Martyrs Wanted
Current-Anchor managing editor Justin Katz has a piece somewhat worth reading (the latter half of it is mostly an extended airing of his grievances about his own failed campaign for Tiverton school committee) titled “Whose Fault, RI?” In it, Katz examines the straits the Rhode Island Republican Party finds itself in. Ultimately, Katz settles on [...]
Full Story »
Deborah Gist discusses her contract situation
Deborah Gist told me she hasn’t considered if she would accept a one year contract extension, but also that she isn’t ruling out signing something other than a three year agreement. A one year deal would expire as the 2014 campaign begins to heat up, which could make Gist and the so-called education reform movement [...]
Full Story »
RI Council of Churches applauds Boy Scouts
Rhode Island State Council of Churches released a statement today regarding the Boy Scouts of America’s recent decision to allow openly gay scouts to join and participate in the organization: Response to BSA Statement on Gender of Scouts and Leaders The Rhode Island State Council of Churches applauds the direction taken by the Boy Scouts [...]
Full Story »
Keep Rhode Island campuses gun free
Still before the Rage released at the Board of Education meeting on May 23, 2013.On April 4, 2013, the University of Rhode Island campus was locked down for hours after, as the Providence Journal reported, “people in a lecture hall said they heard someone say they had a gun. Police found no gun or [...]
Full Story »
PolitiFact RI once again shows right-wing bias
I was going to write about this this weekend, but the Huffington Post beat me to it. PolitiFact is well-known nationally for its conservative bias. In Rhode Island, where PolitiFact has partnered with the right of center Providence Journal, this bias was recently on full display. Recently, they went after David Cicilline for saying on [...]
Gist distances herself from ed reform movement
After numerous teachers, parents and activists criticized Deborah Gist to the state Board of Education for the heavy-handed ways in which she has brought the so-called education reform to Rhode Island, the embattled education commissioner told me she doesn’t consider herself a member of that movement. Gist was trained by Michelle Rhee, who is the [...]
Gist, education reform blasted at BoE meeting
Neither Dr. Gist nor the education reform movement came off very well at the Board of Education meeting earlier tonight. She only had one supporter among those who gave testimony. I was unable to speak, time ran out, so later in this post I’ll write what I was planning to say. Before I get to [...]
Angel Taveras reaffirms NECAP concerns
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras reaffirmed his opposition to using the NECAP test as a graduation requirement, Dan McGowan of WPRI reported this morning. Taveras sent a letter to the state Board of Education he wrote: “I worry that state leaders have imposed a graduation requirement on our students that is tied to a questionable measurement [...]
Former Gist supporter is now anti-NECAP activist
Jean Ann Guliano is the Robert McNamara of the Rhode Island ed reform movement, said our mutual friend Bob Houghtaling. It’s a good analogy. Diane Ravitch works too. Guliano is a former school committee chairwoman from East Greenwich who ran for Lt. Gov. on the Moderate Party ticket. As chairwoman, she was very fiscally conservative [...]
Teacher: Keep Gist and state will see civil disobedience
“If you want mass civil disobedience from your teachers, go ahead and renew Gist’s contract,” said Brian Chidester, a teacher in the Bristol Warren school district during an impassioned speech at a teacher rally Monday. The state Board of Education begins debating the embattled education commissioner’s contract tonight. Chidester said he is prepared to lead [...]
WaPost: Gist controversial on national level too
Deborah Gist is not only raising hackles with the education community here in Rhode Island, she’s doing it on a national level too! On Tuesday, Chiefs for Change released a letter attacking labor leader Randi Weingarten for opposing high stakes testing. Gist is on the board for Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change group and she [...]
Charter school: site students on toxic waste
Last year the General Assembly unanimously passed the “Environmental Cleanup Objectives for Schools” sponsored by Senator Juan Pichardo and representative Scott Slater. The bill, which took over three years to pass, was signed into law by Governor Chafee on June 6, 2012, nearly a year ago. Commonly referred to as the “School Siting Law,” this [...]
Board of Ed begins to debate Gist contract tonight
Former CVS CEO Tom Ryan envisioned the arena that bears his name at URI hosting high profile sporting events. Tonight at 5:30 the Ryan Center plays host to a high profile political event as the new state Board of Education begins the process of debating Deborah Gist’s future employment in Rhode Island. The Board may [...]
Rev. Don Anderson: payday loans are an ‘evil’ product
The reality is that [a payday loan] targets people at their most vulnerable. It’s reckless lending. This product at its core is evil. So said the Reverend Don Anderson, who co-chairs the Rhode Island Coalition for Payday Lending Reform along with Margeaux Morrison, director at NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley. Anderson said this at the end [...]
ACLU, others highly opposed to high stakes tests
More than two dozen community organizations, including the ACLU of Rhode Island, have this week formally asked the Rhode Island Board of Education to rescind the regulation that conditions the receipt of a high school diploma on passing a “high stakes test.” Although the groups have diverse reasons for opposing the measure, they all agree [...]
RI rent too damn high, says HousingWorksRI report
The rent in Rhode Island is too damn high , according to a new report from HousingWorks RI. To afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island a renter would need to earn more than $47,000 per year. About half of Rhode Island residents earn less than that. “What’s more, a quarter of all Rhode [...]
New Comments