high school assistant principal , was accused of “ popping ” male students ’ toes as a form of punishment . Alege also resigned , but the turmoil prompted the PTU to call for an end to the takeover .
Providence City Mayor Jorge Elorza fired back on Twitter : “ The only reason I chose to bring in the state was to radically reform the contract …. After that is done , I believe the city should have control of the district sooner , rather than later .”
The state reached a deal with the PTU in July but the new contract , which includes three pay raises , more training and mandatory parent-teacher conferences , does not represent radical reform — and an end to the takeover doesn ’ t appear imminent .
States have been taking over schools and districts since 1988 . As interventions go , they are considered the nuclear option — the point at which a desperate community willingly or unwillingly relinquishes one of the most cherished American traditions : independent control of children ’ s education . But their track record is mixed .
“ A state takeover is not a panacea ,” says Ashley Jochim , a researcher with the University of Washington ’ s Center on Reinventing Public Education . “ It provides an opportunity to change things in the classroom , because governance and politics shape what happens in schools . If you use that well , good things can come of it . But it ’ s not a guarantee .”
Terrence Wilson , regional policy and community engagement director of the Intercultural Development Research Association , is less persuaded . Research shows that majority Black school districts are frequent targets of state takeovers , regardless of academic achievement levels .
“ In Black and Brown communities , it ’ s really taking away local control from parents and families to have a say , and that ’ s a very drastic measure ,” Wilson says . “ Lots of the underlying contributing factors that are not addressed in these state takeovers are more closely related to poverty and systemic discrimination than anything else .”
The first wave of takeovers was largely prompted by fiscal mismanagement and school board dysfunction , Jochim says . In the reform era — launched in 2001 with the federal No Child Left Behind law and continuing through the Obama administration ’ s 2009 Race to the Top program
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