December 10, 2014 – RI Future

December 10, 2014December 11, 2014

PC students need a safer Providence

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You will rarely find a Providence College student walking or jogging around streets of Providence alone after dark. It’s simply not safe outside the gates of campus.

Just a few weeks ago, while students awaited a pizza to be delivered at the heart of Providence College’s campus, two young men drove down Huxley Avenue and shot at a pizza delivery driver in his car. Although the individuals were brought into custody and steps are being taken by the College to make the campus safer, the source of the problem remains.

Providence for years has been experiencing the consequences of gang violence and violence remains a major concern for the Providence community. The people of Providence deserve better and have been promised a brighter tomorrow with Mayor-elect Jorge Elorza. A safer Providence means so many things for our future. It ensures a city where people will feel safe investing in local businesses and growing our economy at a time when we desperately need it.

I want to be part of a Providence community that can walk the streets and feel safe at night. A true “One Providence” promised to the voters is reachable only if there is safer Providence at the foundation. This is why the people of Providence have trusted Elorza to lead. They know that making the city safe is one of his top priorities. They are trusting that under his administration the cities crime rate will plummet and the city will bounce back stronger than ever economically. During the campaign Elorza repeatedly spoke about how he plans on bringing Providence back. He made it clear that he understood this can only be done if the cities crime issues are to diminish promptly.

I am writing as a concerned college student who wants the to see leaders take on issues like these and create concrete change. Mayor-elect Elorza has surrounded himself with bright community leaders who are looking out for him and the best of Providences future. I have no doubt that under this type of leadership Providence will be able to grow into the city I know it can be. The future of our city hangs in the balance in the meantime.

December 10, 2014December 10, 2014

Thanks to federal grant, RI to add more preK classrooms

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A $2.3 million federal grant will create 14 new pre-Kindergarten classes serving 250 children in urban areas of Rhode Island, said Elliot Krieger a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

The grant, Krieger explained, will seed the creation of more than 40 new public pre-K classrooms by 2020, serving more than 1,000 students in Providence, Central Falls, Woonsocket, Pawtucket, West Warwick, East Providence, Newport and Cranston. There are currently only 17 public pre-K classrooms in Rhode Island.

“As an educator with a background in early-childhood education, I know it is essential that all children, regardless of the economic status of their family or their community, have opportunities to enroll in high-quality early-learning programs,” said state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist. “This federal grant will accelerate our progress in opening more state-funded prekindergarten programs across the state, and we will also continue increasing high-quality early-learning opportunities through our many important on-going initiatives, including our Quality Improvement Grants for early-learning programs and efforts to expand access to full-day kindergarten.”

Rhode Island supports 17 pre-K classes in 8 cities. The federal Preschool Expansion Grant, if fully funded for $19 million over four years, will create 36 new pre-K classrooms. State education aid will fund seven additional classrooms, according to the grant application and Krieger.

Elizabeth Burke-Bryant, of KidsCountRI and co-chair of the Early Learning Council, helped the state Department of Education, write the grant application. She said, “This exciting grant award means that more of Rhode Island’s young children will benefit from high-quality preschool that will improve school readiness and help to close achievement gaps that appear well before kindergarten entry.”

Governor-elect Gina Raimondo said early childhood learning a priority.

“Rhode Island has made progress in recent years in improving access to preschool programs, and, as governor, I will continue to be an advocate for high-quality early childhood education for our youngest learners,” she said in a press release from the Department of Education. “I look forward to working with local school districts and community partners on the successful implementation of this grant to improve the school readiness and educational outcomes of our kids.”

House Speaker Nick Mattiello said investing in early childhood education is an investment in Rhode Island’s economy.

“This Preschool Expansion Grant will enable many more Rhode Island students to have access to high-quality early learning,” Mattiello said. “I am confident that this grant, along with the early-learning investments we have made as a state, will help us ensure the academic success of more Rhode Island schoolchildren, improve the lives of Rhode Island families, and bolster the economy of our state in future years.”

December 10, 2014December 10, 2014

RI congressional delegation on CIA torture report

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“We are a nation of laws and principles,” said Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed about the now-declassified CIA torture practices made public yesterday in a Senate Intelligence Committee report. “This report highlights a systemic failure to uphold those laws and principles. It is troubling and difficult to digest, but it’s important to have all the facts to prevent a repeat of these mistakes.”

The Senate report, more than five years in the making, details how CIA agents tortured suspects in the so-called war on terror to little or no avail and systematically lied to Congress and the American public about the efficacy of such techniques.

Reed, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee who is often on the short list for a high-level position in the Pentagon, said in a statement: “The use of torture is abhorrent and stands in stark contrast to our constitution and values. It is not an effective tool to obtain reliable intelligence. As we continue to confront the threat of terrorism at home and abroad, we are reminded that we are stronger as a nation when we remain true to our democratic principles.”

Senator Sheldon Whithouse was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the early stages of developing the report. He’s taken an active role in opposing torture, such as chairing a 2009 Judiciary Committee hearing on torture during the Bush Administration.

Whitehouse said of the report in a statement sent out yesterday, “After years of effort and millions of documents reviewed, the Senate report at last lays out in painstaking detail how the CIA under President Bush and Vice President Cheney turned down the dark path to torture, and then to cover its tracks misled Congress and executive officials about the efficacy of the torture program. These are hard facts to face as Americans, but it’s important that the facts be known. Chairman Feinstein and our Intelligence Committee staff deserve our country’s deep appreciation for their extraordinary efforts.”

Congressman David Cicilline, a member of the House Foreign Intelligence Committee, said in a statement: “The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report is deeply disturbing. Among the many findings, this report reveals that the CIA employed more brutal interrogation techniques than had been previously detailed publicly, deliberately misled Congress and the White House about the program’s effectiveness, and damaged the United States’ reputation around the world. These abuses are a violation of basic human rights and are in stark contrast to our values as a nation, and this report provides further confirmation that these techniques simply fail to provide results that strengthen our national security. I applaud the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee for their efforts to provide the American people with an account of the actions carried out in their name. It is now our duty as elected officials, and American citizens who believe in the values upon which our nation was founded, to ensure serious violations such as this never occur again.”

And said Congressman Jim Langevin in a statement: “I am deeply concerned by the findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The tactics detailed in the report are contrary to American values, and these programs have been rightly ended. Human rights must be preserved in times of peace and war, and I sincerely hope we can learn from this dark moment in our history.”