke different thoughts from different people, some with nostalgia, others with disdain. My point isn’t to take a historical narrative, as others can provide that quite well. What is important for America to realize today is that the struggle for equal civil and human rights continues in 2013.

A new video, “Our Turn to Dream,” expertly explains the current situation of low-income people, particularly Black and Latino Americans, facing what can only be considered a police state. Pastor Kenny Glasgow, founder of The Ordinary People Society (T.O.P.S.), started working towards rebuilding his own community in Dothan, Alabama; but then realized that this issue looks the same nationwide.

Here are a few myths that need to be debunked:

Racism is over. Most people will acknowledge that racism is a cultural phenomenon dating back hundreds, even thousands, of years. They will acknowledge that slavery could not have worked without the skin color; that Manifest Destiny (i.e. seizing all the land from sea to sea) would not have worked without designating the residents as “savages.” Yet we don’t want to believe racism is still at play in 2013. It was all the way up to 1963, but it disappeared as soon as President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.
It’s a coincidence that the American system of mass incarceration also addresses the effects of poverty, unemployment, mental illness, and addiction by using prison cells. We cage those of us who fall by the wayside or get caught up with a youthful indiscretion or a moment of uncontrolled emotion. It is a myth that over-incarceration is some sort of mistake. The flaws and results are not a mistake. Anything of this magnitude is not a mistake. Thus, we can’t just educate American politicians and believe that the mistake will be corrected.

People ask me “how can you say the criminal justice system is racist, that’s just hyperbole.” I don’t want that person to catch a sound-byte and move on, believing or disbelieving. I want them to ask for an explanation. There are dots to connect regarding power and economics. So check this out:

Prison as System to Control ALL Americans

Wars have always been fought for multiple reasons. There is generally some resources to seize, or strategic position to gain, but they also unite citizens against a common “other” enemy. Wars also create profits for those who build the war machinery, and employ soldiers at low wages based on the ideology of “defending their country.”

Wars, and their residual effects, don’t always go so smoothly. Black soldiers returned from WWII with a sense of entitlement and opportunity. The G.I. Bill and the Civil Rights Movement vastly expanded a middle-class, right in the face of those who freely used the N-word. Twenty years later, the Vietnam War took a very bad turn. The war militarized young Black men, some of whom had a similar sense of entitlement and opportunity. Meanwhile, President Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover infamously waged a covert domestic war against people struggling for equality here in America.

The “War on Drugs” was launched in 1972. It was direct replacement of the Vietnam War. This time the enemy wasn’t fascism or communism and we didn’t need to draft anyone or violate a sovereign nation to fight it. The enemy lived in low-income urban communities, the same places these Black and Latino young men returned to after service in Vietnam. Many had the physical, mental, and spiritual challenges of surviving war- and were now looking for jobs.

City police forces began bulking up as federal dollars started to roll. The cultural campaign of describing drugs as an evil scourge started to bloom. And who would say our leaders are wrong? The Civil Rights Movement had been appeased, infiltrated, arrested, and assassinated. Peaceful assembly, free speech, and petitioning the government became scary. Some of the survivors blinked, or looked the other way, or (most likely) never really saw it coming. The master-stroke of the drug war was in full swing before long.

The drug war is genius. It is bipartisan. Industrial magnate Jay Gould once bragged that he could “pay half the working class to kill the other half.” In the drug war, half the working class is paid to incarcerate the other half. There are White prisoners and Black guards, yes. But those exceptions do not stunt the fact that skin color is an essential element of the cultural messaging of the drug war.

Mass Incarceration Evaporates Without Racism

It is understandable, if one believes drug users and drug sellers to be such an evil scourge, that we send police into the most concentrated areas of drug use. Particularly if these perpetrators are young people; the younger we get them the longer we can punish them without paying for their geriatric care in prison. And the earlier we can get these people off the streets. Now imagine this group of concentrated drug users…

What did you imagine? If you are seeing young Black men hanging out on a basketball court you are wrong. The most concentrated area of drug use is in college dorms, frat houses, and similar apartments in such neighborhoods.

Oh, but young White people are just going through an “experimental” phase. I’ve never heard such a description of drug use by young Black and Latino people. As someone who has been among drug users and sellers of both communities, I can tell you there are experimenters, steady users, and people who need help everywhere. But you knew that. The gut reaction is due to 40 years of cultural messaging by those in power. Thank the 11 o’clock news, while you’re at it.

Serving Multiple Masters- Excess Labor

Its not like America’s best economic minds have a better idea. In our state-subsidized economic system (call it Capitalist, Socialist, or whatever), the tax-payer is the top customer and top employer, whether directly or indirectly. Without manufacturing jobs, where do we send the labor? One super-crane eliminates 100 dockworkers. Even the checkout girl has been replaced with a machine.

Police, guards, and sheriffs require little training and education to be on the job. Their existence has also massively expanded the jobs for judges and lawyers. Furthermore, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated are not counted amongst the “unemployed.” They (or “we,” I should say) are written off as non-existent. More importantly, we are not allowed to come home with a sense of entitlement and opportunity. Even if some of us did, we are sometimes traumatized by our experience with no outlets through which to heal.

And Yet It Crumbles…

The Law of Diminishing Returns is the principle where something only works to a certain extent. If you keep doing more of it, the thing starts getting worse. Put two cooks in the kitchen and make twice the food. Put four cooks in the kitchen and you start getting half the food.

The American governments can’t literally pay half the working class to lock up the other half. Just like telecommunications have made it difficult to wage war against the “savage” foreigner, it is difficult to maintain the rhetoric that drugs are evil, a moral curse, or that children who commit crimes expose their inner evil, or that formerly incarcerated people are incapable of raising children and being good neighbors.

Fifty years after the March on Washington and some reports indicate we are more segregated than ever, with a greater class disparity than any country except India. Yet all the private schools and gated communities cannot keep the tides of change at bay. Tens of millions of Americans have been put in cages. Each is part of a family and circle of friends. With over 65 million Americans having a criminal record, and likely over 100 million people directly impacted by an over-criminalizing, super-sentencing criminal justice system costing billions of dollars every year… it is tough to keep the lie alive. The lie is that this is all for your own good.

When the cure becomes worse than the disease, you have lost the confidence of your patient. Americans want to redesign the solutions and reallocate the billions of dollars. A movement is in place. We can call it a Civil Rights Movement, a Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement, or anything else. When the incarcerator begins expanding their industry to probation, parole, electronic monitoring, rehabilitation, and halfway houses: its because the rhetoric of cages has fallen on deaf ears and empty pockets.

Read the essential Unprison, here.

August 28, 2013

The ProJo opinion: Stop saying things we don’t want to hear

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I get that the Providence Journal editorial board (read: Ed Achorn) really doesn’t like union workers, and feels very strongly that public sector retirees should bare the brunt of elected officials’ overly-optimistic and/or irresponsible plan for dealing with future employee expenses, but I think that calling for a judge to chide the governor for speaking to the media is more than a little bit of an extreme reaction from Rhode Island’s paper of record.

“On Latino Public Radio Saturday, Governor Chafee brazenly ignored a judge’s gag order, imposed for the benefit of all parties,” read this morning’s editorial.

As journalists first, Achorn, et al should be more weary of siding with secrecy, even when it suits their special interest. But that’s their prerogative as chief ProJo philosophers. It’s a journalism high crime, however, for their editorials to so pervasively misrepresent reality for what read like cheap political pot shots. For example, does anyone believe the Journal when it writes that Chafee leaked this “brazenly?” I suspect “accidentally” or “clumsily” might be more accurate adverbs.

More importantly, today’s editorial misstated the situation it was ostensibly explaining. The governor “publicly pitched his hopes to ‘make the unions happy’ with concessions that he asserts will not cost taxpayers too much money,” according to the piece.

Well, not exactly. Or, more precisely, not at all. What Chafee actually said, according to the Providence Journal, was, “There might be some room for something that won’t cost the taxpayers a whole lot of money but will make the unions happy.”

One has to wonder if the Projo takes issue with the statement or the sentiment. I so highly doubt there would have been a similar opinion offered from the Providence Journal if Gina Raimondo said there was a potential solution that was going to make George Nee and Bob Walsh really sad.

The editorial then asks the judge to give the governor a little talking to for the breach, and cautions Chafee about his legacy. I’d be concerned if I were Governor Chafee, too. After all, the so-called paper of record is saying things about him that aren’t true.

August 28, 2013August 29, 2013

VIDEO: NAACP road trip to the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington

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The Providence NAACP chapter hosted a bus trip down to Washington DC for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Martin Luther King gave his nation-changing “I have a dream” speech. Here’s a half hour documentary on the trip:

Acknowledgements:

Big thanks to the Providence NAACP for inviting me, to the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats for paying for my trip an to the International Socialist Organization for loaning me their video camera.

August 27, 2013August 29, 2013

How to celebrate #MOW50, MLK in Providence

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As every living Democratic POTUS addresses the nation from the Lincoln Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the “I have a dream” speech, Rhode Islanders will be honoring the occasion by meeting at the Martin Luther King Jr. bridge on Finance Way in Providence for a “re-dedication” by Bernard Lafayette, founder of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence who worked with King.

From there the group plans a short march to the downtown URI campus on Washington Street where people from all across the racial spectrum will speak to the historic anniversary.

John Prince, who attended the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, will speak as will Victoria Ruiz, of the Olneyville Housing Association, members of the Providence Youth and Student Movement and Chief Sachem Mathew Thomas of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

The event starts at 4 pm on the MLK Bridge on Finance Way and the march plans to be at URI by 6pm for the speaking portion of the event.

August 27, 2013

Review: The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon

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I saw the author, Paul F. Caranci, give a talk about this excellent book a while back at Books on the Square here in Providence and it surprised me to hear him say that he “kind of” believes in ghosts. Perhaps I’m a bit prejudiced, but when otherwise scholarly people talk about the reality of mundane supernatural beings I worry about their commitment to reason and research.

Fortunately, now that I’ve read the book, my fears have been abated. The book is scrupulously researched, and no psychics seem to have been consulted. Instead, Caranci has used his position as Deputy Secretary of State to consult those original documents that still exist as well drawing upon the pioneering research of historians William Conley, Scott Molloy and many others to bring us the most concise and precise history of the event possible.

In 1843 Amasa Sprague, a wealthy mill owner, was murdered and left “face down in the snow.” What followed was a statewide manhunt that quickly settled on Irish immigrant John Gordon as the most likely suspect. Unfortunately, despite the flimsy evidence and suspect witness testimony, Gordon was found guilty. The current political climate, in which immigrants, especially Irish Catholic immigrants, were seen as a blight on proper society (a familiar theme to students of history) conspired to convict and execute an innocent man.

John Gordon was innocent. Not only was he executed, but his entire family was devastated by the trials he and his brother (who was also accused but exonerated) suffered. The case against Gordon unraveled quickly after his death, and the Rhode Island General Assembly responded by outlawing the death penalty in 1852. John Gordon was the last person executed by the State of Rhode Island.

Eventually John Gordon was pardoned in 2011 by the General Assembly and Governor Lincoln Chafee (not that it did Gordon much good.) The pardon reaffirmed Rhode Island’s long opposition to the death penalty. Governor Chafee’s recent battles with the Federal Government over Jason Pleau, (who unlike Gordon is almost certainly guilty of the crimes he has been accused of) are based on this commitment to justice and mercy.

When Caranci was asked about his feelings on the death penalty at Books on the Square, he hedged a bit, pointing to polls that show Rhode Islanders are pretty evenly divided on the idea, but in the book he says, “If anything good resulted” from the execution of John Gordon, it was “the abolition of the state’s death penalty.”

John Gordon was executed in part due to his Catholic faith. For a long time his story had the feel of an urban legend: Rhode Island outlawed the death penalty because one day, long ago, we executed an innocent Catholic Irishman. As a result, Catholics have a long history of opposing the death penalty, having once been the primary targets of such laws.

We in Rhode Island should be proud of this legacy. Once, long ago, we made a terrible mistake, but we learned from this and put in place new laws that fit better with our commitment to human rights and dignity. Our views may come under fire (as they did in the Pleau case) but this should not lesson our commitment.

The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island’s Last Execution is well worth a read.

August 27, 2013August 27, 2013

Board of Education retreat: the course is set

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On Sunday and Monday, the Rhode Island Board of Education held its annual retreat to discuss, among many other topics, the high school graduation requirements. This was a hot topic because it includes using the NECAP as an up-or-down requirement for graduation: a student must get a 2 or more on both math and reading to graduate.

As anyone following this issue knows, there are are over 4,000 students who did not score a 2 on the last NECAP. This staggering number, representing about 40% of the students in the state, has caused considerable concern among students, their families, teachers, advocate groups, and politicians. In addition to numerous protest rallies, the city council and mayor of Providence have officially voiced doubts about this use of the NECAP and the General Assembly passed a resolution asking the Board of Education to reconsider its graduation policies.

In the midst of this mounting pressure, the Board announced plans to discuss the test related graduation requirements at its annual retreat, which it scheduled in the pleasant, and secluded, location of Alton Jones.

Initially, the Board intended to conduct this retreat in private until the ACLU and other concerned parties (including me) pointed out that this discussion amounted to conducting Board business and therefore fell under the open meetings law. The Board did not see it that way, but a judge did, and the retreat was held, open to the public, at Rhode Island College.

The retreat was keynoted by Aims McGuinness, an outside expert, who said a few interesting things to the Board. First, he emphasized the unique nature of their responsibility—creating policy that maximizes the effectiveness of the educational pipeline that moves students from earliest pre-kindergarten edu-care to successful entry into the labor market. Despite the heavy labor market emphasis, I appreciated his spelling out the big picture–and his warning that, if the Board doesn’t keep the big picture in mind, it will “get lost in the weeds.”

Aims had less to say about the elementary/secondary section of the pipeline than he did about the postsecondary section. In our colleges and university, too many students don’t make it through, degrees are not granted in economically strategic areas, and affordability for students is low. Interestingly, he DID NOT say our biggest problem was the number of unqualified high school graduates showing up on employer’s doorsteps.

Another big point Aims made is that, while many of our average numbers are good (numbers graduating, educational attainment of graduates, etc.), when you begin to disaggregate these numbers by income, race, or family education, you see “about six Rhode Islands”, areas defined by large inequalities in wealth and opportunity. These inequalities, Aims stated, will drag the state backwards as it tries to build an education pipeline that feeds an improving economy. During his presentation, he came back to this point repeatedly: inequality is a ball and chain that will drag this state down.

The final point from Aims was the need for a system—educational and economic–that promotes innovation. This makes sense to me—innovations become established ways of doing things and lose their effectiveness, so we need a system that continually promotes innovation. This is a pretty thoroughgoing project—you can’t develop innovative students in a system with conventional teaching, and you can’t promote innovative teaching with conventional administrations operating under conventional policies.

My big takeaway? The Board of Education needs to develop policies that create an educational pipeline that promotes equality and innovation. I was pretty happy with the way Aims set the stage.

But then reality struck—the Department of Education began to go to work to convince the Board that the NECAP graduation requirement was crucial to the success of education reform in Rhode Island.

A big part of their argument was that it worked in Massachusetts, so it will work here. In order to make this argument, they brought in Don Driscoll, the former Commissioner of Education in Massachusetts who implemented the 1993 Education Reform Act. That legislation resulted from the state losing a lawsuit that required them to put in an adequate and equitable public education funding system. You might recall Rhode Island lost a similar lawsuit (under Judge Needham) but then it won it (under Judge Lederberg). So Rhode Island was never required to adequately or equitably fund its education system.

But Massachusetts was. The new law required that, after a seven-year phase-in, every local school district spend at least a state-mandated, minimum amount per pupil, for which the law provided much of the funding. This minimum “foundation budget,” is supposed to cover the costs of adequately educating different categories of students (regular, limited English proficient, special education, low income, etc.), and consequently varies by district.

In addition to creating a testing requirement for graduation, Massachusetts provided a seven-year ramp-up in state funding to beef-up poor districts and their schools. I emphasize all this because Driscoll barely mentioned it and I think it probably has a lot to do with whether Rhode Island will meet with the same success Driscoll proudly described achieving in his state.

So, a seven-year ramp-up of state funding and a ten-year period of professional development preceded the implementation of the test requirement, but Driscoll treated these as unimportant, saying nothing much happened until the test requirement kicked in and people started to focus.

In my arrogance, I’d like to contradict Driscoll on the point that nothing was happening in Massachusetts before the testing requirement kicked in; NAEP testing shows that educational attainment in Massachusetts was on the rise even before the state kicked in significant new money. Some myths—such as the test is the only thing that matters–just don’t stand up to the evidence.

The other point that got swept under the rug by Driscoll was how stubborn gaps in educational inequality are. The following excerpts are from Twenty Years After Education Reform: Choosing a Path Forward to Equity and Excellence for All (French, Guisbond and Jehlen, with Shapiro, June 2013):

•Massachusetts’ progress in narrowing gaps has been outpaced by most other states in the nation, leaving Massachusetts with some of the widest White/Hispanic gaps in the nation. Massachusetts now ranks near the bottom of all states in terms of our White/Hispanic gap, ranging from 38 achievement gaps in math and reading at the 4
In terms of the White/Black achievement gap…The ranking of 23 gap in 4 Massachusetts with a ranking of 35 between Black and White students at both the 4th and and 8th grades.
The state’s Hispanic graduation rate ranks 39th out of and is lower than the national average. This places Massachusetts 31st of 49 states for the gap between black and white student graduation rates (with 1st meaning the gap is the smallest of 47 states for the size of the gap between Hispanic and White student graduation rates.
The NAEP test score gap between free/reduced lunch and full-paying students in Massachusetts remained static across both grades and disciplines, while other states have made progress in reducing this gap. As a result of this pattern, Massachusetts’ ranking has fallen over years so that the state is now ranked from 27 score gap by income.
And, for students in Special Education, this graph speaks for itself:

What is interesting about these facts—besides that they were never mentioned—is that they should give pause to a state Board just charged with promoting equity as a top priority. In fact, a Board truly concerned with equity would see these indicators as huge red flags standing in the way of adopting the NECAP as a graduation requirement.

Finally, I am compelled to mention another difference between Rhode Island and Massachusetts that is relevant to expecting the same level of success in Rhode Island as Massachusetts experienced.

Massachusetts has a population that is significantly wealthier and more educated that Rhode Island. While I do not subscribe to the idea that wealth and education pre-determine educational attainment, it would be blindly foolish not to recognize that these factors tilt the playing field: wealth tends to provide opportunities and education tends to replicate the values and skills that produce educational attainment.

Depending on the indicators of wealth and education you choose, a plausible argument can be made that Massachusetts is, on average, the wealthiest and best educated state in the country: no such argument can be made in Rhode Island. But in RIDE, where teachers are the only factor that matter for educational quality, wealth and education are not considered when making policy.

For me, the highlight of the day was a skyped in interview with Tony Wagner, a Harvard professor with lots of experience educating urban students. Tony said a lot of important things, but the heart of what he said was that if we want to be successful with urban students and close the achievement gaps that are dragging us down, we need to figure out the problem of motivating students.

His answer, in simplified form, is to build on what students know and are interested in, using this as the beginning point for teaching. In Tony’s approach, students would work with teachers, who would function as much as mentors as advisors, to educate themselves in the areas they are interested in. Tony advocated that students undergo continual evaluation of their work and that this evaluation cumulate in an electronic portfolio.

While this abbreviated description does no justice to the power of Tony’s approach, it almost didn’t matter because the Board showed little interest in the only presentation that addressed the issue of inequality, closing performance gaps, and education that promotes innovation.

Instead, it showed an intense interest in the speakers who affirmed the valued of using the NECAP as a graduation requirement. These speakers included the President of Measured Progress, a contractor that works for RIDE. You can be sure these guys will tell you what you want to hear.

On Monday, one member of the Board, a swing vote, was reported in the Journal as saying the presentation had convinced her that using the NECAP was the way to go. Luckily, I was there to witness how policy gets made. Otherwise, no one would know they are deep in the weeds.

August 26, 2013August 29, 2013

On the road with the NAACP for March on Washington 50th

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Onna Monia-John holds a banner that recently George Lima, a recently-deceased former East Providence representative and member of the Tuskegee Airmen brought home from the original March on Washington 50 years ago. — Onna Monia-John holds a banner that George Lima, a recently-deceased former East Providence representative and member of the Tuskegee Airmen brought home from the original March on Washington 50 years ago.

There were more than 50 of us scrambling around the Stop and Shop parking lot Friday night waiting for a bus to Washington DC for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech by the time the store manager came outside.

For whatever reason, he thought I might be able to give him the scoop. I’m assuming it’s because I was armed with a big, expensive and official-looking video camera but maybe it’s worth noting that I was also one of the few white people there?

Jim Vincent, executive director of the Providence NAACP.

Most were from the Providence NAACP, who invited the larger community to join them and other New England chapters in a caravan of buses down the I-95 corridor to mark the moment so often recalled as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

Our mission was part celebration of this historic occasion, but it was also a call to action. Maybe as many as 100,000 of us would come from all over the country to meet on the Mall, where Martin Luther King gave his inspiring “I have a dream” speech 50 years ago this Wednesday. Trayvon Martin has become the face of the modern civil rights movement more so than Barack Obama.

Road Trip

Our bus – one of those private sector tour buses that bring people to and from the casinos and Newport and elsewhere – fit all 54 of us somewhat uncomfortably. Only one person in addition to our driver didn’t have to share a seat. There was a bathroom in the rear that seasoned bus travelers know to avoid sitting near on long trips.

About half of us were NAACP members. The other half were either unaffiliated activists, interested people and/or members of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats or the local chapter of the International Socialist Organization. I didn’t take an official demographic census, but I think about a dozen of us were white. Six of of the white people on our bus, including me, sat in in three rows of seats together near the front.

I sat with an older white guy named Jay Vasques, who is currently unemployed and works on organizing homeless people in New Bedford, where he lives. Vasques went to college with Lauren Niedel, a member of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats who sat behind us. She sat next to Nancy St. Germain, also a Progressive Democrat who helped the NAACP organize the trip. Sometimes we self-segregate for pretty understandable reasons.

There were several different families on our bus. Joe Buchanan, a one-man grassroots political force from the South Side of Providence, took his grandson. “Yeah, you can ask me some questions,” he said when I asked to interview him. “You might not like some of my answers.” I did like his answers. He told me it didn’t matter so much what happens this weekend but rather what we all do when we get back to Rhode Island.

Pauline Perkins-Moye, of Newport, brought her grandchildren and several of their friends, as well as her 50-year-old son who was born two months after the first speech. “Martin Luther King had a dream and two months later I was born,” he joked, while his mom explained why, being seven months pregnant, she could only be at the first March in spirit.

That was as close as anyone on our bus had been to the first speech. A white guy named Richard from Worcester on the bus behind us was the only one I met on the way down who had. In the Stop and Shop parking lot in Providence he handed out audio copies of King’s speech.

We watched two movies on the way down. ISO members brought a documentary about Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.” They also encouraged us to become involved in local labor issues and invited people to a new book club called “Black Liberation and Socialism” that starts Thursday, September 5 at Patrick’s Pub in Providence.

The NAACP showed a powerful documentary called Broken On All Sides, about the American criminal justice system’s institutional bias against African Americans. The movie is closely related to The New Jim Crow, which is both the title of a best selling book about the racial disparity in prison populations and it’s also becoming a catchall expression for the ways in which conservative political policy on crime, education and social investment continue to make racial equality a dream rather than a reality.

The two movies were an interesting juxtaposition as the New Jim Crow would likely be the follow-up chapter to a People’s History. Almost everyone I spoke with on the bus trip down and all weekend long felt that America had done well to institute the easy parts of Martin Luther King’s dream, doing away with bigoted laws and public displays of discrimination. But that a more insidious form of racism has arisen since around the time that Ronald Reagan called ketchup a vegetable and his wife waged a war on drug users.

Washington DC

We pulled into RFK Stadium, the football stadium on the outskirts of the city where the Washington Redskins play, just in time for sunrise. We had been on the bus since about 9 the night before and while few of us got any decent sleep we were all happy to stretch our legs. There were boxes of free t-shirts everywhere and a few food trucks and port-a-johns on the far end of the parking lot, but no sinks or coffee.

A man from Boston seems quite pleased with his new shirt. There were many Trayvon Martin signs at the march. — A man from Boston seems quite pleased with his new shirt.

In short order most everyone was wearing matching yellow NAACP shirts, had caffeine headaches and bad breath, and this was before our half mile walk to completely overwhelm the local subway on our way into the city. It was a testament to the occasion that our spirits remained so high. One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was when a preacher from Cambridge, Massachusetts started belting out my favorite songs on the Metro.

“People get ready/ There’s a train a’ comin/ Don’t need no ticket/ Just get on board”

Upon arriving downtown Mary Gwam, Leah Williams and I, who met on the bus through Twitter the night before, decided to break off from the group to find some coffee. We stumbled upon a nearby deli that was doing some of

Me and Mary Gwann, on our way to the National Mall for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. — Me and Mary Gwann.

the catering for some of the speakers. There were hundreds of boxes waiting to be filled with sandwiches and chips. We offered to help them do the delivery, but when that didn’t work out we walked the long way to the Mall.

Both of Gwann and Williams live in South Providence and have been active in trying to re-open the Davey Lopes public pool. The right to learn to swim isn’t something that resonates very loudly with white liberals, but it’s a fine example of the nuance of how the New Jim Crow works. The public pools is more than just a place to learn to swim, it effectively serves as summer childcare for working parents in South Providence.

The Mall

If events on the National Mall such as Saturday’s appear on TV as if the crowd is a single organism acting in unison, from the inside it looks more like chaos. The closer we got to the Mall, the more the crowd size swelled. Soon enough we were inside a human swarm, with people marching and chanting and walking and protesting in every which direction.

Directly outside the gates, all sorts of people shared their message – from Raging Grannies singing anti-war protest songs to raging Christians, likening abortion to genocide and lynchings – with poster-sized pictures. A young man from New York used a megaphone to say, “We don’t need another march, we need a revolution.” Another young man from North Carolina used his megaphone to say, “We are all Trayvon Martin.”

There were as many Trayvon Martin signs and t-shirts around the reflecting pool of the Mall as there were of Martin Luther King or the NAACP. If nothing else, it seems as if the young black man in a hoodie didn’t die in vain. He has become a martyr for the modern civil rights movement.

"We are all Trayvon. The whole system is guilty." — “We are all Trayvon. The whole system is guilty.”

The closer one got to the Lincoln Memorial, the harder it became to negotiate the crowd. It would be a mistake to think anyone at the event could offer a decent crowd estimate. Those on the inside of this activist organism see only the few hundred people in their immediate vicinity and it’s almost impossible to see or get anywhere else. The Park Service flew over the crowd in helicopters I’m assuming for the purposes of counting and not monitoring the crowd.

By the time the speakers began, I had lost everyone I knew from Rhode Island so I decided to make my way up front to see if my big fancy video camera would allow me to penetrate the police line separating the public from the press, which somewhat fittingly, is located between the people in the crowd and the people with the power.

As you may expect, having a large, expensive-looking video camera and being white at a civil rights rally is every bit as good as having an actual press pass. I walked through security four times. Once I did so just to show a college blogger how it’s done and my grand finale was sneaking by a guard who had just watched me get escorted out only minutes earlier. I did that one just as a joke, which lost all it’s humor when a black man was screamed at by the same Park Service Police officer for doing the same.

Attorney General Eric Holder said he would not be the nation’s top cop and Barack Obama would not be president if it weren’t for Martin Luther King and his dream. And California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said she was at the March on Washington 50 years ago and wondered who at today’s event go on to become the speaker of the House. This is the part of King’s dream that has been realized: in 2013, a black man or a woman can rise to the top.

Attorney General Eric Holder speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Al Sharpton, on the other hand, spoke for the people who have not yet realized the dream. And it’s very interesting to note that he parsed it as a class struggle rather than a racial struggle. The New Jim Crow actually targets people of all colors, he seemed to be saying.

50 years ago Dr. King said that America gave blacks a check that bounced in the bank of justice and was returned marked insufficient funds. Well we’ve redeposited the check. But guess what? It bounced again. But when looked at the reason this time it was marked stopped payment.

They had the money to bail out banks. They had the money to bail out major corporations. They had the the money to give tax benefits to the rich. They had the money for the one percent. But when it comes to Head Start, when it comes to municipal workers, when it comes to our teachers, they stopped the check. We gonna make you make the check good or we gonna close down the bank.

Perhaps Congressman John Lewis, of Atlanta, Georgia, is the closest political connection America has to the March on Washington. He was there on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when King gave his speech. Politico reports King told Lewis to tone down his rhetoric. 50 years and 40 arrests later, he spoke in very revolutionary terms for a Democratic congressman.

Back in 1963, we hadn’t heard about the internet. But we used what we had to bring about a nonviolent revolution (applause) And I say to all of the young people that you have to push and to pull to make America what America should be for all of us.

I got arrested 40 times during the sixties … Beat and left bloody and unconscious. But I’m not tired, I’m not weary, I’m not prepared to sit down and give up. I am ready to fight and continue to fight, and you must fight.

Coming home

Many of us were strangers on the way down to DC but by the way back we had become brothers and sisters. We exchanged email addresses and friended each other on Facebook. Led by a woman with the most beautiful voice, we all joined in singing some old protest spirituals together.

“We shall overcome,” we all sang together.

August 26, 2013August 27, 2013

Affected parent recaps Ed. Board’s NECAP discussion

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My friend Tina Egan and I spent our Sunday afternoon at the RI Board of Education meeting on August 26. I am very proud of Tina as she was one of the plaintiffs on the recent lawsuit that ensured such an important meeting, which included a presentation on the use of the NECAP as a graduation requirement, would be open to the public.

Tina and I are parents of children with disabilities and we feel strongly that our children deserve the opportunity to receive a quality education and the opportunity to receive a diploma for their extraordinary efforts. We both got involved in this issue after seeing, first hand, the unfairness and discriminatory policy of utilizing the NECAP as a graduation requirement for students with disabilities. Later, I came to realize that this policy not only hurts students with special needs, but all students and education in general.

Going into the meeting, I admit that I expected it to be a one-sided argument in favor of keeping the test as a graduation requirement. I was somewhat surprised to hear information during the meeting that was clearly not supportive of the policy. Granted, I’m sure my observations are from a parent’s perspective, but since students and parents are the real stakeholders in this discussion, I hope those reading this will consider my views just as valid as those of someone like Bill Gates. I’m fairly certain he’s never met my son nor does he know the most appropriate way to assess his abilities.

Well, after digesting the meeting and looking back at my notes, the most significant thing for me was the focus on closing the achievement gaps (between kids with disabilities, English language learners & low income students vs. generally white, non-low income, non-disabled students). Andrea Castandea, from RIDE, opened with a slide showing the substantial achievement gap for these students and then closed the meeting with the same slide. As someone with a special needs student, the achievement gap is a serious concern. Closing the achievement gap is what No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are supposed to be all about.

Yet, according to former Massachusetts Education Commissioner, David Driscoll, the first guest speaker of the afternoon, Massachusetts STILL hasn’t closed the achievement gap even after 20 years of reform measures and the implementation of the MCAs as a graduation requirement. In some categories it’s actually increased. Massachusetts is held as the model state for it’s high achievement and great test scores. Yet, after all of their education reform policies, they still have not solved the basic problem of how to help students with disabilities, limited English students and low income students achieve the same level as their non-disadvantaged peers. For all the hoopla, Texas hasn’t done it either. Apparently, no one has, as there is no evidence that the use of standardized tests as a graduation requirement closes this gap. It’s very sad for our most vulnerable kids since they are also the ones made to feel like failures for not passing it.

However, Dr. Driscoll provided a brief history lesson on the journey that Massachusetts took towards using the test as a graduation requirement:

Legislation was passed and signed by Gov. Weld in 1993 (The Massachusetts Education Reform Act)
Part of the legislation was to make a significant investment in education – particularly in urban / low income districts.
The state, districts and educators worked on aligning curriculum and preparing students for 10 years prior to implementation of the MCAS as a graduation requirement in 2003
MCAs given in 10th grade (not 11th grade as in RI)

We also got a brief history on Rhode Island’s journey to implementation of the NECAP as a graduation requirement from Ms. Castaneda:

In 2007 the Board of Education decided that a ‘statewide assessment alone could not determine graduation’
In 2011 – the Board ‘revisited’ the issue and decided that the ‘statewide assessment would have equal weight to course requirements and PBGR (performance based graduation requirements. ie: senior project, portfolio, etc.).

The comparison was pretty striking. Unlike MA, Rhode Island’s policy was never voted on by lawmakers or approved by the Governor. I also learned that this policy was decided on by 6 Board of Education members in March of 2011 (These six people were: Robert Flanders, Patrick Guida, Anna Cano-Morales, Amy Beretta, Karin Forbes, Betsy Shimberg). Secondly, Rhode Island had 3 years to align curriculum instead of 10.

Back to Massachusetts. Should we really be using them as a model? Apparently, Massachusetts is towards the bottom in the country when it comes to closing the achievement gap for kids with disabilities, ELLs, low income students, etc. Here is an interesting report from an advocacy group that outlines the problem:

http://www.citizensforpublicschools.org/20-years-after-education-reform-cps-calls-for-new-direction/

The second speaker was Dr. Stuart Kahl, Founder of Measured Progress, Inc., the developers of the NECAP. I was eager to hear Dr. Kahl’s comments as he as previously has supported the importance of in classroom assessments, multiple measures and a balanced assessment system. He has talked of high stakes tests being a measurement of systems not individuals and has made the following statements:

“No testing expert, company, or user manual has ever failed to warn consumers that major decisions should not be based on the results of a single test.”
“Race to the Top should provide opportunities to explore more meaningful ways to measure achievement of students with and without disabilities. …it is difficult to measure achievement of students at the lowest and highest ends of the performance spectrum, as the preponderance of items are situated around the proficient/not proficient cut score to provide the greatest accuracy at that decision point for accountability purposes.”
“Race to the Top grants should allow for the time, the research, and the resources needed to develop assessments that are not burdened by high stakes, so that students can truly show what they know and teachers can determine better ways to teach.”

Unfortunately, Dr. Kahl basically reiterated that the tests are valid in their alignment with grade level expectations (GREs) and content. However, when asked by one of the Board members if all students have had the opportunity to learn these expectations and the content, Castaneda replied that “not every student has had access to the curriculum.” She pointed out that some students may not be taking geometry until their senior year. I know for certain that this is absolutely true. Some students simply learn at a different pace. So, unless we learn how to speed up their brains, districts, schools, teachers and now students are being punished because not all students learn at the same pace. Something is extremely wrong with that mentality.

The most compelling speaker was Tony Wagner from Harvard University who spoke to the group via Skype, Essentially, he told the Board that the reform movement is completely wrong headed and the over reliance on high stakes testing in “educational suicide” (which drew enthusiastic applause from the audience).

Instead, he urged the Board to place more emphasis on the real skills required in the 21st century 1) thinking critically; 2) communicating effectively; 3) working collaboratively and 4) solving problems creatively. Wagner recommended accountability measures that focus on what students can do, not what they know and advocated the use of student portfolios to emphasize this.

While I was pleasantly surprised that the Board was provided some diverse opinions on the issue of high stakes testing, I wish they had really engaged in a true pro-versus-con on the issue and heard from someone like Diane Ravitch. Or, heard from Temple Grandin who would testify that visual thinkers are just as important as mathematicians. More importantly, I wish that members of the Board could receive more input from teachers, principals and, once again, students and parents.

Students and parents need to be engaged on this issue. For me, my son is a junior in high school and will hopefully graduate, soon, to lead a successful and fulfilling life. However, I genuinely fear for any child entering our schools in the next few years. If things do not change, I fear they will have an education experience that will focus on students becoming just a test score, teachers only teaching to the test and a total lack of motivation to achieve anything beyond a partial proficiency.

Lastly, a comment that really stuck out in my mind was from Andrea Castaneda. She stated that the Department of Education stands “shoulder-to-shoulder with school committees, superintendents and principals” on the use of the NECAP as a graduation requirement. It struck me that the teachers, parents and students were not included in that grouping. Perhaps it’s teachers, parents and students that need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and demand more from our education system. It’s happening all over the country. There is no reason it can’t happen here.

August 23, 2013

Saturdays at the Pawtuxet Farmers’ Market

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Farmers Markets are becoming a more integral part of communities all over Rhode Island, especially at the Pawtuxet Village Market in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Every Saturday morning from 9:00-12:00 farmers from all over the state gather in the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet Parking Lot to sell their goods to the locals that frequent the market. Patrons can buy anything from heirloom tomatoes to wild flowers or even fresh fish.

The Local Catch is one of the many stands that can be found at the Pawtuxet Farmers Market. Based in Narragansett, The Local Catch is run by Richard and Ann Cook. “We’ve been coming to this farmers market for two years,” said Mike Grattan, who was manning the stand on this particular morning.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Mike Grattan, The Local Catch

“We’re about ten feet from the water so it’s always fresh.” The stand offers anything from haddock to halibut; the quality of the fish was backed by each customer that came to get some of this week’s catch. “It’s very fresh! I come every week,” one woman very eagerly told me as she handpicked her pieces of haddock.

Blue Skys Farm is arguably one of the most popular stands each week at the market, offering beautiful flowers and vegetables grown on the two acre farm in Cranston run by Christina Dedora.

“Farmers Markets make up about 75% of our business,” Dedora said. “The people here are special, they’re very loyal and tend to buy a little from each stand.”

As Dedora told me about the loving, family atmosphere that had welcomed her for years, a woman approached us and, gesturing towards the little girl she was holding, said “Every Saturday morning she asks, ‘Are we seeing Christina?!” At this, Dedora was brought to tears, again repeating the sentiment that the family atmosphere is what keeps her and her goods coming back.

This overall impression was echoed by Bernard Bieder, who runs Bernie B’s Bees, based in Warwick. Bieder’s stand offers jars of honey as well as beeswax candles and sticks of honey for children and adults alike to enjoy. “I’ve been coming here for 9 or 10 years, I’ve had opportunities to go to bigger markets before but it’s a real family affair here.” As I watched Mr. Bieder do his business I couldn’t help but notice how many free honey sticks he was giving out to the children that came to his stand.

“When a little girl comes up to me with a quarter wanting a honey stick, I ask her if she’s been good (they always say yes) and always give her an extra. Ask my wife, I give out more than I make!” Bieder shared with me that he turned 90 recently. “All of the other vendors made me a cake and signed a big card. We’re a family.”

Saturday mornings at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet are filled with family and fresh, local goods from vendors that think highly of their loyal patrons. Attending the Pawtuxet Farmers Market is not only a family affair, but also a great way to support local farmers and vendors from all over the state.

August 23, 2013August 25, 2013

Steal this speech (so it can continue to change world)

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Free speech was certainly a central theme of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech but evidently the heirs to his estate don’t interpret his dream to extend to free information as well.

One reason the speech isn’t always available on the internet or reprinted by the media is King’s family has sued news outlets for copyright infringement. Mother Jones has an excellent post on the copyright debate over the famous speech, which includes this great lede:

I have a dream that on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls as they watch the footage on TV of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his famous words. I have a dream that on the red hills of Georgia, the great-grandsons of former slaves and the great-grandsons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood this week, open their MacBooks and pull up the seminal speech on the internet.

The Oregonian has found a clever and value-adding way to skirt a copyright infringement by annotating King’s Dream speeech.

But it’s important, I think, that this nation-changing address be available for public consumption. It’s one of the greatest ever expressions of American values, rivaled only by Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. If it changed the world for the better the first time people heard him deliver what some say was partially ad-libbed, then maybe it will do so again.

If King were alive today, I’m pretty sure he’d want his speech posted on YouTube.

August 23, 2013August 26, 2013

NAACP, RI Prog Dems and me celebrate MLK together

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Something nice is starting in Rhode Island tonight and here’s hoping it lasts longer than just the weekend. A bunch of lily white liberals like me and some members of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats are jumping on a bus paid for in part by area chapters of the NAACP and we’re all traveling together down to DC to celebrate Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights Movement and the 50th anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech.

It’s one small road trip for fans of MLK and equality, and hopefully the beginning of a longer journey for the Providence NAACP and the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, who – whether working collaboratively or not – are united in wanting to see King’s dream become a reality in Rhode Island and elsewhere.

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013

Fixing RI Part 4: Moving toward A sustainable future

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In this, the final installment of series on how to fix Rhode Island’s ailing economy, I will look at some next steps for moving forward. First, the story so far: I have outlined what Rhode Island’s leaders need to do in terms of transforming our state’s green economy and why we need to move in that direction. Yesterday, I presented a version of what our states green economy might look like.

It is entirely possible that it might not play out exactly like I have laid out. In fact, it probably won’t. But it could, and that would be a good thing for all stakeholders – human and nonhuman alike. Mind you, this is only one person’s vision, created from ideas found in the pages of policy papers, books, blogs, reports, and data I have culled through. I have borrowed from what has worked elsewhere and tailored it to what I know of our state. I haven’t backed it up with any economic data or careful policy analysis – you’ll notice no citations. What I hoped to do is get stakeholders thinking, to start a real conversation, and to encourage the collaborative process to begin.

The comment sections of our local news sites are filled with finger wags and laments for the way things were. There is a lot of blame passed around and a lot of bloviating. Rarely are viable solutions offered. The General Assembly! Unions! Immigrants! They’ve ruined this state! The reality is that the blame cannot be placed on any one single entity. These are bad, non-fact-based arguments. The reality is that each of these stakeholder groups, along with many others, will play important roles moving forward. Vitriolic screeds are not helpful in the least, and they only contribute to divisiveness that hampers efforts at progress. But some people have ideas, good ones in fact. Streamlining the paperwork processes for businesses is a good idea. So is consolidating city services and school districts. Focusing economic development efforts on poaching businesses from other regions is almost always not. Regardless of their efficacy, these are not real comprehensive solutions, and at the end of the day they will not allow Rhode Island to gain any real economic traction.

Instead, a game-changing idea is needed. Metros across the country that have realized this and seized upon a big idea themselves have seen real results. They did not wait for an opportunity to pass them by. They saw that they needed to move to a regional economic approach. They realized that they could never grow that regional economy without seeking global markets. They then developed a big economic idea, one they could sell at home and abroad, and retooled their metro into a connected network of innovation led by a collaboration of government, non-profits, and the private sector. Rhode Island, with Providence as its engine, has this opportunity. I believe our state’s big idea – one that could absolutely bear fruit – is the development of the sustainability economy.

So what is the next step? The next step will be the first step, really. Consequently, it will also be the hardest to take. Leaders from all sectors must begin to work together to develop a bold, comprehensive, and workable vision for the future. Where do we begin, and how do we start? It will take many seats at the table, and it will take compromise. We must begin working towards something because the status quo simply will not work. Too many citizens of our state have suffered (and continue to suffer) as a result of misplaced priorities and chronic inaction So why not this? Why not now?

August 23, 2013

NecronomiCon Keynote Address: Lovecraft was an atheist

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Dr Stanley Lemons, the church historian for the First Baptist Church in America on 75 North Main St. here in Providence, Rhode Island opened the NecronomiCon with a short yet fascinating talk about H.P. Lovecraft and his relationship with the church.

Dr. Lemons told of a young Lovecraft, who, “Hated this church, but… loved this building.”

Clarifying, Lemons explained that Lovecraft had decided to quit the church by age five and had become an atheist by age eight. That’s right, Rhode Island, this weekend we are celebrating the accomplishments of one of Rhode Island’s leading atheists.

Of course, Lovecraft’s atheism is somewhat nihilistic and existential, a far cry from some of the more optimistic and Humanistic atheism I might champion. Still the government Roger Williams established here 350 years ago helped guarantee freedom of and freedom from religion for all shades of belief and non-belief.

You can view Lemons full talk below, followed S.T. Joshi’s keynote address in which he talks about the long and tortured history of Lovecraft’s literary reputation. In the middle of Joshi’s speech is the surprise appearance of Lovecraft’s ghost, banging out “Yes, We Have no Bananas” on the church organ.

This is going to be a fun weekend.

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