In a surprise move, the Rhode Island Department of Education is planning to give control of Providence public schools back to the city this summer, Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said Wednesday.
In an open letter, the commissioner said she plans to recommend the switch to the state Council on Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday. After “deep deliberation and consulting many key stakeholders,” she wrote, she will suggest the city resume control of its schools on July 1.
When the state took control of the district in 2019, it excluded the mayor, city council and school board from decisions on the budget, hiring and educational priorities. In 2024, the city and state settled an ugly fight over school funding, with the city agreeing to contribute many millions more to its schools and to institute tax increases to help fund them.
Gov. Dan McKee and his Education Commissioner were facing rising political pressure to return the schools to local control. But as recently as earlier this week, the plan was to make the transition next summer.
Now is the right time for the state to cede control, Infante-Green wrote, “because of the work you, the students, families, educators, and support staff - the community - have done and the progress students and educators have achieved - and the repeated assurances from local leaders that they are ready to immediately accept responsibility for the continued success of students in Providence.”
In her letter to the Providence school community, Infante-Green said she would make detailed recommendations to the state council on measures local leaders should take to prepare to retake control of the school system. They include big-picture asks like increasing school funding and smaller measures like hiring a coordinator to improve the school board’s efficiency.
Green also cited improvements in educational outcomes during the takeover. But the latest statewide test scores in Providence Public Schools show just 17.7% of students proficient in English Language Arts and 16.4% in Math.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
