PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The state of Rhode Island is taking over the Providence public school system.
The Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education voted 7-0 Tuesday night to approve the state education commissioner’s request for authority to oversee the city’s beleaguered schools.
The takeover comes a month after a scathing report by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy found severe dysfunction, including rampant bullying and fighting among students, crumbling facilities, and a tangled bureaucracy.
Commissioner Angélica-Infante Green says she is in the process of hiring a superintendent to oversee the system, and promised that parents, students and community members will have a seat at the table during the turnaround effort.
The Providence Teachers Union in a statement said it would “work together” with other stakeholders to improve the schools.
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