The commissioner, who accompanied Raimondo Wednesday along with Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, said the failures detailed in the report had long been an open secret. In a statement, Providence Teachers Union President Maribeth Calabro said that, reading the report, she felt as if she had been “kicked in the sternum by Godzilla wearing steel-toed boots.” Asked by reporters whether she would send her own children to a public school in the city, Infante-Green flatly said, “No.” Maher announced in February that he would be leaving Providence after four years in the job. My hope is that this sense of urgency translates into concrete actions that improve outcomes for our young people.” “The … report creates a much-needed sense of urgency around the educational needs of Providence public school children and the system that strives to support them. But in a statement, Superintendent Christopher Maher said he hoped the report would be a catalyst for improvements. Providence Public School officials did not respond to a request for comment on this article. Authors described multiple teachers breaking down in tears about the chaos and lack of support their students endured several Johns Hopkins reviewers did the same when confronted with the district’s crumbling infrastructure. It has already triggered deeply felt responses. The report touched on issues ranging from curricular quality to labor relations, collecting frank critiques from dozens of district employees on the learning and working conditions in schools serving 24,000 students. I’m upset and angry for the generation of kids who have suffered the consequences of this broken system.” A culture has developed where kids don’t feel safe, teachers don’t feel supported, and real learning isn’t happening. It’s the basics that educators and students don’t even feel safe in their schools. “The report showed me it’s much worse than I realized,” she said. Gina Raimondo - who has pushed for additional education funding and an expansion of the state’s public pre-K program - remarked that while she knew the situation was bad, the findings of the report were nevertheless “shocking.”
In a late-morning press conference Wednesday, Democratic Gov. In an atmosphere of disappointment and uncertainty in Rhode Island, the review may also trigger the most drastic reaction in the education playbook: a comprehensive takeover of Providence schools by the state. The 93-page report, requested by newly appointed Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green and compiled by experts at Johns Hopkins University, points to dire academic results and widespread fears about unsafe classroom conditions. Those were the words that Rhode Island leaders used to describe a brutal assessment released Wednesday of public schools in Providence, the state’s capital and largest city.