Independent candidate for mayor Buddy Cianci outlines his plan to reform Providence schools. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News
By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Providence schools are in significant need of repairs and reforms, said independent candidate for mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr.
Cianci stood beneath a tent across Thurbers Avenue from the Roger Williams Middle School Thursday morning, pointing to it as one of several substandard schools in the city. He listed school safety, busing and central administration as among areas in need of reform.
“Two hours is too long for any child of any age to be sitting on a one-way bus trip,” Cianci said, as he questioned the continued need to bus children across the city. He called for a return to community schools.
He also criticized the current, central administration, saying more decision making should occur at the school level.
“I think we have a lot of great teachers, we have a lot of great students, we have a lot of great administrators. We need to take the authority away from the central administration, put it back in the local schools, and the classroom and the kids ought to be as good as we can possibly allow them to be,” he said.
Cianci ticked off a long list of mayors, extending back more than 60 years, who did not have children enrolled in city schools, noting that he currently has three grandchildren in city schools.
In a statement, Cianci noted what he called “deplorable and unsafe conditions” that exist in many city schools adding, “I would take immediate action to correct violations.”
Cianci was asked by reporters about a report that noted similar conditions when he was in office as mayor.
“I didn’t stay long enough, and we had plans to fix these schools, but they weren’t in the shape that they are right now,” Cianci said.
