Businesses expect more than they’re getting from Providence schools, including graduates who can enter the workforce directly from high school without remedial help, who can use basic math and write clearly.
In meetings with the new education commissioner for Rhode Island, business owners have said they have trouble recruiting people in the state for both entry-level and managerial positions.
They’re willing to help the city schools, according to a section summarizing their feedback in the recent Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy report, which described a deeply dysfunctional system. But they’re not sure what to do, and don’t want to spend money on “Band-Aid” fixes for a broken system.
Of all the stakeholders that have a relationship with the public schools, the business community is among the most diverse – and the least defined.
In an interview, new R.I. education commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said the business community can be part of the solution in improving Providence schools, but, like other constituencies, has felt shut out of the system.
“We need to engage people differently,” she said. “That includes the business community.”
Infante-Green recently asked the state’s Council on Elementary and Secondary Education for authority to intervene in the Providence school system. That authority is contained in an existing state law, the Crowley Act, which allows the R.I. Department of Education to take control of failing schools or failing school districts. Under the act, the commissioner could move ahead on actions that include restructuring the school-system governance, budget, academic programs, personnel and anything relating to school operations.
What the Providence schools need from businesses amounts to more buy-in, Infante-Green said. The district needs volunteers and mentors, as well as expertise that can be provided by business owners, she added.
“If the business community has read the report, they’ll know we’re in dire need of structural changes that they have expertise in,” she said. “Also, bringing in some of their capital to the school system; giving back financially, or with their time, in an organized way.”
[caption id="attachment_288074" align="alignright" width="137"]
"We’re in dire need of structural changes that [business owners] have expertise in."
ANGÉLICA INFANTE-GREEN, R.I. education commissioner / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]One of the things that Infante-Green is interested in is an education foundation, which would operate independently of the system, but which would allow contributors to donate funds for school improvement. This would allow improvements to take place through a consistent, districtwide focus.
From her understanding, in Providence, business involvement in the schools is done more typically on a school-by-school basis.
Other cities also have nonprofit organizations that shepherd resources and volunteers into the public schools, among other sites, such as Hands on Atlanta and New York Cares.
Providence doesn’t have anything similar, she said.
Infante-Green said she’s been told often, in recent weeks, “welcome to Rhode Island” and “good luck.
“I don’t need good luck,” she said. “I need partners. That’s what I’m asking for. Partnership. What can the business community bring to the table that I’m not seeing? How do you play a part in the solution?
“Everybody feels good when they walk by and see that flowers are planted, buildings look good,” she added. “This is our community.”
Business-community involvement in the Johns Hopkins report is two-fold. The nonprofit Partnership for Rhode Island, which includes representatives of some of the state’s largest employers, paid for the report. Its mission includes improvement of K-12 systems in Rhode Island and developing lifelong training to help the state reach full employment.
In addition, a focus group of business leaders met with the review teams, made up of university and K-12 representatives, nonprofit leaders and parents.
The business leaders included Neil D. Steinberg, CEO and president of the Rhode Island Foundation, Art Norwalk, president of Norwalk Communications Inc., an advertising firm, and Janet Raymond, senior vice president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
In a report summary, the business-leader focus group offered feedback, including the following: when asked to rate the schools, on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the highest score, the focus group rated the schools a “1.”
Providence City Council President Sabina Matos said businesses can help the schools in many ways, “and it’s not just financial.”
Volunteers can help in the schools or in the after-school programs. Internships are a powerful tool, she said, which can help a student connect what they’re learning in school to the workplace.
“Learn what a work environment is,” she said. “What would I like to do when I grow up? How does the school connect to real life?”
The report described school culture as lacking in rigor and high expectations. Students told the review teams that little was expected of them.
Matos noted that many immigrants are bilingual and have degrees, often advanced degrees, in their countries of origin. The schools should tap into that resource, she said.
Steinberg said the report makes it clear that students and teachers need help.
“Everybody shares in this,” he said. “The business community can’t stand on the sides and be a cheerleader.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
