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The moment for transformational change in Providence schools has arrived. Now the question is whether the Providence Student Union can seize it.

The small group, currently numbering roughly 50 members across a handful of high schools in Rhode Island鈥檚 capital, stands ready to capitalize on the state鈥檚 sudden willingness to consider drastic reforms. Education Commissioner Ang茅lica Infante-Green to take over Providence Public Schools, the largest district in the state, following decades of academic underperformance. At the same time, a high-profile lawsuit pending in federal court, which names several union members as plaintiffs, could determine whether students have a constitutional right to an education.

The takeover order, already and awaiting final authorization by Sept. 13, was triggered by the release of a devastating report on the district from researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The 93-page study cited chronically unsafe school buildings and a burdensome teachers contract as major obstacles to student learning, finding that only tiny fractions of Providence students test proficient in either math or English. At an emotional press conference, Gov. Gina Raimondo and Mayor Jorge Elorza vowed to take whatever steps necessary to address the dysfunction.

Since that moment, the PSU has taken the opportunity to make its message heard. The concept of a student union 鈥� a nonprofit group devoted to representing the interests of young people enrolled in K-12 schools 鈥� is still unfamiliar to many, and no wonder: The model has been attempted in only a tiny number of cities. But students have now organized in Providence for nearly a decade, achieving successes that belie the group’s small numbers and youthful membership.

Members of the PSU have emerged as potent critics of the status quo in both local and national settings. At in July, one student organizer upbraided adult leaders for heeding the message of an expert report after years spent ignoring the complaints of students and families. And the very same day the Johns Hopkins assessment was released, union members Aleita Cook and Ahmed Sesay were interviewed on The Daily Show about their efforts to sue the state.

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg leads the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), a research body at Tufts University that measures political participation among young people. She noted PSU鈥檚 media prowess 鈥� their date with Comedy Central followed a media blitz last fall that included interviews with and 鈥� and said she was impressed by their commitment to a set of ideals and priorities that have been codified in a .

鈥淭hey were ready to go,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just do that in a month, become a competent messenger. They had to really buy into that framework of students鈥� rights. It鈥檚 a principle.鈥�

The unity of both principles and compelling public relations is the result of nearly a decade of spadework. Along the way, PSU has won some important battles with city officials and earned a reputation for dogged tactics. It has followed the classic community organizing blueprint of effecting change from the outside in, cultivating its own funders and often taking an adversarial posture toward local education authorities.

According to Ahmed Sesay, a recent graduate who still pitches in at PSU as a youth organizer, the union also offered him an uncommon opportunity to truly influence decisions at his school.

鈥淚 was freshman class president, and then I was a class secretary 鈥� that wasn鈥檛 really a position 鈥� but student government just organized parties,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 organizing students to make any change in the school, like the old, rickety building. PSU was a blessing, because it鈥檚 one of the only actual organizations for students around the country.鈥�

A 鈥榩layer鈥� in school affairs

Indeed, there are only a few comparable entities to PSU, the most prominent based in much larger cities. The oldest, the Philadelphia Student Union, formed in 1995 to protest underfunding of the troubled district, which itself would soon be taken over by the state. Similar organizations in Chicago and Newark as a reaction against the common hallmarks of urban education reform, such as school closures and high-stakes standardized testing.

much more modestly, as an ad hoc group at Hope High School on the city鈥檚 East Side. First convened in early 2010 under the name Hope United, a handful of students gathered in opposition to the school鈥檚 move away from a popular block schedule that allowed for 90-minute seminars and opportunities to enroll in electives. The leaders a 400-student walkout to protest the change, and they even filed a lawsuit to revert back to the old schedule.

Hope United was coordinated by two adults who were barely older than the student participants themselves: Aaron Regunberg and Zack Mezera, a pair of politically minded undergraduates from Brown University鈥檚 Swearer Center for Public Service. As part of the center鈥檚 Winter Breaks Providence program, the two young men spent several weeks studying urban education at Hope High, and they soon found themselves helping to launch the fledgling group. Mezera now serves as the PSU鈥檚 executive director, following a stint by Regunberg in that role.

Mezera draws a distinction between PSU and its Philadelphia antecedent, which operates in a district enrolling more than 200,000 students. Providence provides a more intimate staging ground, he says, allowing a union to spread faster and act more decisively over a smaller number of schools.

鈥淚 might be biased, but I do think there鈥檚 something about the size and scale here that is special,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 small enough that it鈥檚 achievable but large enough that it matters, and it can be a national pilot.鈥�

That doesn鈥檛 mean that every union action has been a triumph. Mezera characterizes the group鈥檚 initial mobilization as a 鈥淧yrrhic victory鈥�; though the Rhode Island Supreme Court ultimately sided with students in their campaign to restore the block schedule, budget cuts eventually hollowed out what had made the system unique.

Still, over the next nine years, the organization has seen steady growth. Though participation varies from year to year 鈥� one hurdle is the fact that the most committed members take turns as union delegates and then leave for college 鈥� there are now PSU chapters in six Providence high schools. Throughout that phase of expansion, they鈥檝e also won a few major concessions from the city鈥檚 educational leaders.

In a campaign that dwarfed the hubbub over Hope High鈥檚 class schedule, to complete a three-mile walk to the city鈥檚 Classical High School in the February cold. The demonstration was a protest against a city policy that provided free bus passes only to students whose commute to school was greater than three miles. With nearly 2,000 Providence high schoolers residing between two and three miles from their schools, many were forced to make dingy, early-morning treks to get to class on time.

The effort, waged cannily during the 2014 Democratic primary season, drew the participation of myriad public officials, including candidates for both mayor and governor. But while it was a shrewd spectacle, the epic walk wasn鈥檛 quite enough: Buffeted by a significant deficit, the newly elected Mayor Elorza had to make tough budgetary decisions on which programs to cut during his first months in office. To finally drive the point home, PSU members to City Hall, dogging the mayor with exhortations to 鈥淜eep Your Promise.鈥�

A few months later, Elorza that the city would lower the eligibility requirement for a bus pass to a commuting distance of two miles, allocating nearly $700,000 to providing transit assistance to students who had previously received none.

Other fights have followed the same defiant playbook. PSU members worked furiously against the requirement that students pass a standardized test in order to graduate from high school, coaxing and parading through the streets to protest the grim reality of life without a diploma. When the requirement was , and later , the change was received with jubilation by PSU and its allies (though , and still do, that moving away from high-stakes testing set back the state鈥檚 reform efforts).

And even now, while the district faces the imminent prospect of a disruptive takeover, the group is making an aggressive push to remove school resource officers from school buildings, aiming to replace them with mental health counselors.

Part of PSU鈥檚 growing influence can be credited to its politically precocious co-founders. Mezera still helps guide the day-to-day operations of the group, but Regunberg left in 2014 to run a successful campaign for a state legislative seat. After serving two terms in office, of defeating incumbent Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee in the 2018 Democratic primary.

 

Until August, Regunberg served as聽聽to Mayor Elorza; after helming several successful local campaigns and nearly being elected to statewide office before the age of 30, he has earned a reputation as one of the sharpest political minds in the state. Tim Duffy, the head of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, said that his presence in Elorza鈥檚 office was a mark of PSU鈥檚 clout.

鈥淐learly, they have an avenue to the chief executive,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he mayor is really the straw that stirs the drink, because he selects the members of the Providence School Board.”

He added that Regunberg’s just-completed tenure “is no small testament to their advocating and their ability to influence policymakers. So I think they鈥檝e done a good job in that regard.鈥�

Dan McGowan, a longtime observer of Providence schools as a reporter at WPRI and the Boston Globe, said he had been surprised at how fast the group emerged as a meaningful local force.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e a player,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e making decisions, normal politicians or bureaucrats are usually thinking, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 my community going to say? What are the teachers unions going to say? What are the politicians going to say?鈥� And if you think about a relatively small group of students, that would not normally be a big part of that discussion.鈥�

An uphill climb

For Sesay, three years of participation at PSU has meant more than political maneuvering or incremental wins. As a first-generation American who feels enormous pressure to succeed, he said he has found in the group a release valve for stress, as well as a foundation for strong friendships. Even after graduating from Classical High School in June, he is still working on the union鈥檚 campaign to replace cops with counselors.

鈥淏uilding PSU and having the ability to contribute as a student has been everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll the people I鈥檝e worked with at PSU have been like a family to me. They鈥檝e relied on me, and I鈥檝e been able to rely on them. That needs to be more common. Every day I have an interaction that really changes my view of the world.鈥�

He calls the meticulous, day-to-day work of expanding PSU鈥檚 network 鈥渞elational organizing.鈥� You bring previously unengaged peers into an afterschool meeting (free food is a big draw, he says); you draw out their concerns; and you work to fix them. Anyone can do it, he says, but the strategy doesn鈥檛 offer any shortcuts to success.

To take one example, Ahmed has diligently worked to publicize the lack of racial diversity in the Providence teaching ranks (according to one report, 91 percent of the city鈥檚 students are nonwhite, while only 23 percent of instructors are), recently sitting with the Providence Journal to highlight the indignity of so rarely encountering educators whose backgrounds resemble his own. It鈥檚 a problem also highlighted in Johns Hopkins鈥檚 damning report on the district, which noted that a number of parents and community members had complained of 鈥渕inimal鈥� teacher diversity.

Ahmed anticipates that the campaign to diversify the workforce will be a long one; the district鈥檚 student teachers mostly come from largely white schools like Brown and Providence College, he noted, and it takes time to push adolescents toward action.

鈥淭o ask for something that big is difficult, and that鈥檚 why our campaigns move slowly 鈥� we ask for things that are a bit radical [compared with] the way things are,鈥� he said. 鈥淩ight now we鈥檙e trying to activate students to start thinking about these things. And it shouldn鈥檛 be radical to want to be taught by somebody that looks like your parents, somebody that might be able to understand your struggle, or somebody that lives in your city. We鈥檝e got to get students thinking about these things.鈥�

The work of advocacy is unlikely to get any easier, whatever notoriety PSU has earned for the moment. The group鈥檚 lawsuit, alleging that they have been denied civic education necessary to the exercise of their rights, earned them their biggest headlines to date when it was filed last fall. Their attorney, Michael Rebell, is one of the most experienced education lawyers in the nation, and the case could conceivably lead to American students gaining a constitutional right to a civic education.

But legal observers note that the plaintiffs face For the past few decades, American judges have looked skeptically on efforts to expand federal rights around education, and any attempt to establish a sweeping new precedent would run afoul of the reliably conservative Supreme Court.

Closer to home, PSU鈥檚 voice will hardly be the loudest in the room as Providence approaches a state takeover. Commissioner Infante-Green that she will consider breaking the district鈥檚 contract with teachers, which includes stringent due process and seniority protections that have been blamed for the ongoing presence of underperforming teachers. Though the teachers union has refrained thus far from protesting against the idea of a takeover, losing collectively bargained perks could activate it as an organizing force that would make the PSU look puny by comparison.

Some observers have wondered whether the two unions could be on a collision course. In the debate over replacing student resource officers with school counselors, some Providence teachers believe that ceding to the students鈥� demands could make schools less safe. In an interview, Providence Teachers Union President Maribeth Calabro voiced admiration for the PSU鈥檚 past campaigns, praising particularly their mobilization around the issue of bus passes. But while she indicated support for efforts to make classrooms 鈥渓ess prison-like,鈥� Calabro said she believed there was room for a police presence to exist in schools alongside more guidance counselors and mental health workers.

鈥溾�楥ounselors Not Cops鈥� is not necessarily something that I don鈥檛 support,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we have a disagreement on, because I don鈥檛 see it as fundamentally one thing or the other. I think it can be both, and I don鈥檛 know that PSU feels that way. That could be something we have a conversation about.鈥�

CIRCLE鈥檚 Kawashima-Ginsberg added that the student union鈥檚 willingness to confront adult leadership was valuable but had its limits as an organizing strategy.

鈥淭he model of 鈥榃e have demands, and we鈥檙e going to push in鈥� is a really important tactic,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it is going to run into inherent conflict with another group that has very different stakeholders, who are teachers with families who want to protect their jobs. I think when it comes down to student union versus teachers union 鈥� because of the difference in size and funding, and other reasons as well 鈥� it鈥檚 going to be difficult. It鈥檚 a question of how they navigate that conflict … because there鈥檚 going to be an effort to push them back.鈥�

Still, the Globe鈥檚 McGowan said that the state of flux around Providence schools presents an opportunity for the PSU to advance its goals in one form or another. With uncertainty in the air, a forceful push from students could leverage their political influence into a meaningful win.

鈥淭here will be a moment when the teachers union doesn鈥檛 like every decision that gets made. There will be a moment when the mayor doesn鈥檛 like a decision that gets made. And there will certainly be a moment when the public 鈥� parents, community groups, nonprofits 鈥� don鈥檛 like decisions that get made. I think the student union could jump onto an issue that鈥檚 dear to their hearts, and probably could secure a victory.鈥�

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