Gov. McKee's Learn 365 RI education proposal is no plan at all | Opinion

Joseph H. Crowley is past president of the Rhode Island Association of School Principals.

Eight months in the making, Gov. Dan McKee recently released his education plan, Learn 365 RI. Does the plan provide a budget and grant process for offsetting the costs of the extra education? No. Does the plan provide a curriculum for improving academic achievement? No. Knowing the needs of students across Rhode Island, does the plan target the neediest populations? No. Does the plan factor in potential costs for transportation and nutritional support for students during the expanded learning times? No. Does the plan involve school districts and school committees? No.

Put simply, the plan is an appeal to mayors, not school systems, to provide more education for the students in their communities.

Does the plan include an organization to assist communities in developing additional learning opportunities for students? Yes. Does it provide a budget for this organization? No. The expectation is this nonprofit organization will seek grant funding.

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The governor reports a number of groups were involved in the development of the plan, including the state Department of Education, whose responsibility it is to oversee pre-K to grade 12 education. If RIDE was involved in the creation of this so-called plan, it should be embarrassed.

Does the plan have goals? Yes. One is to increase financial aid applications. Does it provide guidance on how this should be accomplished? No. Does it answer the question as to why increasing financial aid applications has anything to do with improving student learning outcomes? No.

A second goal is to improve attendance. Does it offer a plan or incentives for students who currently have poor attendance to not only come to school more often during normal school times but to participate in extra schooling? No.

One goal of the plan is to raise Rhode Island’s standardized test scores to the level of Massachusetts’ test scores. It is well established that living in a middle- or upper-level income family provides children with many learning opportunities not available to children living in poverty. The out-of-school learning of the more well-to-do children is reflected in standardized test scores.

State average scores include all students, rich and poor. Higher percentages of needy students result in lower averages for a state. The averages in Massachusetts are effected by a child poverty rate of 10.9%. Rhode Island’s scores are impacted by having a poverty rate of 14.5%. Rhode Island will compete with Massachusetts on an equal footing when our child poverty rate is the same. Is lowering the child poverty rate in Rhode Island part of the governor’s education plan? No.

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It is sad knowing the needs of Rhode Island’s students that a governor, with eight months of planning and working with numerous partners, could not develop an education plan that integrated extra learning opportunities with learning offered by school districts — and did not provide an adequate budget for executing the plan. It did not offer a proposed curriculum of grade-appropriate academic and enrichment activities. It does not address the myriad logistical issues of time, place and resources needed to provide learning opportunities.

And, saddest of all, the plan does not target our neediest of students, those who would most benefit by having expanded learning opportunities. The one proven method of increasing the standardized test scores of children living in poverty is through expanded school time, designed to address their specific needs. Does Learn 365 RI do that? No.

Learn 365 RI is really No Plan.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Put simply, the plan is an appeal to mayors, not school systems, to provide more education for the students.