Failing public schools in an Ivy League town: Can state turn the tide?

Sandra Sibrian smiles brightly as she ushers energetic students across the street, greeting them in both English and Spanish. Despite her outward cheer, the elementary school crossing guard and mother of five harbors a host of questions about Providence Public Schools.

“For now, I haven’t seen any changes,” she says, noting that her son hasn’t had a math teacher for two months and new principals keep starting over. “But what changes will come? How soon?” 

Ms. Sibrian’s anxiety stems from the state takeover of Providence Public Schools, which officially begins Nov. 1. For at least the next five years, Rhode Island’s unelected education commissioner, Angélica Infante-Green, will hold authority over the budget, programs, and personnel for all 41 schools in the state’s capital and oversee a major restructuring of the district. 

The release in June of a searing report by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy prompted the

Failing schools amid cultural richesParents prep for changeTakeovers in other placesAnd students wait