Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Sep 7, 2004

* Priscilla Pitters-Cox says she counts nearly 70 parents who were not informed of their right to choose a better-performing school.

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PROVIDENCE - At least 69 parents of children at the Alfred A. Lima Elementary School have failed to receive notices explaining that federal law allows them the choice of transferring their children to a better-performing school, according to Priscilla Pitters-Cox.

Pitters-Cox, the mother of two children at Lima, said she talked to 68 parents before and after classes last Wednesday and Thursday.

And she says she counts herself as the 69th parent, because she didn't receive any notification about her right to transfer her children out of Lima under provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Schools Supt. Melody A. Johnson said parents should ask principals to see the test data on their children's schools before they make decisions about school choice.

She said many of the schools classified as non-improving under NCLB performed much better on statewide tests this year than they did in 2003, missing only one or two of 21 targets.

This type of detailed information was not available when the state released the names of schools under NCLB sanction in mid- August.

Pitters-Cox was one of about a dozen members of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, who went to the superintendent's office on Friday asking to see Johnson, who was being interviewed by a reporter at the time.

The group met instead with Kim Rose, director of intergovernmental relations and public engagement.

Rose said she agreed to publicize a community forum on parental rights under NCLB that ACORN will sponsor on Thursday at 6 p.m. at 807 Broad St.

Rose said she offered to send school officials to speak at the event.

The schools will send home fliers with students this week informing parents of the meeting, Rose said.

She said more than 13,000 letters -- one for each child -- were mailed in late August to the homes of families eligible for school choice and supplemental services under NCLB.

Approximately 225 requests for transfers have been received by the School Department, Rose said. Requests will be accepted until Sept. 24.

About 300 of the letters were returned as undeliverable, Rose said. She said she has asked the schools to have the children take the letters home and provide correct addresses.

Pitters-Cox said she did not receive letters for her children at Lima, but received a notice that a son in middle school is eligible for supplemental services, "so they do have my address."

She said she wants to move her children from Lima.

She said her son transferred from to Esek Hopkins School from Oliver Hazard Perry Middle School, which is under state intervention and has been categorized non-improving for the fifth consecutive year. While Providence has better-performing schools at the elementary level, all of the middle schools are classified as in need of improvement. In such cases, NCLB allows schools to offer supplemental services instead of school choice.

Although the law says districts must try to find places in better- performing schools in other communities, there is no legal requirement that those schools accept the children.

Johnson said she has made written requests to surrounding communities but none have said they would take Providence students.

Pitters-Cox said it was "disgraceful that the state law conflicts with federal law," shortchanging children and parents.

At the elementary level, 14 schools are required to offer choice, even though they might have missed only one or two of 21 targets for improvement required under NCLB.

The names of the schools and the number of targets they missed are Carl G. Lauro, 4; Charles Fortes Academy, 1; Harry Kizirian, 2; Laurel Hill Avenue, 2; Pleasant View, 4; Reservoir Avenue, 1; Sgt. Cornel Young Jr., 1; Windmill Street, 1; Alfred A. Lima, 4; Charlotte Woods, 3; George J. West, 1; Mary E. Fogarty, 2; Anthony Carnevale, 0; Veazie Street, 2.

The Anthony Carnevale school was recognized as improving, but it needs a second year of improvement to rid itself of sanctions.

The elementary schools that are accepting students from non- improving schools are: Vartan Gregorian, Alan Shawn Feinstein, Asa Messer, Edmund W. Flynn, Robert F. Kennedy, Robert L. Bailey IV, Webster Avenue and West Broadway.

Among the elementary schools that must offer choice, Veazie, Lima, Woods, West and Fogarty also must offer supplemental services.

All the middle schools must offer tutoring, or supplemental services, instead of choice. Rose said the district has not yet begun accepting applications for supplemental services, which will be offered by providers approved by the state.

The city's middle schools and the number of performance targets they missed are Nathanael Greene, 2; Gilbert Stuart, 1; Esek Hopkins, 6; Springfield, 3; Christopher DelSesto, 7; Roger Williams, 2; Oliver Hazard Perry, 7; Samuel Bridgham, 5; and Nathan Bishop, 7.

In addition to supplemental services, Hopkins, Bishop, Greene, Roger Williams, and Bridgham must come up with corrective plans this year.

Perry is restructuring under a plan that was written last year.