Last February, Kelly Connerton and her husband, a chef in Boston, were living in Cumberland, but shopping around Northern Rhode Island for good schools. Their eldest son would enter kindergarten in September. They were more than willing to move to get the best education for their children.

They got online and compared the test scores at area elementary schools. They asked the opinion of everyone they could. And lo! The Cumberland schools themselves seemed to be a fine choice. They were thrilled not to have to move.

Flush with the excitement of watching her first child head into the world of formal learning, Connerton took her son to school for his first day. But her pleasure soured into distress as it became apparent that the teacher had no aide to help her. Most kindergartens either have small class sizes or an aide. But over the summer the budget-conscious Cumberland School District cut the aides. So this year the kindergarten teacher was expected to control 24 5-year-olds by herself, while teaching them the literacy and numeracy they’ll need for first grade, in the 2½ hours of the school’s half-day kindergarten. The teacher also has an afternoon session, for a total of 48 children to manage.

On day one, Connerton became one seriously frustrated parent. This might be a Rhode Island record.

Cumberland offered no kindergarten with more adult attention, so Connerton felt her child was trapped. She would have to fight for the aides.

She and a small group of other unhappy parents lobbied the superintendent and School Committee to restore the aides. They circulated a petition both in hard copy and on an Internet site. The administration said there was no money.

However, the community was very supportive, and her group’s persistent lobbying paid off. The School Committee restored the aides, but only on a temporary and part-time basis. Still, Connerton really likes the kindergarten teacher and the school itself, so she was content with the quality of her child’s education, for the time being.

But her issues with the system continue in force. In general, she feels the Cumberland district does not put the interests of the kids or quality education first.

Cumberland’s superintendent, Donna Morelle, does not dispute that there is unrest among her parents. “Our district’s families are letting us know that they want to change their roles and how they interact with the schools. They want to be more active, and they are craving information.”

The district is creating more and better ways of disseminating information, and is working on being more responsive to the parents. But, as Morelle points out, “Change happens in a ragged way. The culture here has been fairly entrenched. And the sense of urgency being created by the state mandates and the budget crisis is worrying all of us.”

It’s small comfort to Connerton that she is not alone in her anxiety.

One day she dropped into Cumberland’s Office of Children, Youth and Learning (OCYL) where she met Michael Magee, its director. This office is an unusual municipal innovation, born from the Cumberland mayor’s frustration with his inability to influence the town’s schools.

Connerton said, “I told Mike the whole story about the aides, and how scared I was that we might not be able to give our kids an outstanding education. Parents may look angry, but it’s coming from a place of fear for our kids. Mike pointed me to more and better information about schools. And he told me that the mayor of Cumberland was partnering with other cities and towns to create alternative schools, so there would be different options for our kids, eventually. I want options. He and I keep in touch frequently.”

Magee also helped Connerton see that parents in every district in the state are in pickles much like hers. Districts are cutting sports, art, music, social supports, gifted education and whatever else isn’t nailed down by some mandate, contract or law. So, as Connerton puts it, “in the big picture, and in the big bureaucracy, the kids have gotten completely lost.”

With Magee’s help, Connerton launched another petition to gather support for giving all Rhode Island parents the right to choose the best public school for their children, regardless of which school district they happen to live in. Vermont and Minnesota, as well as parts of Massachusetts and other areas in the country, offer what is called “cross-district choice.”

Cross-district choice would allow the parents to decide which schools should be closed for lack of enrollment and interest, and which should thrive. Right now, because of Rhode Island’s demographics, student enrollment is dropping, leaving most schools with room to take in students from other districts. The money would follow the student, meaning that the federal, state and local funds that pay for the student’s education, the “per-pupil expenditure,” would be paid directly to the school the child attends.

Connerton says, “Giving parents more control would mean that they could take their children out of unresponsive schools or school systems. The end result would be that everyone would be more responsive to the kids, and together they would find the best way possible. I don’t want to be in an adversarial position with my school system. I want a positive partnership, working together in ways that make sense. I can’t imagine doing this for another 15 years. I won’t last. I need a choice. I insist on having a choice.”

Her petition can be found at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/choice-in-public-schooling-in-rhode-island.html. And the town Office of Children, Youth and Learning is adding a section to its Web site to provide more information on the subject.

Ironically, Supt. Morelle herself warmly supports public school choice. She says, “My experience has been that choice is a healthy part of a network of high-performing schools. All students have the right to attend a school that helps them succeed. Besides, anything that gives us the flexibility to accelerate student learning is something we need to work on.”

As it is, the only alternative public school parents have is to get a place at one of the state’s 11 small charter schools, most of which have waiting lists larger than their enrollments.

Hopefully cross-district choice is an idea whose time has come for Rhode Island. Offering public school choice would focus attention on the kids and their education by shifting just a bit of power to the families and away from the district bureaucracies. It would motivate districts, at long last, to work together and to work smarter to provide attractive educational options for all families. As such, it would work well in the current situation of serious fiscal distress.

Giving all parents public school choice is eminently doable. Give Connerton’s petition a look.

Julia Steiny, a former member of the Providence School Board, consults for government agencies and schools; she is co-director of Information Works!, Rhode Island’s school-accountability project. She can be reached at juliasteiny@cox.net, or c/o EdWatch, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.