Instead of addressing the systemic issues plaguing Providence schools, such as homelessness, food insecurity, and lack of safe and adequate transportation, Mayor Smiley’s administration used its first community meeting about the city’s education to focus on test scores, school quality, engaging families, and offering college credit for classes. Several dozen were in attendance, including politicians, members of the Teacher’s Union, and a disproportionate amount of charter school advocates. After a few brief speeches, attendees were split into breakout rooms to discuss the topics.
The largest breakout room was on school quality, where the facilitator asked attendees to think and discuss improving Providence’s school’s ratings. However, it became apparent that those attending were skeptical of both the Mayor’s designated host and the question.
“We aren’t addressing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—Kids are hungry, they don’t have transportation, many are homeless. How can we even ask these questions? You’re putting the cart before the horse.”
“How can we even address this question if your administration is making things worse? These kids don’t have homes; ‘Mister, the police took down my tent last night.’ You’re all against free school lunches; you’re getting rid of our bike lanes and RIPTA… I’m so confused.”
“It’s hard to address any of this when the administration refuses to fund our schools.”
After the group was dismissed, one member could be heard saying,
“They said they are making education a priority… why does it feel like they really aren’t?”
To summarize: How could these issues even be asked while the root of the problem remains ignored? In fact, Smiley’s enacted policies have exacerbated the systemic issues surrounding education, making the situation substantially more difficult to resolve.
Smiley has continued to underfund public schools for another year. When called out by the superintendent for the lack of funding, Smiley made known his disdain by disavowing the superintendent’s actions and shaming him for speaking out. Shortly after, the city’s passed budget included more funding for local police—the same police department that just splurged on a heavily armored tank despite low crime rates. The final slap came when the city made one of its recently shuttered public schools available to charters for $1 rent.
He’s also on the road to removing bike lanes and moving RIPTA out of central downtown, both of which are relied on by the entire community, especially students. To make matters worse, he has vetoed affordable housing initiatives and criminalized homelessness in a city where there aren’t enough beds; almost a quarter of Providence residents—many of whom are children—live below poverty.
If all of this wasn’t convincing enough, his own city council released a resolution supporting free school lunches. Still, he’s yet to comment.
Smiley’s suburban-based policymaking continues to burden the dense, diverse city of Providence and its education system, escalating inequities while ignoring the root causes of the schools’ struggles. By focusing solely on band-aid solutions like in this forum, the city will continue to fail in providing an adequate education and a safe environment for its students.
