Heather Tow-Yick

Heather Tow-Yick has the deepest connection to District 4 – her family has voted in the area for over four generations and Tow-Yick herself attended school on the East Side.

Education is obviously Tow-Yick’s forte – she heads Teach for America in Providence, has worked in the educational field for over 15 years, and has garnered a comprehensive track record in terms of establishing achievement within classrooms.

Unlike her opponents, Tow-Yick supports standardized testing and sees it as a helpful indicator of achievement.

From a corner table at the Three Sisters café, Tow-Yick states, “we do need to know and compare how students are doing across cities, towns, states, but it should be used first and foremost as a tool for improving practice in classroom teaching. This is the primary goal – compare and contrast then take action based on problems seen.”

Tow-Yick believes we’ve already made some positive steps toward improving Providence’s economy – reducing corporate tax from 9 to 7% and the adjustment of estate taxes - but how do we create an “entrepreneurial zone” for the city? She emphasizes how we need to look to the I-195 land as a great opportunity and model for testing economic development strategies. “We should be innovative on that front – do something different, bold.”