Cartas al editor 04.30

We strongly oppose the transition plan released by the Mayor’s Office [and discussed in Jonathan Howard’s April 23 article “Can the City and the Commissioner Collaborate?”], which fails to return true local control and instead consolidates power in the hands of the Mayor. This plan is not about empowering families, communities, or the School Board, it is about maintaining centralized, top-down decision-making with even fewer mechanisms for public accountability.

The more we read this plan, the more we realized that what is being proposed is not shared governance. It’s a system where the Mayor oversees the Superintendent, controls key financial decisions, and sidelines the School Board’s role in oversight and vision-setting. Instead of implementing democratic structures, the plan returns us to the very power dynamics that have long alienated and disempowered families and young people in Providence. This is not a return to local control, it is a return to Mayoral control.

Perhaps most baffling and insulting is the way the plan characterizes parent engagement, particularly given that neither the Mayor nor his team consistently attend Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meetings or engage directly with the families leading them. The plan claims that Parent Advisory Councils like PAC “focus on shared experiences rather than real change.” We are genuinely stunned that the Mayor would choose to reduce the work of PAC members, parents who organize, advocate, and show up month after month, to little more than storytelling. It is a deeply disrespectful and inaccurate statement. Our organization, and the families we support, know firsthand that PAC have led efforts to change policy, improve language access, demand staffing equity, and hold leadership accountable. To suggest this is not “real change” is not just dismissive, it is erasing years of Parent-driven advocacy and leadership.

We are also deeply concerned that to date, the Mayor has still not hired a credible, qualified education expert with the experience and credentials necessary to lead the transition of the largest district in the state. Families and students deserve leadership that is grounded in educational equity, not political convenience. It is unacceptable to move forward with a transition of this magnitude without the guidance of someone who understands the complexities of public education, community engagement, and systemic reform.

The transition plan offers more meetings, more listening sessions, and no real power for families. It continues a pattern of leadership that treats families and young people as observers, not decision-makers. Providence deserves a transition plan that centers transparency, shared power, and deep respect for the lived experience and leadership of its families and students. This plan does the opposite.

Ramona Santos Torres, Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Providence-based public education advocacy organization Parents Leading for Educational Equity (PLEE).