Legislative leaders announced this summer a $100,000 budget appropriation to fund the nation's first partnership between labor and education management officials. The initiative United Providence, or UP!, which was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization, has created a unique collaboration between the Providence Teachers Union and the Providence Public School District designed specifically to improve the city's lowest-performing schools.
The funding will be combined with grants from other organizations, most notably $100,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation.
The project - aimed at all levels of K-12 education - will target Carl G. Lauro Elementary School, Gilbert Stuart Middle School and Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School, all of which are located in Providence's West End.
UP! was conceived in response to a 2010 Rhode Island Department of Education survey that identified Providence schools - including Lauro, Stuart and Alvarez - as among the lowest-achieving schools in Rhode Island. The schools were then given several options, "which included everything from shutting down altogether, to a process where they would hire mostly new staff," said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the education department.
Though many underperforming schools elect to close their doors and reopen as charter schools, Susan Luci, superintendent of Providence Schools, collaborated with Steve Smith, president of the teachers union, to create a framework for the schools to be "jointly run by labor and school department administration," Krieger said. UP! centers on the idea that strong labor relations are integral to student achievement.
The grant funds will provide for "planning, consulting and design," said Denise Jenkins, grant program officer at the Rhode Island Foundation. The foundation will likely give the schools more money to fund projects once UP! gets started, she said.
At each school, a school leader, a union representative and a teacher will collaborate on the changes that will be made to help turn around the school, Jenkins said. They will not be required to consult the union or school committee before making decisions.
Jenkins said she is hopeful that UP! will become a model for similar programs across the country.
"Teachers are going to have so much control," she said. "It's a new day in Providence."
