From expanded access to advanced classes to inter-district school choice and more, Ken Wagner seeks to recast system

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — State Education Commissioner Ken Wagner outlined a radically different vision for public education in Rhode Island this week, one that would encourage inter-district school choice, invest principals with much more authority and bring joy back into the classroom.

Speaking Wednesday before the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, Wagner said Rhode Island has to "rethink how we do schooling. We're teaching using a model designed two centuries ago. If you ask kids what they think about school, they say the adults are all whack.

"We have to do something," he said. "We have to find a way that takes student engagement seriously."

Wagner said public education is losing students because their education isn't relevant. Learning comes alive, he said, when students are involved in hands-on projects. Wagner used language that previous education leaders have rarely mentioned: helping students develop "soft skills," the importance of social and emotional learning and infusing teaching with joy and trust.

He also talked about rigor in a fresh way. Instead of focusing on test scores, Wagner exhorted schools to offer advanced classes starting in middle school. Students, he said, are unofficially sorted into academic tracks in seventh and eighth grades. Currently, between 20 percent and 35 percent of students take advanced classes. Wagner wants to make such courses available to 90 percent of Rhode Island students.

Senior year, he said, should not be about getting students caught up so they can graduate on time. It should be a time of exploration. It should create opportunities for deeper learning.

"Our high schools will have to change," Wagner said. "Our elementary schools will have to change."

One of Wagner's most dramatic suggestions calls for investing principals with the power to hire their own staff, manage their budgets, even set the length of the school day. Historically, the state Department of Education or the school superintendent have dictated everything from curriculum to the length of the school day.

Wagner said, "School is where the magic happens. Ken Wagner can't create a culture of innovation and improvement, nor can the superintendent. That culture can only be created by a principal but not alone. The principal needs to be surrounded by a leadership culture" of committed teachers.

Wagner acknowledged that not all principals have been prepared for this responsibility. For years, principals have been treated as managers or disciplinarians. It's time for them to become leaders.

"There is no reason why we can't find and nurture 300 amazing principals in Rhode Island," he said.

What, Wagner asked, would happen if principals were freed from the restraints that have hobbled their ability to lead and innovate?

"We'd give them extreme regulatory flexibility," he said.

Wagner's most unorthodox proposal involves giving parents the opportunity to send their children to another school district. He cited the constant movement of students back and forth between Providence and Pawtucket and Central Falls.

"We've created this burden by making them go to school where they live," he said. "If a school has extra seats, why not open the door and allow people to come in?"

This program would be voluntary. It would not resemble the court-ordered busing efforts of the 1960s and 1970s. Right now, school choice is confined to charter schools. With open enrollment, any public school could become an alternative, a school of choice, Wagner said.

Central Falls Supt. Victor Capellan likes the broad strokes of Wagner's vision, saying that "the concept of empowering principals resonates very well with us." As for school choice, he said Central Falls is already working closely with several local charter schools, so the concept doesn't threaten him.

"I was inspired by his willingness to be bold, to think outside the box," said education council Chairman Dan McConaghy. "I like that courage. We've got to get behind this and enable this to happen."

Barbara Cottam, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Board of Education, called Wagner's vision "exciting and energizing," adding that it is vital to create a school culture that is constantly evolving.

Tim Ryan, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of School Superintendents, applauded Wagner's sincerity and passion but said the state needs to fix the school funding formula before launching into inter-district choice and principal empowerment.

"The governor is a leader who wants quick changes," Ryan said. "But schools are like a big ship. We're dealing with issues like poverty that don't change quickly. The public schools already have 98 percent of Rhode Island's kids. We need to work with these kids first not create a new program."

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