June 4, 2013 – RI Future

June 4, 2013June 5, 2013

Students lobby legislators on ending homelessness

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Students from the International Charter School’s 3rd grade dual language class will present on homelessness to the Rhode Island General Assembly on Wednesday, June 5th at 10:30 AM.

The students became aware of the issue when they created a simulated community for their class, with each student taking a different role in the community. But even simulated communities aren’t immune from issues of poverty, and soon enough a tent city similar to the ones that appeared in Rhode Island in 2009 was introduced to the community.

The students decided to ask for more information, from Prof. Eric Hirsch of Providence College and Barbara Kalil of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project. And then the inquisitive 3rd graders went further; they asked what they could do to make a difference.

After a month of research, the students will present their findings to the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. In a callback to the April 3rd event the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless held, the “There’s No Place Like Home” rally and press conference in support of bills H5554 and S494 that provide funding for rental vouchers and the winter shelter system, the International Charter School’s students will be dressed like munchkins from the popular story (the central characters of the story will make a re-appearance). The students have also been practicing a song for the legislators to sing with Dorothy.

The mission of the International Charter School (ICS) is to integrate the diverse languages and cultures of the communities it serves by teaching all students in two languages-in Spanish and English or in Portuguese and English-and helping children develop an appreciation of other cultures. Children learn to work collaboratively from their multiple experiences and backgrounds, striving towards high standards of academic achievement. Everyone is part of a community of learners, engaging in inquiry about the world, themselves, and others.

Here’s a video from the last time kids lobbied legislators on ending homelessness in Rhode Island:

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013

Duncan spokesman clears air about interview

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Arnie Duncan’s spokesman Daren Briscoe called me after the US education secretary had a conference call with local reporters to clear the air about why I wasn’t included on the announcement. We also spoke about some of the other questions that came up as a result of Duncan’s interview, too.

[RIPR has posted the entire audio of the conference call interview. (I ask my question at 9 minutes into the call.) Here’s WPRI’s story and here’s the ProJo account.]

Briscoe said his office did not deliberately keep information from me. Rather, he said, the two people from Duncan’s press office that I spoke with did not know about it. He also said Gist did not ask Duncan to make the call to Rhode Island reporters, nor did anyone from the Department of Education.

He also cautioned me not read too much into Duncan not using Gist’s name throughout the interview but also didn’t want to add anything to that narrative, saying, “I’ll let the call speak for itself.”

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013

Duncan on Gist: ‘Every leader needs to listen’

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In spite of Deborah Gist’s office attempt to freeze me out of a conference call with US Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and his office telling me they were unaware of the call, I was able to ask him one question.

I asked him what the low teacher morale in Rhode Island said about Gist’s management acumen. Gist said recently that teacher morale was low when she got here and she has come under intense scrutiny since it became clear just how low it is. A statewide poll of teachers showed 85 percent want her replaced.

“Every leader needs to listen and build teams,” Duncan said. I followed up by asking if this applied to Gist and Duncan said, “I don’t begin to know the details.”

While I may have missed most of the conference call, I think these two quotes speak volumes about Gist’s contract situation and whether or not she will remain in Rhode Island. Gist needs to listen better and build stronger teams and Arne Duncan doesn’t begin to know the details.

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013

Party politics at play with Gist’s contract

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So much for it being about the children. Now it’s about party politics.

Just a few hours after I tweeted that Deborah Gist lost control of the narrative about education reform in Rhode Island, she may have found a way to recapture it. The embattled education commissioner will get a plug from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who will lobby local reporters today on her behalf, according to the Providence Journal.

The call from Duncan comes a day after the Providence Journal reported that “Governor Chafee waffled Monday on whether he supports a multiyear contract for state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist.” It also comes just a few days after President Obama, Duncan’s boss, went out of his way to praise Chafee for becoming a Democrat.

The show of support from the White House puts Chafee in an awkward spot. Locally, labor put him in office but if he’s to stay there it will require lots of help from Obama.

The call puts Chafee in a difficult position. He’s being lobbied hard by teachers and their union representatives to declare the Deborah Gist a wash and replace her.

A spokesperson for Duncan said she did not know about the call. Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for Gist, declined to provide me with a contact number. Effectively, this is Gist’s office trying to control which reporters are allowed to ask Duncan questions.

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013

Reed, Whitehouse supported anti-GMO amendment

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While the concern and demand for GMO labeling grows after the world-wide March Against Monsanto rallies on May 25, Rhode Islanders should be glad to know that our senate delegation is on our side.

Both Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse voted to support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders amendment, which would make clear that states DO have the authority to require labeling on foods or beverages that contain a genetically engineered ingredient. Though the amendment was rejected, on behalf of Rhode Islanders Against GMO’s, we would like to thank Reed and Whitehouse for their support on GMO labeling and look forward to their support going forward.

Here’s a video of Sanders speaking about Monsanto on the Senate floor from last summer.

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013

Why Chafee should expand Family Planning Benefit

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For the Chafee family in Rhode Island, support for access to reproductive health care and family planning services was part of the proud legacy of a now bygone Republican era. However, our newly-Democratic Governor Lincoln Chafee has an important opportunity to make his own mark on this issue. The Chafee Administration should expand the state’s family planning program in 2013 to cover more low income women both with (and without) children, and to provide life-saving cancer screenings, birth control and annual gynecological exams. Given his family’s longstanding support, implementing a modest program that will curb unintended pregnancies and save the state millions of dollars, should be a given for Governor Chafee.

The Governor can expand the family planning benefit to include more Rhode Islanders by including it in the Medicaid Global Waiver that will be submitted later this summer to the federal government for a five-year renewal. In recent weeks, public health advocates have repeatedly asked the administration to expand the program this year, but to date, we haven’t heard the positive response we would have expected.

A broad coalition stands strongly behind this initiative including Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, March of Dimes, Economic Progress Institute, Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, RI Medical Society, RI Primary Care Providers Corporation and the RI Coalition for Reproductive Justice, among others. Over 40 Rhode Island physicians cosigned a letter in support of this program as well. We are not aware of any opposition to this program.

If politicians want to support preventative health care as well as reduce unintended pregnancies in Rhode Island, they should expand access to the state’s Medicaid family planning program. Currently, Rhode Island covers family planning services only for Medicaid recipients who deliver babies, for just two years post-partum. After that, low income women lose access to basic reproductive health services, annual exams, Pap tests, breast exams, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and yes – contraception which helps space their families. With over 62,000 women in need of publicly supported contraceptive services in our state, and a projected cost savings of $3.74 for every $1 invested in family planning, this program is a win-win for a state that’s been on the losing end of this fight for too long.

Governor Chafee, the women of Rhode Island need you to take the next step in your family’s legacy of support for our health! Support greater access to family planning, and you’ll make Rhode Island a healthier state.

To contact Governor Chafee, call his office at (401) 222-2080 or email him at governor@governor.ri.gov. Ask him to expand the State’s Medicaid family planning program to include ALL women under 250% of poverty.