Nathan Bishop Open House: Tuesday, November 17

On Tuesday, November 17, the Providence School Department will sponsor an Open House at the New Nathan Bishop. The public is welcome to come beginning at 4:00 p.m. to tour the new school. The School Department will hold a dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m., and there will be a reception afterwards. The event will conclude at 7:00 p.m.

Our latest update

1.  Nathan Bishop Enrollment

The response so far has been very encouraging, and it appears that folks in this part of town really are ready for a good-quality public middle school.  Around 110 children from the East Side have already registered for the 160 6th grade seats reserved for neighborhood enrollments.  A substantial number of these are coming over from private schools.

Although the formal registration deadline has passed, there is still a short window during which students from the school’s neighborhood can secure a seat. If you have questions about the process, you may contact Principal Lazzaeschi at Michael.Lazzareschi@ppsd.org

The lottery for the 40 seats reserved for non-neighborhood students has already taken place and the response was strong. It is presumed that seats not eventually taken by neighborhood children will be opened to non-neighborhood children.  We hope that consideration will be given to 5th graders who have been attending MLK and Vartan Gregorian, so that they will have an opportunity to remain with their classmates from those two elementary schools.

2.  Environmental Hearing

There will be an environmental hearing related to Nathan Bishop tomorrow night (Wednesday, Feb. 11th) at 6:00 p.m. at Hope High School.  As we understand it, the hearing relates to removal of an old oil tank and the uncovering of fly ash at the Bishop site.  We believe that neither of these are significant issues (fly ash will be found under most properties in the city and can be easily covered over) but the meeting is required by law and is open to the public.

3.  ProJo Reporter seeks comments from Bishop parents

Linda Borg, who has reported on Providence education for the Providence Journal, is looking for people who would be willing to be interviewed about how the new Nathan Bishop influenced their choice to come to, or stay in, the Providence public schools.  She asks that you contact her at lborg@projo.com.

4.  Vartan Gregorian History Event

Karina Wood, from the Vartan Gregorian PTO, sends along the following:

On Wednesday, February 25th, the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School at Fox Point, the PTO, and the John Nicholas Brown Center will host an exhibit opening to celebrate Faces of Fox Point.  The opening will be held from 5:00 PM to 6:15 PM with Vartan Gregorian’s sixth grade students leading guided tours of historic photographs of Fox Point paired with memories of neighborhood life. CONTACT: Anne Valk (401-863-1177) or Catherine Carr Kelly (617-835-1611) or Wendy Warlick (401-369-6994)

A New Nathan Bishop Forum

UPDATE:  Because of a scheduling problem, this meeting has been postponed 24 hours to

Thursday, Jan, 8th.  The time and place remain the same:  MLK school, 7pm.

Nathan Bishop Forum

With

Principal Lazzareschi and Superintendent Brady

Wednesday, January 7th

Thursday, January 8th

7:00 p.m.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School
in the School Library

We are pleased to be able to tell you that there will be a public forum, as a follow-up to last month’s meeting at MLK elementary school, where Superintendent Brady and Principal Lazzareschi will answer your questions about Nathan Bishop Middle School.  It will talk place in the library of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School on Wednesday, January 7th at 7:00 p.m.  The school is located at 35 Camp Street.

The Superintendent and the Principal will provide an update on the school’s academic program and staffing, and provide fuller responses to questions raised at November’s forum.

All parents and community members interested in the success of Nathan Bishop should try to attend this important event.

Please note that the School Department has extended the registration deadline for this coming school year, so there is still time to register for Nathan Bishop after this forum.

This event is sponsored and hosted by the MLK Parent-Teacher Organization, and co-sponsored by the East Side Public Education Coalition.

Nathan Bishop Forum Tuesday 11/25

Meet the Principal
of the new
Nathan Bishop Middle School
Tuesday, Nov. 25th
7:00 p.m.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School
in the School Library

Dear Friends of Public Education,

We are pleased to be able to tell you that there will be a “meet the principal” event in the library of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School on Tuesday, November 25th at 7:00 p.m.  The school is located at 35 Camp Street.

This will be an opportunity for the community to meet Mr. Michael Lazzareschi, whose appointment as Nathan Bishop principal was ratified by the School Board on November 10th.  We hope to hear from Mr. Lazzareschi about plans for the academic program and staffing of the school.

All parents and community members interested in the success of Nathan Bishop should try to attend this important event.

This event is sponsored and hosted by the MLK Parent-Teacher Organization, and co-sponsored by the East Side Public Education Coalition.

Bishop Principal Chosen

The Providence School Board has confirmed Michael Lazzareschi as principal of the new Nathan Bishop Middle School. Mr. Lazzareschi, who is currently principal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, has an exemplary record of accomplishment as an administrator. Recently, he was named by the Rhode Island Association of School Principals as the Rhode Island National Distinguished Elementary Principal for 2007-08.  Mr. Lazzareschi’s appointment is a giant step in the direction of making Nathan Bishop an outstanding school.

Though Mr. Lazzareschi will be leaving MLK, he will still be the principal for MLK students who attend Nathan Bishop for middle school, either as their neighborhood school or under the District’s school-choice policy. We understand that the terms of his appointment, which officially begins in February, will allow him to make the transition in a way that will keep MLK functioning well, and that he will work closely with his successor at MLK

ESPEC reported last Spring that we were encouraging the School Department to hold another public forum on Bishop. Our goal has been to give the community a chance hear more about the plans for Bishop’s academic program, staffing, and school governance. With the change of Superintendents, we decided to postpone this effort until this Fall, and we hoped that this would also allow time for the the new principal to be appointed.

Now that the principal has been selected, we have heard from the District that a meeting along these lines is being planned. We will let you know as soon as details emerge. We have emphasized to the District the importance of holding this meeting before parents are required to choose their public schools next month. We also hope to write very soon with regard to the attendance policies for Bishop and the steps necessary for enrollment.  We expect that Nathan Bishop will be represented at the upcoming Middle School fair.

More than two and a half years ago, when the closing of Nathan Bishop was announced, the community came out in force to express our desire for a strong public school and our commitment to supporting and improving public education in Providence. Now that the new Nathan Bishop is on schedule to open in September 2009, and things appear to be on track for it to be very well-run, we hope you will continue to support the new Nathan Bishop Middle School.

Nathan Bishop Groundbreaking

Renovation and lots of earth-moving have been going on at Nathan Bishop for several months, but October 2nd saw the official groundbreaking ceremony for the school.  Mayor Cicilline presided, and the crowd heard from Superintendent Brady, Councilman Cliff Wood (who has been a major force behind Bishop’s progress), Majority Leader Gordon Fox, and Senator Rhoda Perry.  Kim Rohm spoke on behalf of ESPEC and future Nathan Bishop parents.

Our latest update

For those who might not be on our mailing list, our latest email update is below.  If you would like to be on our list, please email espec@earthlink.net or tschmeling@ric.edu

East Side Public Education Coalition

Update for September 21, 2008

Nathan Bishop Renovations on Schedule
Readers of the Providence Journal may have noted the article on September 17th, explaining that Nathan Bishop renovations are on schedule for the planned Fall, 2009 reopening. The article quotes Alan Sepe, Providence’s Acting Director of Public Buildings as saying, “We’re on target…The building will be open next fall.” Here’s a link to the full article.

Nathan Bishop Groundbreaking on Oct. 2nd
We’ve learned from Ward 2 Councilman Cliff Wood, who has worked very hard to help create the new Nathan Bishop, that there will be an official groundbreaking ceremony at Nathan Bishop on Thursday, October 2nd at 3:30 p.m.  In addition to Cliff, the ceremony will also be attended by Mayor Cicilline, Majority Leader Gordon Fox, and Senator Rhoda Perry, who have also been supporters of this project. We hope that many of you will be able to join us in marking this occasion and showing your support for Nathan Bishop.

Nathan Bishop Principal Selection
Interviews for the new Nathan Bishop’s principal took place in August. The advertisement for the position came with a “white paper” that described the position and the vision for the school in some detail.  You can read the ad and white paper here. (PDF file)

The interview committee included Providence Public School Department staff and several of the parents and community members who have participated in the various versions of the Superintendent’s Bishop committees. The interview committee forwarded the names of the top candidates to the administration, and we understand that Superintendent Brady has been conducting subsequent interviews.

We had hoped that the new principal could be hired full time this fall, but have learned that funds are not available for this. Instead, we expect that the individual selected will participate in the planning process on a part-time basis through next summer. Superintendent Brady will meet with the Nathan Bishop planning committee on Tuesday, Sept. 23rd. At that time we hope to hear more about the principal selection.

Nathan Bishop Planning Process
We also hope to hear more at the 9/23 meeting about the timetable and process for finalizing the plans for Bishop. The committee which will be responsible for planning the curriculum and school governance procedures, in accordance with the vision created over the past two years, will be known as the “Community Engagement Committee”. We previously had been told that this committee, which would include a broader range of teachers, education experts and PPSD staff than the current committee, would be established and at work by now. We hope that work on this critical project will begin very soon. We also expect that the School Department will solicit community members for participation on various subcommittees and we will pass along information as we receive it.

Nathan Bishop Public Forum
ESPEC’s Spring public forum was devoted to the renovations to the Bishop building and the physical design of the new school. At that time we announced plans for a second forum, to be devoted to the academic program, school governance issues and so on.  Various events, including change of superintendents, made it necessary to postpone this forum until this fall.

The ESPEC steering committee has written to Superintendent Brady, requesting his assistance in providing this opportunity for the community to learn more about Nathan Bishop. We hope that both Mr. Brady and the principal-designate will appear to discuss their vision for the school.  We will let you know more as soon as we are able.

ESPEC represents at JCC/Miriam 5k

The annual 5K race hosted by the Jewish Community Center and Miriam Hospital was held on September 7th. ESPEC sponsored a team, and sold “Future Nathan Bishop Parent” and “Future Nathan Bishop Student” shirts.  Here are a few photos.  [If you would like one of these shirts, contact Karina Wood at KarinaWood(Insert@here)cox.net],.

(L-R) Karina Wood, Michelle McKenzie, Harlan Rich, Cliff Wood, Sam Zurier

The Wood Family

Kim Rohm (R), Karina Wood, and friends

New Superintendent Holds Public Forums

Thomas Brady, the incoming Superintendent of Providence Public Schools, is holding a series of public forums as he arrives in Providence. The first of these will especially interest east siders, as it happens at

All sessions are from 6 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, July 30
Hope High School
324 Hope Street

Wednesday, August 6

Springfield Middle School

152 Springfield Street

Wednesday, August 13
Veazie Elementary School
211 Veazie Street

Wednesday, August 20
Providence Academy of International Studies (PAIS)
182 Thurbers Avenue

Take this opportunity to meet the new Superintendent, and to share your thoughts about how the District can increase student achievement, support teaching and learning, and strengthen parent and community engagement.

Translation services in Spanish, Hmong, Lao and Khmer will be available. Childcare and light refreshments will be provided. To reserve your seat, as well as to request translation or child care, please call 456-0686.

And Then There Was One

On July 4th, the Pennsylvania state legislature enacted an education funding formula, which has now been signed by Governor Rendell. PA’s passage of a funding formula means that there is now only ONE state that does not have a funding formula. Can you guess which one? That’s right….it’s Rhode Island.

The formula uses the number of students in a district, weighted by the number of students with special needs (such as English language learners, special education, and children in poverty) to determine the district’s total need. The district’s contribution to funding is determined by the tax capacity of the district, which is based on property values. The remainder is provided by the state through its other tax mechanisms, such as income and sales taxes. The PA bill also provides a $275 million (5.5 percent ) increase in total funding over last year

Rhode Island used to have a formula back in 1993, but for the last 15 years the state allocation to each district has been based on political bargaining that has little to do with need or capacity. Some districts have done quite well. Newport has increased its share, despite a 25% loss of student population. You will probably not be surprised to learn that the former chair of the House Education Committee was from Newport.

Other districts have done much less well. According to estimates made by an independent school finance expert, Providence schools are underfunded, relative to a fair funding formula, by about $50M (yes, that’s FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS) in a budget of about $300M.

This year’s funding formula proposal (co-sponsored by East Side Representative Edie Ajello and Senator Rhoda Perry) died in committee even though, unlike PA’s formula, it provided NO increase in the total amount of funds spent on education for the coming year.

Meanwhile, RI ranks 48th in the country in its dependence on local property taxes for raising education funds. More than all states but two, we shift education costs from the state to the locality, where they are appear on your property tax bill. Other states recognize that basing education funding on property taxes is not only regressive; elderly people and others on fixed incomes, and low income renters, who pay via a pass-through by landlords, bear a disproportionate part of the burden) but also excessively burdens urban areas where property values are lower. Providence, for instance, has the highest tax effort of any district in the state, yet manages to produce only about one-third of its school budget.

Surprisingly, members of the House leadership representing Providence, have shown little interest in promoting this legislation.

2009 is another year. Perhaps it will be the one in which Rhode Island joins the other 49 states in adopting a rational and fair education funding formula. It will happen, but only with your help.

New Superintendent Comes to Town

Incoming Superintendent of Providence Schools, Thomas Brady, came to town yesterday. He visited with

teachers, students and administrators, according to a story in today’s ProJo. There’s even a video clip on the ProJo site.

Brady also offered an abbreviated version of his agenda: increase student achievement; make business operations more efficient; improve communications with teachers, parents and taxpayers; spread the word about the district’s mission; bolster the administration’s relationship with the unions, and make sure that teacher training is aligned with the curriculum.

New Principal at Gregorian

This month Vartan Gregorian Elementary School got a new principal, as reported in the ProJo.  Here are a couple of excerpts, with a link to the full story, which gives quite a bit of detail on Mr. Grimsey.

New principal named at Gregorian Elementary
Thursday, July 3, 2008
By Linda Borg Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Colin Grimsey, an elementary school principal from Fall River, is the new principal of Vartan Gregorian Elementary School, one of the city’s success stories.

Grimsey, who is 41, married and lives on the East Side, has had a rather unorthodox teaching career. After graduating from Connecticut College, he took a job with a tiny Catholic high school located in a youth rehabilitation center in Westchester County, N.Y. Grimsey, a history teacher, worked with 8 to 10 students and often observed the counseling sessions.

•••

Grimsey became an elementary school principal in Fall River two years ago. He said he took the job knowing it was a temporary appointment because the school, built in 1897, was slated to be closed as part of a sweeping campaign to rebuild some of the district’s aging buildings.

••••

Gregorian is one of the jewels in the district’s crown, a high-performing school with a deeply engaged Parent Teacher Organization and a devoted group of teachers. In 2006, Gregorian was only one of two schools in Rhode Island to receive a national award for closing achievement gaps between white students and minorities, low-income students and middle-income ones.

Between 1988 and 2002, the proportion of students who met or exceeded the state standards in reading, writing and math doubled at this Fox Point school. As the school turned the academic corner, East Siders began paying attention. Parents enthusiastically promoted Gregorian, raising money for extracurricular activities and lobbying to make sure that parents became partners in the school.

Last summer, because of public demand, Gregorian added another kindergarten class.

Gregorian also offers something that most private schools don’t: diversity. The school is evenly split among black, white and Latino parents.

Read the full story here.

Public Meeting on City and Schools Budget

The City Council’s Finance Committee will be meeting this Wednesday, July 16 to vote on the City budget, including the schools budget.

A July 3rd ProJo article by Linda Borg sets out the situation:

Thanks to an unexpected infusion of $3.5 million in state aid, it looks like the Providence schools will not have to make draconian cuts to services and staff this year.

But the district will not be able to pay for the intervention programs and additional staff needed to improve student achievement, according to the district’s chief financial officer, Mark Dunham. Since 2004, he said that the school budget has grown less than 2 percent a year on average.

“That is outrageous,” Dunham said in an interview yesterday. “Our budget is not keeping pace with inflation. We’re running a system that’s between $15 [million] and $18 million short of what we need.”

The $319.9-million budget that was presented to the City Council’s finance committee last week eliminates 42 teaching positions, but it also includes nearly $1 million in new positions, about half of them required by state education commissioner Peter McWalters’ corrective action order.

You can read the rest of Borg’s article here

Sam Zurier’s July East Side Monthly Article

Below is Sam’s regular column on Education for July

The Teacher Quality Crisis

I have written before about the “bumping” problem (a policy that bases teacher layoffs on seniority alone) which every year costs Providence some of its best teachers to the detriment of our children, families and also other teachers who can be demoralized by the lost of talented colleagues. During this session of the General Assembly, our local delegation (Representative Fox and Senator Perry) introduced different bills to address the issue. Neighborhood activists from the East Side Public Education Coalition, along with representatives of the Providence School Board, the School Department, the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Providence Teachers’ Union and the National Education Association attended hearings to discuss the House and Senate “bumping bills.” I also have had the opportunity to speak with a number of the key people who appeared at these hearings on an informal basis.

I wish that this effort had produced a consensus among the various constituencies to solve the “bumping” problem, but neither bill would bring about an immediate and complete resolution. The hearings and discussions have, however, presented a number of perspectives that I hope will help to advance our understanding of this critical issue.

The obvious starting point is a law on the books that requires layoffs to be made in order of seniority. We originally thought it would be relatively easy to lobby the General Assembly to repeal that law. The General Assembly heard compelling testimony from a teacher who was “bumped”, as well as parents from Classical High School who had to suffer with the loss of a prize-winning biology teacher who was “bumped” in favor of a more senior but ineffective replacement. These parents testified about hiring the talented, laid-off teacher (at $50 per hour) to tutor their students in the Advanced Placement course’s basic requirements, as his replacement was not teaching them.

We discovered, however, that the goal of simply repealing the current law failed to generate a consensus for two reasons. First, children and parents might not see any immediate changes because existing collective bargaining agreements (which would apply in the absence of a state law mandate) likely would perpetuate the seniority system in a different form. Second, teachers and union leaders opposed a simple repeal because it might permit a return to an earlier era in which management made some personnel decisions on a completely arbitrary basis, a problem the led to the passage of the current seniority-based law in 1946.

We learned from these hearings that the best response to both objections to a simple repeal is to improve dramatically the School Department’s ability to evaluate teachers and take appropriate action when a teacher fails to meet appropriate standards. If a district has a strong teacher evaluation system, then evaluations can become part of a layoff decision. Furthermore, if teacher quality increases due to a strong evaluation and accountability system, there is less of a risk of personnel changes causing a dramatic impact in the quality of the education being provided in any particular classroom.

On the subject of evaluation, there is a consensus that the current system is not working. The current evaluation regime calls for newly hired teachers to be evaluated for three years before receiving tenure, and sporadically after that point. In practice, newly-hired teachers do not receive sufficient evaluation or support, and tenured teachers are not evaluated regularly or clearly. Both the teachers’ union and the district acknowledge that a new evaluation system has been operating on a trial basis in a few schools, and is under negotiation to be expanded. There is a disagreement, however, as to why the new system has not yet been agreed upon or implemented, a delay that only postpones any realistic effort to improve teacher quality.

Both the Perry and Fox “bumping bills” direct the Rhode Island Department of Education to develop standards to form the basis of required teacher evaluation systems in every district in the state. While it is comforting to hear that Providence’s collective bargainers believe themselves to be on the brink of a breakthrough, such a state mandate would not cause any harm and ultimately could provide a valuable push in the event that the promised negotiated solution fails to materialize.

With regard to the problem of substandard teachers in the system today, the district and the union have a difference of opinion. From the district’s perspective, the impediment is the onerous set of due process requirements associated with terminating an ineffective teacher. For example, the current procedures allow teachers to demand a hearing before the entire School Board (all nine members, not just a quorum). It can be very difficult to assemble all nine members for an extraordinary hearing that can take two hours, and teachers always have the opportunity to request a schedule change at the last instant. Also, the current system calls for personnel actions to be taken by the central office; in contrast, the Massachusetts education reform law of 1993 empowered principals to initiate teacher termination proceedings.

According to the union, the problem instead lies in the hands of ineffective principals, as some highly effective principals of the past have succeeded in removing numerous ineffective teachers through existing procedures while inspiring other teachers at the school to perform at a higher level in order to avoid termination.

I have not yet been able to assess the merits of this debate, but I intend to continue my own investigation and report as I learn more. Similarly, the East Side Public Education Coalition has worked hard to advance these issues in the General Assembly and through discussions with the parties. While ESPEC’s knowledge has increased, the problem remains as urgent and serious as it did before this year’s effort began.

It is important to keep the issue of teacher quality in perspective. By all accounts, the majority of teachers in the Providence public schools serve their students well, and nobody would claim that every teacher in our private and parochial schools is perfect. With that said, any parent whose child is subjected to poor teaching has a right to feel upset, and it is clear that the current program in Providence does not do enough to promote teacher quality. The problem becomes especially apparent when layoffs based on seniority alone produce a dramatic decline in teacher quality in a classroom, directly harming the futures of innocent children who supposedly are the highest priority of our school system.

The various parties who must take responsibility for this unfortunate state of affairs each have differing explanations for the source of this problem and the solutions that can address it. At the end of the day, parents and students are not able (and should not be expected) to adjudicate who is “right” or “wrong” about this question. Instead, we must demand that these parties work together to solve this longstanding problem as soon as possible.

Sam Zurier’s June East Side Monthly Article

I missed Sam’s June article, which is posted below.

A new commissioner

In my May column, I wrote about changes in the leadership of the Providence School Department.  We recently learned that change is also coming to the leadership of the Rhode Island Department of Education (“RIDE”), as Commissioner Peter McWalters announced he will be leaving the position next year.  As was true for outgoing Superintendent Donnie Evans, Providence and Rhode Island can thank Commissioner McWalters for a record of dedicated service, in his case going back to the start of his term in 1992.  This month, I will discuss the Commissioner’s role in improving public education both statewide and in Providence, and how that role could change through the coming transition

While the job description of Providence Public Schools Superintendent has remained stable over time, the position of Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education is more dynamic.  When Commissioner McWalters came to Rhode Island in 1992, RIDE’s primary task was to supervise the certification of public school teachers.  In those days, local school districts bore almost the entire responsibility of designing and delivering a public education program to children in the district.

The Commissioner’s role has changed markedly in the past decade, as Rhode Island and the Federal government have adopted the role of supporting standards-based reform.  Standards-based reform embodies a noble concept, namely that each child has the right to receive an adequate education based not just on the inputs of hours of classroom instruction by certified teachers, but also based on the outputs of developing defined skills and knowledge based on standardized tests.  To advance this concept, the General Assembly assigned to RIDE the tasks of defining the standards that every child should meet and supervising local districts’ programs to meet those standards.

Under this new framework, the Commissioner has become the point person to hold the entire system together.  He works with the Board of Regents to develop educational standards.  He works with local districts to ensure that the standards are appropriate, and to encourage local districts to meet the standards.  In a limited number of extreme cases, he and RIDE can intervene in local districts to direct their management to improve performance against the standards.  He also works with the General Assembly and the Governor, reporting to them about the State’s overall public education program, as well as particular areas of concern that require the Commissioner’s “hands on” intervention.

The State’s recent intervention at Hope High School provides an example of how the Commissioner can play a major constructive role.  First, the Governor identified Hope High School as a demonstration project for the State’s overall program.  He requested $600,000 in additional State funds to support the effort.  Commissioner McWalters hired an expert to oversee the reform of the school.  The Commissioner then met with the Providence Superintendent (Melody Johnson) and the head of the Providence Teachers Union and directed them to form a plan to carry out the reforms, making all necessary waivers and/or adjustments to the contract to achieve the goal.  Because the District and the Union were reluctant to surrender local prerogatives, this took a large amount of jawboning by the Commissioner, ultimately backed up by the warning that he had the legal authority to take over Hope High School and run it from his own office if the School Department and the Union could not develop a satisfactory plan.  After a few months of spirited negotiations, the Union and the School Department reached a new agreement, and a series of promising reforms were introduced at Hope High School.

While Hope High School is a promising example, a number of factors limit the prospects of broader improvements.  RIDE lacks the staff to supervise future projects – instead, the General Assembly funded the Hope High School special master through the $600,000 grant.  Similarly, reforms often require additional funds for the affected schools, and the special legislative grant underwrote these reforms at Hope.  There also is a question about the full extent of the Commissioner’s legal authority – by persuading the union and the School Department to agree on a plan, the Commissioner was able to avoid a court challenge concerning the authority of the State to override existing contracts.
The Commissioner’s multiple responsibilities also place limits on his time and effectiveness.  To be effective, the Commissioner must spend a significant amount of “quality time” getting to know the Board of Regents, State elected officials (such as the Governor and the General Assembly leadership), local education authorities (selected school board leaders and superintendents) and, in the case of Hope High School, the teachers’ union and the principals for the school.  There is so much to do, and only so many hours each day to do it.  Finally, the Commissioner’s multiple responsibilities make him accountable to a broad variety of stakeholders who often have conflicting agendas – for example, what if the General Assembly and the Governor do not see eye to eye, and what if the views they share are rejected by local authorities?  The Commissioner is not in a good position to “boss around” any of these people – instead, his job is to encourage them to work together.  As a result, reform advocates often are frustrated by the gap between the ideal visions set forth in RIDE’s policy statements and the actual improvements that RIDE has been able to accomplish through the exercise of its regulatory and supervisory powers.

To conclude, the Commissioner’s job can be incredibly difficult, and Commissioner McWalters deserves credit and praise for Hope High School, as well as the creation of State standards and a credible standardized test for Rhode Island.  With that said, there is much more to do.  For example, we are in desperate need of a system to evaluate the quality of our teachers.  Such a system could improve teacher quality and also help solve the “bumping” problem by providing a credible alternative to seniority-based staffing decisions.  Commissioner McWalters has discussed RIDE’s opportunity to initiate a state-wide teacher evaluation system, but it has not yet happened.  If he dedicated his final year to solving this single problem, it would be a very productive year.  Because Providence’s challenges have made the entire district subject to State intervention, Commissioner McWalters also could leave us an enormous parting gift by directing more of his final year’s focus to using RIDE’s authority to solve our district’s issues.

As my description suggests, the State Commissioner’s job has, in theory, great authority and great responsibility.  It is difficult for one human being to make all of these pieces fit together, and Commissioner McWalters has made some valuable contributions by building up capital with various stakeholders and then expending that capital on a few, selected priorities.   In the coming year, we hope he spends down his remaining capital to help Providence, and we hope his successor continues on such a path.

Our Latest Update

In cases you missed it, below is an email sent to the ESPEC mailing list on July 8th

1. Nathan Bishop Renovation.  Renovations to the Nathan Bishop building are well-underway.  The most obvious evidence of progress has been the removal of the exterior staircases, but work goes on inside as well.  Our latest information is that work is substantially on schedule.  Demolition and asbestos abatement will continue during the summer, and late summer and early fall will see the start of new construction, installation of fixtures, and so on. We are waiting for word on an official groundbreaking ceremony.

2.  Nathan Bishop Principal Search. The advertisement for the principal position at Bishop has been posted on the Providence Schools website. The ad lists the opening date f8or applications as June 30th, and states that the position is open until filled.  The person hired as principal will participate in the planning as it goes forward over the next year (see below).  Interviews are likely to begin the week of July 28th, and the selection should be made by the end of the summer.  The Superintendent’s Nathan Bishop Committee (which includes some ESPEC members) will be represented on the interview committee.  We had hoped that the principal could be hired full-time in the Fall of 2008 (and paid to help plan the school during the coming year), but budget considerations apparently preclude this.  At this point, we are encouraging the School Department to allocate some funds to allow the incoming principal to serve on a part-time consulting basis on the Planning Committee, but we do not know if this can happen.

The job advertisement has an attached “white paper” that describes in some detail the vision for the school.  We strongly encourage prospective parents and others interested in the success of the New Nathan Bishop to read this document.  Here is a link to the ad and the white paper.

Of special note:  The principal position description reiterates the School Department’s commitment to the principle that the school will open one grade at a time, with the first 6th grade class to enter in the Fall of 2009.  ESPEC has regarded this particular feature of the proposal as essential to the establishment of a culture of academic excellence at Bishop, so we are glad that it is part of the advertisement.

3. Our Next Public Meeting.  At our May public meeting detailing the final design for Bishop, ESPEC announced plans for a June meeting focusing on the academic program and school leadership.  Unfortunately, we have not felt that we have gained enough concrete information to justify holding this meeting at the present time. (Please see details immediately below).  We now plan to hold this meeting in September or October.

4. Nathan Bishop Steering Committee.
The Superintendent’s Nathan Bishop Steering Committee continues to meet; the most recent meeting being last week. In the near future, the committee will be reconstituted as the Planning Committee, with a more significant contingent of education policy experts and Providence Public School faculty and staff.  That committee will be engaged in working out the details of the academic program and, most significantly, writing the site-based management plan for the school.  Since such a plan typically takes six months to complete.  We had hoped the Planning Committee would start meeting this summer, but we have been told that this is not possible.  We are disappointed that the process will be delayed, and we intend to continue pressing a message to the School Department that progress must be made by January so that parents will know enough about the New Nathan Bishop’s program to include the school as a choice for their children in the Fall of 2009.  More generally, we remain firmly committed to making the New Nathan Bishop a model school for both families in the neighborhood and for the Providence Public Schools as a whole, and we may need to engage the neighborhood’s help in advocating for this standard.  If anyone is interested in helping to advocate, or in serving on the Planning Committee, please reply to this email and we will try to get you involved.

5.  Anti-Bumping Legislation.  Following the public meeting last Fall, at which many members of the community expressed great concern about the “bumping” of junior but highly effective teachers, The ESPEC steering committee submitted a proposal for legislation to Senator Rhoda Perry and Representative Gordon Fox,  each of whom introduced legislation in their respective chambers.  Senator Perry’s bill, which was the stronger of the two, was heard by the Senate Education Committee. ESPEC Steering Committee members and other interested parents testified in support of the legislation. The Fox bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Edith Ajello, was heard by the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare. That bill drew the support of the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, and the Providence School Department.  It was, however, opposed by the Rhode Island chapter of the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Providence Teachers’ Union.  In the last days of the legislative session, both bills failed to make it out of committee.  While we did not achieve the result we desired, we learned some important lessons about the legislative process this year, and the door is open next year to picking up where we have left off.  If anyone is interested in helping in next year’s legislative effort, please indicate so in a reply email.

Notes on the Recent Nathan Bishop Meeting

Sam Zurier was kind enough to write up his notes of the recent meeting regarding Nathan Bishop’s progress with regard to renovations.

On Wednesday, May 7, the New Nathan Bishop’s architect, Scott Dunlap of AI3, made a presentation about the progress of the school. Around 65 interested neighborhood members attended.

AI3 has completed its plans, and the City has hired a contractor with whom AI3 has prior experience. Work is scheduled to begin this month and completion is projected for mid-July, 2009.

Although the building will retain its shell and be renovated, Mr. Dunlap emphasized that the project amounts to a total gutting of the building’s interior, through which “no surface will be untouched.” The renovation will make the New Nathan Bishop a “high performance school,” which means it will achieve a series of performance standrasd for energy efficiency, non-toxic materials, water recycling, limited construction waste, efficient use of daylight and so forth. The building also will incorporate a number of technological advances, including integrated whiteboards, streaming videos, full screen internet displays, and wi-fi access.

The exterior of the school is also scheduled for improvements. There is a new entrance that is expected to be more “welcoming”. The brickwork will be cleaned and landscaping will be added.

Mr. Dunlap discussed the improvements planned for the school’s common areas. The libarary/media center will be a focal point in the front, central part of the building, occupying two levels. The auditorium will not restore the retractable curtain from the building’s early days (a maintenance burden), but will have an integrated control booth and a restored coffer ceiling and moldings. The gymnasiums will have more usable space as the balconies will be removed. It will be brighter with the addition of skylights. There will be a security system to permit public access to these common areas after school.

In order to encourage calmer students, the classrooms will be arranged in “pods” so that circulation around the building is greatly reduced. On a similar note, each classroom will have its own water fountain and sink to reduce student trips to the hall. The cafeteria will retain its prior limited space, but new materials and surfaces will help it to be brighter than before. There also are plans to control construction noise and disruption, although a certain amount is inevitable given the precise schedule. The contractor will be liable for actual damages (not liquidated damages) in the event of delay.

It will be up to the School Department to maintain the building after it opens. The new regulations issued by the Rhode Island Department of Education require districts to allocate 2.5% of construction cost each year for maintenance, but this will be a challenge for Providence.

ESPEC plans to hold another community meeting in around two months to discuss the program that will be offered inside this new building.

Two Sales to Benefit Mt. Hope Learning Center

Two upcoming events will benefit the Mount Hope Learning Center.

TONIGHT: OOP’s Downtown Store at 220 Westminster will donate 15% of all sales made between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. to the Learning Center and the George Wiley Center. Here’s a flyer describing the event.

Saturday, May 10, there will be a Plant and Bake and Yard Sale at the Learning Center, 140 Cypress Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Here’s a flyer describing the event.

Tomorrow: Meeting on Bishop Construction Plans

Public Meeting
to review final architectural & construction plans for the
New Nathan Bishop
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
7 p.m. at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, 35 Camp St.

Two years after the closing of Nathan Bishop Middle School was announced, renovation work is about to begin to create the new Nathan Bishop! We expect the construction contract to be awarded by May 1, and work to begin immediately thereafter.

At our request, and with the assistance of Councilman Cliff Wood, the City of Providence has invited the project architects, Architectural Involutions (AI3), to present their final plans to the community. We expect them to be joined by the the project manager and a representative from the company that is awarded the contract.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions about both the design and the construction plans & timetable.

We had hoped to hold the meeting at Bishop itself, but it now appears that work will already have begun and that space won’t be available. We have confirmed the availability of the King school, but are awaiting final confirmation that this location will be suitable for the presentation. Watch for updates here.

Please save the date, and join us on May 7th

We are planning a second public meeting, mostly likely in June, on progress in planning the academic program and school leadership & governance at Bishop.

Education Committee to Meet

UPDATE: The meeting start time has been moved back to 6:00 p.m.

City Council’s Education Committee

Monday, May 5th
5:30 6:00pm
City Hall, 3rd Floor

School Board members and Providence Public School officers will present information and answer questions about next year’s budget. If you missed last week’s presentation at Central High School, this is a good opportunity to become informed about the budget situation.

For more information, contact the Committee Chair, Councilman Cliff Wood at cliffwood06@cox.net
Note: you can read more about the budget here.