Providence Student Union

The Providence Student Union receives funding from the left-of-center funding group the New Venture Fund, which is managed by left-of-center consultancy Arabella Advisors, as well as the radical-left funding organization Haymarket People’s Fund. ^{3 4}

Background

The Providence Student Union was formed in early 2010 when students from Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island started a campaign opposing the elimination of the school’s block-scheduling system. The group became the first PSU chapter and was called Hope United. The group then began organizing similar student-activist groups at other high schools in the city. ⁵

The organization now hosts many school-specific and city-wide campaigns supporting significant changes to policies within the school system. PSU describes itself as a “true union for students” and states on its website that students face “racist and arbitrary discipline practices, including police violence in and out of school.” The group also contends that “national institutions have silenced and ignored young people’s voices for decades.” ⁵

Campaigns

The Providence Student Union has led dozens of campaigns advocating for a variety of changes to school policies and funding increases. Early campaigns led by the PSU following its founding in 2010 included topics such as school bathroom repairs and improvement, healthy school lunches and “diverse” lunch menus, and establishing a “student jury” to weigh in on student punishments. Another campaign operated by PSU in 2013 opposed the planned closure of Alvarez High School in Providence, a school of 400 students. ²

From 2013 to 2014 the group led a campaign to loosen graduation standards by eliminating a requirement that students pass an exam to graduate high school. The exam was eventually eliminated in all Rhode Island public schools. ²

Affiliated Organizations and Coalitions

The Providence Student Union is a key organizer of the Providence Alliance for Student Safety (PASS) which operates the “Counselors Not Cops” campaign opposing the use of student resource officers in public schools and alleging that schools would be safer with the hiring of more guidance counselors. The coalition includes the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE), Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), and the Rhode Island Urban Debate League. ^{5 6 7}

The PSU is also an organizer of the Our Schools PVD coalition, which promotes critical-race theory inspired policies and curricula in Providence schools to promote a “racially just and equitable public education system.” The Coalition is led by the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE), Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), Rhode Island Urban Debate League (RIUDL), and Youth In Action (YIA). ⁸

PSU is also a member of the left-of-center Rhode Island Civic Learning Coalition. ^{9 2}

Funding

The Providence Student Union receives funding from the left-of-center funding group the New Venture Fund, which is operated by left-of-center consultancy Arabella Advisors, as well as the radical-left funding organization the Haymarket Peoples Fund. ^{3 10}

The group uses the Democratic-aligned fundraising platform ActBlue. ¹¹