State Education Department to Hold Public Workshops

PROVIDENCE, RI—The state is holding six workshops to discuss plans to switch over from No Child Left Behind to Every Student Succeeds, the new federal education law. The Narragansett workshop is Wednesday, April 26.

The state is still working on a draft of its plans and these workshops are preliminary to a public review in June. The draft will cover Pre-Kindergarten to grade 12.

Asked if including Pre-K might force private nursery schools out of business, Megan Geoghegan, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Education, said "RIDE is promoting high-quality early childhood education, regardless of delivery mechanism. The state is currently funding 56 pre-K classrooms, but only 13 of those are being run by public school districts. The majority of the classrooms are part of private or community-based programs. The intention is not to establish a state pre-K program in every district, but rather to expand overall access to high-quality early childhood education, especially for children in low-income communities. Having insight into those classrooms will help us to better understand how we can support early learners and how we can connect pre-K to Kindergarten and beyond for a coherent, aligned system of education."

She went on to explain that the "Pre-K model in the state-funded classrooms is based on the philosophy that children learn through play. To deliver on that philosophy, we structure the six-hour programs so that there are two hours of child-directed play indoors and 45 minutes outdoors, weather depending. The remaining time is for meals, snacks, and other routines, like pick-up and drop-off.

"I would also reiterate that this is a voluntary program, and pre-K participation is not compulsory," she said.

Critics of universal preschool have complained that pre-K programs cost as much as a college education, are unsustainable for taxpayers and do not help children long-term.

Each of the public forums will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., on the following dates:

• Monday, April 24: Cranston High School East
899 Park Avenue, Cranston

• Tuesday, April 25: Providence Career & Technical Academy
41 Fricker Street, Providence

• Wednesday, April 26: Narragansett High School
245 S Pier Road, Narragansett

• Thursday, April 27: Pell Elementary School
35 Dexter Street, Newport

• Monday, May 1: Cumberland High School
2600 Mendon Road, Cumberland

• Wednesday, May 3: West Warwick High School
1 Webster Knight Drive, West Warwick

Spanish language interpretation services will be available at the Cranston and Providence forums. These forums are open to the public, but those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP through the RIDE website. Anyone who is unable to attend a public forum, but would like to submit feedback, can do so through online surveys, which are available on the RIDE website through May 15.

"This is the second round of public engagement for the ESSA State Plan, which will give RIDE an opportunity to further develop Rhode Island’s Strategic Plan for PK-12 Education," the state said. "Hundreds of Rhode Islanders previously joined public forums in the fall of 2016, and participated in an online input survey that closed at the end of last year. RIDE staff continues to engage with community stakeholder groups, including the Committee of Practitioners, a group of educators, advocates, parents, and community leaders that convene each month to provide direction on the Rhode Island State ESSA Plan. "

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