PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Education Secretary Arne Duncan will help launch United Providence, drawing national attention to the first-of-its-kind collaboration between a school district and teacher union to improve struggling schools.
Duncan will speak at a 8:30 a.m. breakfast at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Feb. 12.
United Providence -- UP! -- is a nonprofit management organization working to improve Carl G. Lauro Elementary, Gilbert Stuart Middle and Alvarez High School.
Duncan will also announce the assignment of Jo Anderson, one of his senior policy advisers, as chief liaison to UP! and its National Advisory Board.
Members of the advisory board include Peter McWalters, former R.I. Education Commissioner; Adam Urbanski, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers; and Pedro Noguera, a sociologist at New York University and a former Providence teacher.