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Extending Learning
VUE Number 16, Summer 2007
David Cicilline  Audio Clip 1
Mayor, Providence, Rhode Island
Why did you decide to focus on after-school?
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TEXT VERSION:
When I first ran for mayor four and a half years ago, during the course of the campaign I heard from many parents and many young people about the lack of opportunities in out-of-school time, particularly in after-school time. And I really heard from people about how they were concerned that there were not worthwhile, enriching things for young people to do after school.
Just as I got elected, and actually, during the transition, before I took office, the Wallace Foundation announced an initiative called Learning in Communities, which was designed to help a city design a system of high-quality out-of-school time programming. Not to fund a particular existing program, but to really organize and implement a system-wide, citywide set of programs, and to really lead a systems change, versus just an investment in existing programs. They were originally looking at three cities--the Bronx, Pittsburgh, and Providence--and after a long deliberation and an appearance before their board in New York City they ultimately decided to start this work in one city and they picked Providence.
It was a very important priority of mine, because I recognized that there was a lot of work being done in school. We had a very ambitious plan to raise student achievement, and we had focused a lot of energy on what needed to happen in school in terms of reform, and improvement, and accelerating student progress. But what I think we had ignored for many, many years in this city, and actually in many cities around the country, was this other resource of out-of-school time. Because a child who goes to school every single day, who has perfect attendance, still spends most of his time out of school, and to not make maximum use of that resource was a big mistake.
And there was very little quality programming, particularly for middle school youth, available in the city at that time.
So I saw this as an opportunity to create a sense of community responsibility to the healthy development of our kids, a way to extend learning opportunities, a way to improve the safety of young people in the city, and a way to support the rapid acceleration of student achievement by leveraging out-of-school time to support the work that was being done in school. So that's what brought my attention to the issue.
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