澳门跑狗论坛

If you had glanced through the narrow, wired-glass window of Rhode Island College professor Moira E. Collins鈥� Writing 150 classroom here on a cold morning in March, the tableau would have looked utterly routine: college-age students at desks circled seminar-style around their professor.

Had you just glanced, however, you would have missed one of the most tangible products so far of this state鈥檚 3-year-old P-16 council.

Inside, the two dozen high school seniors handing Collins drafts-in-progress of their cultural-anthropology research papers constituted the inaugural class of . The dual-enrollment program represents Rhode Island鈥檚 first state-directed effort specifically aimed at helping students at risk of academic failure navigate their way to college.

The 9-month-old, one-school pilot program shows early signs of success. Even though all Pathways students come from a high school that鈥檚 a 鈥渄ropout factory,鈥� as defined by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and all qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, their grades in college-level coursework hovered around A-minus and B-plus, and each was expected to graduate with 15 college credits.

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing it; it鈥檚 actually happening,鈥� says Jessica L. Geier, the state鈥檚 dual-enrollment coordinator. 鈥淭his is boots on the ground.鈥�

That Rhode Island鈥檚 P-16 council can point to such palpable progress sets it apart from other states鈥� councils, some of which don鈥檛 seem to exist outside of an organization chart. The difference here isn鈥檛 hard to trace, say the council鈥檚 members: Look over at who chairs each council meeting, and you鈥檒l find Gov. Donald L. Carcieri.

And yet, no money can be found to replicate Pathways in other troubled schools. The pilot itself may not even last beyond December, when its grant runs out.

And even if it manages to last the next few years, the program鈥檚 survival鈥攁nd even the council鈥檚 own existence, say some council members鈥攎ay be in jeopardy after January 2011, when the term-limited governor鈥檚 second term ends.

鈥淎s long as he鈥檚 willing to give this as much leadership as he does, it鈥檚 got energy and it鈥檚 got standing. But I can鈥檛 imagine [what will happen to it] the day he鈥檚 not governor,鈥� says Peter J. McWalters, Rhode Island鈥檚 outgoing K-12 schools chief and a member of the council.

With no formal budget or staff or substantive participation from the legislature, says McWalters, the council could dissolve 鈥渨ith one blink.鈥�

Call it paradoxical or political, but the governor鈥攖he very man who created and drives the state鈥檚 P-16 council鈥攎ay also end up being its greatest vulnerability.

Lack of Coordination

As Carcieri is wont to point out, despite Rhode Island鈥檚 status as the nation鈥檚 geographically smallest state, it has 36 separate districts to educate its 148,000 public school students.

Cooperation between K-12 schools and colleges is equally atomized. A recent survey of the state鈥檚 11 public and private colleges and universities found more than 250 dual-enrollment partnerships of some kind in place.

But, district to district, and even within the top state education offices, as Carcieri says, no one knew until the survey results came out this past March who was doing what, or how effectively.

Such was the forest of education policy splinters that the governor鈥攁 former high school math teacher whose father and wife also taught鈥攊nherited when he took office in 2003 with a pledge to improve education.

鈥淲hat I found was that they鈥檙e not talking to one another, for starters,鈥� says Carcieri, recalling the dearth of communication he saw between schools and universities, but also among state and business leaders on the subject of education.

That lack of coordination, the governor argues, has contributed to the state鈥檚 high remediation rates. Nearly 60 percent of incoming Community College of Rhode Island students need at least one remedial class, he says, and the state鈥檚 other two public institutions鈥擱hode Island College and the University of Rhode Island鈥攁lso have higher remediation rates than they鈥檇 like.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 hugely inefficient,鈥� Carcieri says. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got a system in higher ed that鈥檚 having to remediate the deficiencies back here in K-12, well, guess what: You鈥檙e laying an extra cost onto the higher ed system.鈥�

Cost is no small consideration in a state trying to close a projected $430 million gap in its $7 billion fiscal 2009 budget. Rhode Island鈥檚 per-pupil spending鈥攁lmost $12,000 a year鈥攊s the ninth-highest in the nation, the governor says, owing partly, he contends, to the profusion of district-level bureaucracy.

And yet, student achievement lags behind that of other states. Both math and reading scores on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress among 4th and 8th grade Rhode Islanders were below the average percentage of students nationally who scored at the 鈥減roficient鈥� level or above.

And the state鈥檚 public high school graduation rate actually fell 2.4 percentage points, to 71.1 percent, from 2001 to 2005, while the national average rose 2.6 percentage points, to 70.6 percent, according to a new analysis by the 澳门跑狗论坛 Research Center.

Rhode Island鈥檚 disappointing graduation rate portends a mismatch between academic preparation and employer expectations.

According to the governor鈥檚 office, the state has lost more than 93,000 manufacturing jobs requiring a high school diploma or less in the past 20 years. And the 89,000 jobs created since then typically demand at least some college education, the office says.

Chairing the Meetings

For those reasons and others, Carcieri issued an executive order in 2005 calling for 鈥渁 seamless, coherent state system of education,鈥� and creating a P-16 council to foster it.

鈥淚 chair it, which was a conscious decision,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause obviously I want to drive the agenda.鈥�

Like other council members, Carcieri couches most of the panel鈥檚 accomplishments so far in terms of interorganizational communication鈥攁 significant achievement in itself, the governor argues.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 鈥淚鈥檇 give [the council] a 7 or 8, in terms of pulling people together, getting people on the same 鈥� sheet of music,鈥� he says.

The council鈥檚 meetings, which cover a different piece of the P-16 continuum each time, tend to air issues that are subsequently worked on within and among each member鈥檚 department or sphere of influence, according to members.

For example, the council鈥檚 March meeting on higher education featured a commissioned report on the state鈥檚 scattered dual-enrollment programs, which sparked discussions about the need to stoke communication among Rhode Island鈥檚 private universities, its public colleges, and its community colleges.

鈥淸We] 鈥� say, 鈥極K, these are the kinds of issues that we鈥檙e needing to deal with here,鈥� and first of all thrash that around,鈥� says Carcieri about the way the meetings tend to go. 鈥淎nd then, secondly, we say, 鈥極K, yes, then who鈥檚 going to do what piece?鈥� 鈥�

Of the council itself, the governor says, 鈥淔or me, it was more of a鈥攈ow would I say it鈥攁 managerial technique to get everybody together.鈥�

Sharon Osborne, a special assistant to McWalters, the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, says she thinks the technique is effective.

鈥淵ou can be the governor and you can say 鈥榙o it鈥� a lot, and people can just drift along and not really do it,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e watched this group for two years, and am absolutely amazed at the dedication. 鈥� He really has managed to move this table so that there鈥檚 buy-in.鈥�

While few would dispute the state鈥檚 need for a more coherent and cost-effective education continuum, some question whether the P-16 council is built to last, given that it conspicuously excludes the legislature.

鈥淭o the extent that [the council] is identified simply with a particular governor or a particular administration,鈥� says Robert G. Flanders Jr., the Carcieri-appointed chairman of the state鈥檚 board of regents for elementary and secondary education and a member of the P-16 council, 鈥渋t risks not being continued beyond that administration.鈥�

Carcieri, who in 2006 won the second of his two allowable consecutive terms by a very thin margin, is a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, facing a lopsidedly Democratic legislature.

By all accounts, that political equation doesn鈥檛 show up on the surface of the P-16 council鈥檚 meetings, which occur quarterly. And that鈥檚 in part because the governor hasn鈥檛 yet tried to invite legislators to take part.

鈥淸Not] unless he has the wrong phone number for me,鈥� quips state Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, the Democrat who chairs the House committee on health, education, and welfare. He also is a deputy majority leader, with a Statehouse office a couple of floors below the governor鈥檚.

Balance of Powers?

The reasons for the absence of legislators on the council differ, depending on who鈥檚 doing the explaining.

鈥淭he difficulty is, we don鈥檛 have right now a strong education committee in any of those chambers, and none of the legislators has been really engaged in this issue,鈥� Carcieri maintains.

And he cites a state constitutional amendment that went into effect in 2005 and is known here as the 鈥渟eparation-of-powers amendment.鈥� The measure, which the governor backed, prohibits legislators from being 鈥渁ppointed to any state office, board, commission, or other state or quasi-public entity exercising executive power under the laws of this state.鈥�

Carcieri says he decided to exclude legislators from the council 鈥渋n an abundance of caution鈥� with regard to that amendment.

But that caution seems unnecessary, says Flanders, a former state supreme court justice: 鈥淪eparation of powers 鈥� wouldn鈥檛 apply to an advisory group like this.鈥�

McNamara, who also is the principal of the Alternative Learning Program鈥攁 small high school in Pawtucket, R.I., that educates students who might not otherwise attend school鈥攕ays he鈥檚 one legislator who is most definitely interested in P-16 issues, which span preschool through four years of college.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to be voting members if he sees a perceived conflict of interest with separation of powers鈥攖hat wouldn鈥檛 be necessary to include us,鈥� he says of council membership.

In the absence of an invitation to become nonvoting members, McNamara adds, legislators will make their priorities known in other ways.

McNamara was joined by state Sen. Hanna M. Gallo, the vice chair of the Senate education committee, in noting that lawmakers can send such messages through the power of the purse.

鈥淲ithout the funding, it doesn鈥檛 happen,鈥� says Gallo, who is also a speech-language pathologist at Woodridge Elementary School in Cranston, R.I. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just expect [programs] to be there like magic.鈥�

In June 2007, the legislature rejected Carcieri鈥檚 proposed 3 percent K-12 budget increase for the 2008 fiscal year, overriding his veto, and froze state aid to schools instead.

Meanwhile, the money for replicating or even just maintaining programs such as Pathways to College has to be found elsewhere. A one-year grant from the Quincy, Mass.-based Nellie Mae Foundation that has underwritten that program expires this year.

鈥淲e鈥檙e at the point now where I have been with the governor when he鈥檚 asked some major funders, 鈥榃hy aren鈥檛 we getting anything?鈥� 鈥� says McWalters, 鈥渁nd they basically say, 鈥楤ecause you don鈥檛 have public-policy agreement鈥攜ou鈥檙e at a complete standoff with your legislative leadership.鈥� 鈥�

McWalters adds: 鈥淚t鈥檚 more and more clear that the [P-16 council] is significantly hampered by not having legislative representation at the table.鈥�

As it stands, the council has no line item in the state budget. It gets by with a thin stream of money from the governor鈥檚 office and occasional outside grants.

鈥淚 think if it鈥檚 going to be sustainable, it needs to find its way into legislation,鈥� says Jack R. Warner, the state commissioner of higher education.

Without legislators feeling as though they鈥檙e part of the process, say officials on and off the council, programs such as Pathways are vulnerable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just an incredible amount of support that kids need in order to continue in these college-level courses,鈥� Paula Dominguez, the senior education policy adviser for the state House of Representatives, says about the program. While she praises its intent, she adds, 鈥淚鈥檝e got to be a bottom-line person here. I think of $140,000 for 23 kids, and I think, 鈥榢a-ching.鈥� 鈥�

Turnover at the Top

Carcieri recognizes that if he wants to ensure that the next governor will at least minimally continue the work of the P-16 council as it now exists, he鈥檒l have to work with the legislature to try to write the council into law.

The idea of having legislators holding nonvoting seats on the council, he says, is 鈥渙ne of the things we need to look at.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 tricky,鈥� Carcieri says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to politicize [the council], and yet on the other hand, the reality is that sometimes we need to get some legislation passed.鈥�

The reality, though, is that even legislation, should it somehow pass the Democratic-dominated legislature, won鈥檛 guarantee that Carcieri鈥檚 successor will continue his practice of chairing the council鈥檚 meetings, let alone commit as much personal attention to P-16 issues as this governor has.

Then again, the state鈥檚 P-16 landscape might look a lot different by the time Carcieri leaves office anyway.

In March of this year, the state Senate鈥檚 finance committee chairman, a Democrat, announced plans to file legislation to kill off both the Office of Higher Education and the board of governors for higher education, to save money.

Then, in April, McWalters announced he would step down in early 2009 after more than 17 years as K-12 commissioner, removing one of the council鈥檚 fonts of institutional knowledge.

McWalters downplayed his departure鈥檚 significance, saying the council鈥檚 continued existence would hinge more on the next governor.

鈥淭he work that Jack and I are doing together is in some ways independent of the PK-16 council,鈥� he says of Warner, the higher education commissioner, with whom he has worked closely for the past six years.

鈥淚 think the collaboration [between precollegiate and postsecondary institutions] will continue, even if the council does not.鈥�