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Peter McWalters
Commissioner
December 8, 2006
Donnie W. Evans, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Providence Public School Department
797 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903
Dear Superintendent Evans:
As you know this department has received complaints alleging that
the Providence Public Schools are failing to fully comply with the
requirements of the Basic Education Program (BEP) in the following
areas:
q
Access to libraries [BEP Section 15: Library Media
Curriculum]
q
Access to music instruction [BEP Section 17: Music Education
Curriculum]
q
Access to art instruction [BEP Section 6: Art Education
Curriculum]
I. Access to libraries [BEP Section 15: Library Media Curriculum]
Status: BEP violation
Discussion: Section 15 of the BEP requires daily access to the library
for all students. Based on information provided by the district, students
in many elementary schools have access to the library on only some
days. It is noted that this violation does not flow from the staffing-requirements
section of the BEP but rather from the curriculum/access to programming
section, Section 15. Staffing, whether full or partial, of school
libraries does not guarantee student access if the library is closed
to students for their independent use during some of the days or hours
of the week. Each Providence public school is required to have a method
for supplying library access to students for their independent use
of the library (as distinct from library instruction) every day of
the week.
Telephone (401)222-4600 Fax (401)222-6178
TTY 800-745-5555 Voice 800-745-6575
The Board of Regents does not discriminate on the basis
of age, color, sex,
sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin,
or disability.
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Remedy: The district is instructed to provide a corrective-action
plan within 30 days, setting forth how the district will come into
compliance by supplying meaningful library access on a daily basis
to all Providence public schools students.
II. Access to music instruction [BEP Section 17: Music Education
Curriculum]
Status: BEP violation
Discussion: Section 17 of the BEP requires that a music program
be provided in all grades, K-12. That program must “offer all
students opportunities to perform, create and compose, develop aural
and cognitive skills, read music, evaluate and criticize. At the high
school level, coursework shall also be offered (in each high school)
in at least one vocal and one instrumental activity.” [Section
17 (a)]
Further, “the music education program shall provide coursework
in the following: rhythm; melody; harmony; form; timbre; expressive
qualities; notational skills; styles (types); history and literature;
and performance skills.” [Section 17 (c)]
Section 17 states that “[t]he goals of music education are to
help every student develop sensitivity to music, develop abilities
to translate traditional and graphic symbols into sound, understand
cultural and musical heritage, develop the ability to make informed
choices about music, and build a lifelong appreciation of music. To
these ends, and to meet the needs of all students, the music
program shall have three components. One is the opportunity to study
music as a separate subject of study. The second is to encounter music
as part of a general basic education. These are both important
for all students. The third component recognizes the role that
music can play in the education of students with special needs, including
those who are handicapped, gifted and talented, bilingual and/or disadvantaged.
[BEP Section 17 – emphasis added]
The regulatory requirement is unequivocal in its emphasis on the necessity
that all students at every level K-12 have access to formal
music instruction as a separate subject of study. At the high-school
level, this must include specific vocal and instrumental instruction.
The coursework-content requirements are also clearly delineated.
Based on information received from the district, it is clear that
many students in Providence Public Schools have no access to music
instruction as a separate subject of study. This is particularly unacceptable
given the regulation’s emphasis on access to music instruction
for students with disabilities, students who are English language learners,
and students who are otherwise disadvantaged. In combination, these
three categories account for the overwhelming majority of Providence
Public Schools students. The requirement to provide a comprehensive
program of music instruction, available to all students in all Providence
public schools, is therefore not less urgent than in districts with
a smaller proportion of students who are educationally disadvantaged,
but rather, according to regulation, more urgent, given the demographic
makeup of the Providence Public Schools.
Remedy: The district is instructed to provide a corrective-action
plan within 30 days, setting forth how the district will come into
compliance by providing access to music instruction as a separate subject
of study to all Providence Public Schools students at all levels K-12
in every school, including vocal and instrumental instruction at the
high-school level.
II. Access to art instruction [BEP Section 6: Art Education Curriculum]
Status: BEP violation
Discussion: Section 6 of the BEP requires a program of art
education at all levels K-12, which provides coursework in the following
areas: “art forms and their functions; medium; design; subject
matter and expression content; style; stages in the artistic process;
approaches to creating art; critical response to works of art; social
expression through art; analysis of visual environment; and personal
expression through art.” [Section 6 (a)]
“At the secondary level, specific coursework will be offered
which includes the following areas: in-depth work in both two and
three dimensional media; art history; criticism; and career education.”
[Section 6 (c)] The regulation further requires that “provision
shall be made for materials for students to complete a variety of projects”
[Section 6 (d)] and that “provision shall be made for space for
storage of materials and display of art work.” [Section 6 (e)]
Section 6 sets forth the areas that the comprehensive art program
at grades K-12 must address: “The goals of art education are
to help every student develop abilities of self-expression as a form
of symbolic expression, understand cultural heritage, form independent
value judgments about art, recognize beauty and build a lifelong relationship
with art. Art education also should promote self-realization of the
whole individual by integrating the student’s imaginative, intellectual
and kinesthetic capacities, and to offer rich opportunities for creative
invention and individual growth. To these ends, and to meet the needs
of all students, there are several major aspects which the art
curriculum shall address. The program should involve students in perceiving
the world about them and in interpreting their emotions, feelings and
insights through a variety of media. In addition, the curriculum should
provide opportunities for students to study works of art and to learn
to appreciate art, as well as to learn to evaluate their own art and
the works of artists.” [Section 6]
Based upon information supplied by the district, students in many
Providence Public Schools do not have access to a comprehensive program
of art instruction, including separate facilities for the creation,
storage, and display of works of art, sufficient supplies, and materials
for students to complete a variety of projects. These opportunities
must be present in every Providence public school (as they must be
in all schools around the state). Further there is no evidence that
students at the secondary level in all Providence secondary schools
have access to separate coursework that provides in-depth work in both
two- and three-dimensional media, art history, criticism, and career
education, as required by the regulation.
Remedy: The district is instructed to provide a corrective action
plan within 30 days, setting forth how the district will come into
compliance by providing access to art instruction as a separate subject
of study to all Providence public schools students at all levels K-12
in every school, including access to coursework that provides in-depth
work in both two- and three-dimensional media, art history, criticism,
and career education at the secondary level.
Based on our several conversations on these issues during our regularly
scheduled intervention meetings, I am aware that the Providence Public
Schools administration is committed to providing access to library,
arts, and music programming for Providence Public Schools students
in every school. I am not unaware of the severe budgetary constraints
under which the school district is operating. However, budgetary incapacity
is not a defense against the failure to provide the programming required
in the BEP. In fact, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled that
the BEP establishes the mandatory program elements that provide the
basis for determining the adequacy of a school-district budget when
BEP requirements are not met. (West Warwick School Committee v.
Souliere, 626 A.2d 1280, 1283 (R.I. 1993))
Thus the Providence Public Schools must come into compliance with
these long-standing regulatory requirements for providing daily library
access for all public-school students and art and music instruction
in every Providence public school. I look forward to working with
you, based upon the Corrective Action Plans you will submit as required
by this finding of noncompliance with the BEP, to ensure the access
of all Providence Public Schools students to the library, art, and
music programming to which they are legally entitled.
The educational priorities of the Board of Regents in requiring meaningful
library access and comprehensive programs of art and music instruction
at all levels and in all public schools were not lightly arrived at.
As you are aware, the Regents’ High-School Regulions of 2003 that
set forth the new Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements mandate
that “Each student exiting a Rhode Island high school with a diploma
shall exhibit proficiency in a common academic core curriculum that
includes the arts and technology.” [Regulations of the Board of
Regents… Regarding Public High Schools. 1/9/03 Section 5.2] I
am therefore confident that you and the members of the Providence School
Board understand and agree with the sound educational basis for the
requirements of the BEP that I have discussed in this communication.
Without meaningful access to programming in the arts and music as mandated
by the BEP throughout their K-12 educational experience, Providence
Public Schools students will have no prospect of fulfilling the graduation
requirements for proficiency in the arts.
Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have questions
regarding the information and requirements set forth in this communication.
Sincerely,
Peter McWalters
Commissioner
c: Steven Smith, President, PTU
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