Woonsocket, and How Chafee’s Muni Bill Can Help
The Woonsocket School Committee voted last night not to close schools early, which is good news all around. But guess what? Schools were never going to close early. If Woonsocket can’t come up with the money it needs to run them by April 5, which it probably cannot, the state will step in and keep [...]
Lawsuit vs. State Could Cut Woonsocket Deficit in Half
Woonsocket may be taking heat for saying it might have to close schools, but the School District has a mighty strong hand in its negotiations with the state on how to close the budget deficit. The Department of Education plans to pay Woonsocket $4.3 million in state aid that the cash-strapped city didn’t receive under [...]
College costs, debt an issue for Occupy URI
“Pretty much my only option at this point is to die in debt or win the lottery,” said URI communications major Jeff Blanchette at an Occupy URI “teach-in” on Thursday afternoon in White Hall. He was one of two students in the classroom that will owe more than $30,000 in student debt by the time [...]
High Stakes Testing: Not So Hot
Last week friend of the blog, Dan McGowan at GoLocal, asked: Everyone agree that “teaching to the test” is a bad idea, but it makes no sense to get rid of standardized tests that could determine whether a student is eligible to graduate… Why not continue to test, but also offer the right interventions that [...]
Let school prayer banner issue go away, Cranston
The Cranston School Committee will decide tonight whether or not it wants to continue embarrassing the state in voting if it wants to appeal the school prayer banner case. Here’s hoping they decide to do the right thing and not fight the ruling, won by high school junior Jessica Ahlquist, that the prayer banner must [...]
Community Input on Providence Schools Superintendent Search
From the Educate Providence website: Providence, like the rest of the country, faces significant challenges in ensuring that all of its children and youth have access to educational options that enable them to succeed in school and life. With shrinking budgets for school systems, increasing economic hardships and a fragmentation of the public and private systems [...]
Feb 5: The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for “Superman”
“The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For “Superman”” highlights the real-life experiences of public school parents, students and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting public education. The film discusses the kinds of real reform – inside schools and in our society as a whole – that we urgently need to genuinely transform [...]
Philadelphia-based Feminist Media Activist Group Led By Providence Native, Nuala Cabral, Launches Campaign Supporting Ethnic Studies in Arizona
Click here to check out my recent interview with Nuala Cabral and Denice Frohman of FAAN Mail, a Philadelphia-based media activist group that has launched a social media campaign (on Twitter, primarily, #WishiLearnedinHS), “Wished I Learned in High School,” in response to policies in Arizona restricting ethnic studies programs. Cabral is graduate of Moses Brown [...]
Providence Public Schools Forum TOMORROW at Asa Messer
Original text: You’re invited to a Community Meeting about the Providence Public Schools Councilman Bryan Principe and Councilwoman Sabina Matos join Providence Schools Superintendent Dr. Susan F. Lusi in welcoming you to learn more about what’s new in the Providence Schools. Families and community members from Wards 13 & 15, as well as other city [...]
Fighting for Rhode Island
The last few years have been tough for our great Ocean State. Across Rhode Island, I’ve organized community dinners, main street tours, and coffee hours where I’ve heard firsthand from so many people struggling to find work, seniors worried about their Social Security and Medicare, families being crushed by unfair credit card rates, and students [...]
Providence Geeks with StudyEgg – Tonight!
Wednesday, January 18th, 2011, 5:30 – 8pm AS220, 115 Empire Street, Providence, RI FREE (buy your own food and drink – it’s cheap) RSVP at Facebook Tonight, Providence based StudyEgg… With educational costs soaring and performance…ummm…not, e-learning is heating up to become what many believe will be a trillion (yes, with a T) dollar worldwide [...]
Girl at the Center of the Cranston “Prayer Banner” Case targeted by Cyber-Bullies
Upfront let me say that I am proud to be an uncle to the amazing Jessica Ahlquist, the student who two days ago won her case against the City of Cranston over an unconstitutional “prayer banner” on display at her school. It was not only a victory for Jessica, but a victory for everyone in [...]
Remember MLK’s Legacy this Weekend by Supporting Civil Rights Struggles in AZ!
Rhode Islanders have a special opportunity to express solidarity with young people and educators in Tuscon, AZ who are standing up to their state’s xenophobic and racist laws. On Sunday, January 15th, feature length documentary, Precious Knowledge, will be screened at Renaissance Church located at 77 Reservoir Ave in Providence. Precious Knowledge, which will be [...]
Fighting for Our Future
This is bound to be an exciting year for our state, and I know I speak for many when I say that the return of RI Future to the Ocean State’s blogosphere is a welcome one. From Netroots Nation coming to Providence – something Mayor Taveras and I worked particularly hard to ensure – to [...]
Would I send my child to this school?
Bari Katz, the co-founder and former Director of Student Life at the Achievement First Crown Heights High School, has written an incredibly insightful and thought-provoking essay on Achievement First’s model, describing both its strengths and what she described as its fundamental flaw. If you have given any thought to the Achievement First debate, please take [...]
Finland Finland Finland, the country where I quite want to teach
As it turns out, Monty Python was right: Finland isn’t just a great place for snack lunch in the hall… It really does have it all: social democracy, smoked fish, and a public school system that American reformers are beginning to notice. Too bad they are noticing the wrong thing. As many of you know, Finland is [...]
Progressive Education in Providence?
Good news via the mayor’s Web site: The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), founded 25 years ago by renowned educator Theodore R. Sizer, is moving into its new offices on 325 Public Street, co-located with Big Picture Learning at the Met School’s Public Street campus in South Providence. “The Coalition of Essential Schools is a [...]
Building Youth, One Class at a Time
Since 1997, YouthBuild Providence has been re-engaging and inspiring returning students who are pursuing secondary education and provided low-income youth with the skills necessary to build a more financially secure future and more stable communities. YouthBuild serves 16-24 years olds who are often parents, homeless, returning to their communities from prison, and suffering from physical or [...]
Julia Steiny, what’s your solution?
Julia Steiny wrote a piece in GoLocalProv today making the case against–or, in more accurate language, trashing–the use of teacher seniority in pretty much any school situations. I don’t think her column is without any merit, if you’re able to stomach her style (she uses the word ‘pugnacious’ to criticize a particular union leader, a [...]
Why you can’t simply can’t trust Education Reformers with the facts
Because they leave most of the real facts out: from today’s POLITIFACT: But the mayors’ statement leaves out an important fact: The DRA is a test that very few students take because it is given only in schools that don’t go above second grade. In all other elementary schools, the state uses the New England [...]
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