Providence students march on City Hall to demand full funding
"Our futures have been cast aside in a way that can only be described as cartoonishly evil, so our march to City Hall and any further mobilizations should come as no surprise."
Providence Public School District (PPSD) students from high schools across the City, gathered across the street from Classical, Central, and PCTA Tuesday afternoon for a march to City Hall in protest of State and City mandated education cuts. Organizing as TakeBackPVD, the group began as “a group of students from Classical High School that came together in support of teachers following threats of mass layoffs in May of 2024” and has since “evolved into a group committed to fighting back against all types of injustices that exist in our School District.” They issued the following statement ahead of the march:
“No Matter How, Fund Us Now: School Walkout and March
“We, the students of Providence, are troubled by the news that extreme cuts will go into effect at our schools if funding gaps aren't filled. The fact that we must get rid of sports and ESL classes, freeze funding to arts programs, cut back on RIPTA bus pass distribution, and halt building repairs just to barely keep our District afloat is abhorrent and shameful. Politicians at both the City and State levels are refusing to cooperate with one another, and students must act like the mediators of a problem that started well before many of us were born.
“The Providence Public School District is a pressure cooker of decades-long mismanagement that has finally imploded, and not a single group of people will bear the brunt of this harder than students will. Our futures have been cast aside in a way that can only be described as cartoonishly evil, so our march to City Hall and any further mobilizations should come as no surprise. We demand that no cuts go forward and that, regardless of who pays, any money available immediately gets put into our schools; no excuses, no conditions. We will not rest until our demands are met.”
Earlier in the day Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said at a press conference that a court ruling expected tomorrow will set the City back anywhere between $10 and $80 million, necessitaing drastic cuts a cross all city departments and a possible tax increase. See press conference video at the footnote.1
After marching to Providence City Hall, Classical student Julianna Espinal emceed a student speak out. The video below is followed by a transcript edited for clarity.
Juliana Espinal: I will start with a letter from an alumni who graduated with the Class of 2023. Her name is Em, and for those of you who may remember, she was like THE organizer before she graduated. If you were involved in any other school walkout movements before 2023, you would know Em. She is very kind and wrote us a letter. I’m going to read it.
EM: Hi, I’m Em, Classical High School Class of 2023. I spent all my time at Classical organizing to try to make Providence Schools a safe place where students could get a good education. First with PSU [Providence Student Union] and then later with a few friends, we got Ramona Bassinger, a teacher who I have no qualms about saying is one of the most racist, transphobic, fascistic teachers I’ve ever met out of Classical. Hopefully, she stays out of there and out of Providence.
What I’m saying is we won, and you can too. It’s heartbreaking but not surprising to hear that Brett Smiley and the City Council are again failing the students of Providence by refusing to raise the budget for PPSD. Smiley and the City of Providence are telling us that they do not care about the future of the City, or rather, that they think its future will come from gentrifying professionals with Ivy League degrees brought here by Brown University or RISD and who will continue buying up housing and driving up rents while working in Boston or New York.
I stand with the students of Providence when I say, “You are the future.”Providence has failed you, failed us, again and again. First, by mismanaging our funding so badly that we were put into receivership almost five years ago, then, by shuffling through superintendents so fast that by the time I graduated, we had had three superintendents, each more incompetent than the last.
Providence has been devaluing education for years. If we want them to stop and give all of you the education you deserve, it’s time to take up the fight. They want to ignore you. Become such a nuisance that they can’t. They think you’ll take this quietly or worse, that you’ll have one rally and give up. I know you’re better than that. You have much more at stake than they do. You have more to lose and so much more to win. I know you’ll be the generation that breaks the cycle [and] stops begging the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island for scraps.
Show up. Keep showing up. Keep escalating until they have no choice but to fund your schools. The more you do, the more you scare them, the more they will try to scare you. They will lie to you. Threaten suspension and threaten worse. Act carefully. Know they’re not on your side and feel your fear when it comes. Keep them working.
Juliana Espinal: And then, as a final note, Em writes, “I’m so incredibly proud of all of you.”
Theo, 11th grader at Classical High School: I’m a student who cares deeply about sports, after-school programs, and bus pass accessibility. Without proper funding, I know our schools won’t be able to teach us what we deserve. This issue is important to me because, as a student who was involved in winter and spring sports, it would be a great tragedy. [Sports have] kept me entertained [and is] something that would get me into college would be canceled because PPSD can’t get the proper funding to elevate schools.
As a student who was also a part of many afterschool programs that feel like my second home, my second family, it would be terrible to lose those places. I’ve evolved so much because of my afterschool programs. My debate club that I’m a part of, my debate partner and I were [in the] top 15 in the State. Seeing all of our work and efforts thrown down the drain simply because of drastic budget cuts is discouraging and depressing. I started debate club because of my older brother. I wanted to pass the love of debate to my younger brother to continue the legacy.
To hear there’s a possibility that that will not happen makes me very upset. I’m sure we all have younger siblings or someone younger than us who’s transitioning into high school. Imagine how high school’s going to be now that there are no after-school programs, sports, ESL, orrams, sports, ESL, and MLL. Can you imagine our schools? Not only should we think about us, but we should also think about the future kids going into high school.
Juliana Espinal: Okay, before we pass on the mic to some of y’all, I wanted to read my personal statement that I was supposed to read at the press conference last Monday, but I got sick and I couldn’t go, so I’m going to read it now.
“My message is one I’ve been itching to share. Racial inequity is the foundation this country was built on, and anyone who says otherwise is a bold-faced liar. This inequality prevails to this day, and it is no more evident than in how the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island decide to treat our schools. Our offices are packed with rejects from other states deemed unfit for their jobs, and not a single person wants to stand up, take responsibility, and put money into our schools the way we deserve.
“The reasoning behind this? Providence has the highest percentage of people of color than any other city in the State. Because our citizens aren’t all rich and white, we’re expected to accept the bare minimum slop that gets thrown at us. Our students deserve the same quality of education as any child in Barrington and it should shame all of you to think otherwise. Mark my words when I say that. We will not stop until we get the proper funding we are owed, and until this has been done, you will not hear the last of my name or the names of the organizations present today.”
Graham: I’d like to talk a bit about RIDE [Rhode Island Department of Education]’s role in all of this. For five years, our School District has been governed by the State. For five years, we have wasted money on new curriculums. Every six months, we’ve been given inefficient management. We’ve been given a multitude of superintendents for five years. We’ve been failed by the people in the State House, and they do not, according to the courts, owe any fiscal responsibility to us - they owe nothing to Providence Public Schools. Instead of funding us and making the school better, which they promised to do, they decided to get into a bickering fight with the City over who needs to give us the money.
RIDE owes us so much more. This State is focused on everything but its children. Every four years, we see a Governor campaigning on better education, better test scores, and not failing any more students, but instead, we see that Providence lags behind every rich white, South County and East Bay city. If RIDE claims that it is intervening in our schools for not only these five years but another three years, if it claims that it will deliver what Providence has not had for decades and decades, and that is a great school system befitting a great City. It needs to own up to those promises with more than words, money.
Thomas Mulvey, Senior President of Classical High School: There are a lot of issues with funding. There is a lot of talk about bus passes and sports. You can’t take away those integral parts of high school. I’m part of a lot of clubs. You can’t take that away from us. It’s an integral part of the experience. And to think that the younger generations aren’t going to get that is terrible. It would be taking away so much from us, and we can’t have that happen.
Student: We so rarely get to make decisions in our lives. We’re asking this once for our State and City officials to make the right decision for all of us. Why? Think about the every day for a Providence PPSD student. I want you to think about waking up at an ungodly hour to try to get to school - to walk to school in the cold without a bus pass and then, when you get to school, there’s not enough paper for your teacher to print out your test. There are not enough people in the resource room for you to get the proper resources you need to take the test. That’s only a couple of things that this [budget cut] would affect. Then, after school, you can’t go to your sport, you can’t do your club, you can’t get the exercise you need, and you can’t express your creativity. This budget cut is tamping down so many important resources and necessities for student life, and we cannot allow that to happen.
Reggie, senior at Classical High School: I am an aspiring artist and someone who loves his after-school activities. I put a lot of hours into my sport. I train for my sport. I put in around 34 hours a week - and I counted - and I love this. I have a passion for my sport. I love volleyball. I don’t know if you guys know this, but the only reason I go to school is to pursue my sport ande my art. I want a future just like all you guys have. I want a future that I can be proud of. I want a high school legacy that I can be proud of, and I’m not going to get that with these budget cuts. That’s a real problem. We need this money. You need this action. There’s not enough action in this District—no action from anybody.
Christopher Alexander Garcia Diaz: I represent ARISE (The Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education) as a youth leader. I attend Central as a junior. The Providence Public Schools Department has long asked for fair funding. It might sound simple, but to many of us, it’s a quest that carries with it the weight of our hopes and a better future. As you know, Providence is a City of promise. We have great potential in the City, bright students who are ambitious and want to make a difference, desiring to learn more and give back to society. But all the potential is being held back by a system that funds us to be undersupported in places where every child is inspired, supported, and prepared for success. Too many of us are holding on for dear life. The problem is plain and simple: Our schools are underfunded on a chronic basis. Classrooms are full, student structures are outdated and in disrepair, textbooks and technologies are outdated and broken, and last, but possibly most disturbing, our teachers are exhausted.
They’re doing their best to give us the education we deserve, but they don’t have the resources to meet our demands. For many of us, this means falling behind academically, struggling with mental health issues, or losing out on life-altering opportunities that will fundamentally make all the difference. For some students, this means not taking advanced courses that prepare us for college or not having access to important extracurricular activities that help us develop as people.
It means being left behind in a world that is moving faster and faster while we are stuck in an inadequate system that provides fewer opportunities. It doesn't need to be this way. We know that when we invest in education, we invest in the future. Studies show that adequately funded schools mean better student outcomes, higher graduation rates, and stronger communities.
That is the investment we want: an investment in our future, classrooms, and teachers, in a promise for a better tomorrow. It’s not just about numbers on a page, it’s about the students sitting in those classrooms, teachers who truly dedicate their lives to our education, and families who want better for their children. It’s about all of us coming together to say that we believe in the future of Providence and are willing to fight for it.
The question before you today is: will we continue to allow our schools to be underfunded? Are we going to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to our children's pleas and our education? Or will we take this bold step to invest in our City’s future and give every student the chance they deserve? We can’t afford to wait anymore. Let us ensure that Providence Public Schools are centers of opportunity, not obstruction, for every child, regardless of background, united. We stand together. We can make it for real.
Student: Many politicians [say], and we’ve all heard it, “Kids are the future.” So let me ask the City of Providence this: If kids are the future; why is the future being so brazenly sabotaged? Why do kids have to fight to get to school in 10-degree weather in the middle of December? Even now, it’s 50 degrees, and the wind’s freezing. Why do kids have to fight to get to school? Why do they have to fight to get home? Why do kids have to fight to have something to do after school get to college sports? In Classical High School - I don't know how it is for the other schools like Central - sports are many kids' tickets to college. URI has taken dozens of kids from our football team to college.
That’s a free ticket to college for many of these kids who come from impoverished neighborhoods, who have single parents or are people of color who can’t pay tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.
Brett Smiley is not threatening to deprive the City of funding, only to halt our education. These cuts will affect non-union staff who are hundreds, if not thousands, in number. My mother is one of them, and my mother is the most hardworking, resourceful, smart, intelligent woman I have ever had the honor of knowing. She works her ass off every single day. She does a bunch of work that’s not hers to do, but she still does it anyway. To think that she has to live with the risk of having her pay cut because the City can’t find the money - which I know they have because they have enough money to get rid of the bike lanes.
They have enough money to put speed bumps on Douglas Avenue when no one asked for them. They have enough money to put speed bumps on River Avenue - but there’s no money to keep the jobs of these hundreds and thousands of hardworking people so they can pay for their kids and their kids’ school? My mother is a single parent, and she fights so hard to give the best to her kids. She’s had the fortune of getting this job, and I will not let the City threaten to take her pay away or take away her ability to provide for my little brother and me just because they don’t want to find the money. They want to get out there and posture against the kids for money. I know the City has this money. It’s not a secret. They do a bunch of optional projects that we don’t need (but we do appreciate.) For example, the Providence Pedestrian Bridge, which cost $20 million to build - and we’re asking for $11 million. If they can build a bridge across the Providence River, they can build our bridges to the future.
Alvarez Student: The budget is already being cut, and we already don't even have enough funding. Now, it’s getting cut more. I don’t think we should be doing that, especially since, like the the other kids said, we’re the kids of the future. Why are we getting told that we’re kids of the future when our future is getting cut? Why is our future getting cut because of arguing for no reason? Why are we just sitting here? Why are the students of Providence sitting here suffering because the budget is being cut for no reason?
Andrea Gonzalez Sanchez, Program Manager at Young Voices and alumni of PPSD, Class of 2020: I'm also here supporting OurSchoolsPVD2, TakeBackPVD, and all of the wonderful organizations that support the efforts of the young people here.
I want to start by saying that it is embarrassing that young people have to come here today pleading to the adults in charge of their futures for some bare minimum money that will support who they are. I know that young people are the future, but young people are our now. We are seeing young people suffering right here, right now, and we’re denying them the opportunity to be who they want to be, to exist, and to thrive in the ways that they deserve to. I know that when I was in high school, which was not that long ago, believe it or not, I struggled because I was a multilingual learner, and there were not enough teachers that spoke my language.
There were not enough people to support and be there for me. I know how hard it was to walk that one mile because I didn’t qualify [for a bus pass]. I know how it was to slip back and forth from all the icy cubes in the streets. I know what that feels like. I cannot imagine just how mortifying it’s going to be when we remove even more resources from the hands of the young people who are right here, right now, pleading, begging y'all to do something. As an adult, I’m saying we need to do better. As adults, we need to be here for each of these youth who is now freezing, trying to fight for what they are owed. They are owed this. It’s not that they want this - they need this - and we owe them that. I am pleading - every single one of you - adults, parents, teachers, and policymakers - do something now because the loss will be immeasurable. These youth need you now. Do something. Do better. Do it now.
The OurSchoolsPVD Alliance is “committed to fighting for Democracy, Dollars, and Dignity” in Providence Public Schools, and is made up of parents and students from PLEE (Parents Leading for Educational Equity), ARISE (The Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education), PrYSM (Providence Youth Student Movement), Providence Student Union (PSU), Young Voices, Youth in Action, the Rhode Island Center for Justice, and the Center for Youth and Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE).
So proud of these students!!👍👍
Please they are in danger being in those toxic buildings that have been neglected for 60 years. Neglected by mayor after mayor after mayor.