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Education – RI Future http://www.rifuture.org Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis Sat, 29 Oct 2016 16:03:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 Innovation spotlighted at RIDE conference http://www.rifuture.org/innovation-spotlighted-at-ride-conference/ http://www.rifuture.org/innovation-spotlighted-at-ride-conference/#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2016 12:15:03 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=68027 Continue reading "Innovation spotlighted at RIDE conference"

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Gov. Gina Raimondo speaks at the Innovation Powered by Technology conference
Gov. Gina Raimondo speaks at the Innovation Powered by Technology conference

Hundreds of educators, school administrators, and students came together at the RI Convention Center today for the fifth annual “Innovation Powered by Technology” conference, sponsored by the RI Dept. of Education. Across dozens of small discussions, panels, and demos, participants from all across the state had the chance to share best practices, learn about innovations, and build community. A detailed program is available and the day’s events were captured in a rich Twitter stream.

Two of the highlights were back-to-back talks just after lunch, featuring Gov. Gina Raimondo on her perspective on technology in the state’s education system, and a high-energy presentation on personalized learning by Rhode Island’s chief innovation officer, Richard Culatta.

Gov. Raimondo began by expressing thanks for Rhode Island’s cadre of outstanding educators, “People like yourselves who are always willing to learn more, do more, be on the cutting edge for our kids. And technology is core to that. Technology gives us a direct connection to how our students think, act, work, and communicate. The smarter we can be about technology, the better we’ll be able to teach and deliver education.”

She acknowledged the challenges that our education system faces. “The thing that most keeps me up at night,” Raimondo said, “is making sure that every Rhode Islander has the skills and education they need in order to get a good job in this economy. This economy is, in many ways, scary. It has more risk than it ever had, it’s more dynamic than its ever been, and requires a higher degree of skill and education than ever in order to be successful. 70-plus percent of all good jobs in Rhode Island require some degree past high school, but only about 40 percent of Rhode Islanders have that. So every child that’s in our K-12 system right now, it’s on us to make sure that they get the skills that they need in order to be successful.”

“That is the thing that I think will turn Rhode Island’s economy around,” Raimondo continued. “Businesses are going to want to be here if we have a skilled talent base.”

The Governor talked about some of the successes of the past two years.

“We are rolling out the CS4RI program. People are raising their hands, schools, teachers, principals, students, at a faster rate than we expected, we’re ahead of all of our goals. And I’m proud that Microsoft chose Rhode Island — we’re the only state where they’re doing a statewide rollout.”

“We also have rolled out the Advanced Coursework Network and PrepareRI to make sure that every high school student in a public school can take college-level courses for college credit for free. In some ways, this isn’t a new program, but instead of $200 a class, it’s free. That’s what it’s all about: taking away what might seem like a small barrier and having a massive impact. if you can get a semester of college under your belt for free in high school, that can change your life.”

“We’re working as hard as we can to get P*Tech off the ground, thank you to Westerly and Rogers, and we’re talking about it with Woonsocket High School and PCTA. I was down in Westerly two weeks ago, and it is so exciting talking to these young people. I said, ‘Why did you sign up for P*Tech?’ and they all had an answer. I was so impressed. Ninth graders telling me, ‘Because I think it will give me an opportunity.’ They know all about it, and they were psyched to be in the program.”

A reporter from RI Future had the chance to follow up with Raimondo to ask just how significant these kinds of expanding digital efforts are in attracting companies like PayPal to the state.

“Very important,” Raimondo said. “The primary reason to do it is because these kids deserve a chance to be successful, and a good education is what is necessary. But it’s very important. I have many conversations with companies looking at coming to Rhode Island, and they ask me, ‘What are you doing, Governor, to make sure that ten or 15 years from now, we have a skilled pipeline of people that have computer skills?’ They don’t want to just know about RIC, CCRI, URI, and today’s graduates, they want to know, if we come to Rhode Island, if we are going to be there for twenty years, are you building a pipeline.”

RI Chief Innovation Officer Richard Culatta
RI Chief Innovation Officer Richard Culatta

Richard Culatta was hired in the new role of Chief Innovation Officer in January, after working in the US Department of Education office of Educational Technology, and he has clearly hit the ground running on the issue of personalized learning, which he discussed in a rapid-fire talk.

“Nobody says we shouldn’t adapt learning to the students,” said Culatta. “But the challenge is, how do we do that? What tools are necessary? What do we need?”

“As a teacher, I knew I was teaching to the middle and that the schedule was trumping my kids. Imagine for a second, if we said every student in our system, every student in Rhode Island, will have 100% mastery; what will be flexible is the time and the approach used to get there.”

“Do you need technology to personalize learning? No. Unless you want to do it at scale.”

“If you have a classroom with 3 or 4 or 5 students, well, at that point, you can do a heck of a lot of personalizing, tailor very much to their needs without any technology. But when you have a high school with 5 classes a day with 30 kids in each of the classes, the ability to tailor the learning would just be crushing. Imagine having 50 IEPs that you’re planning every day.”

“How can we get that granular level of tailoring for each student and not have it be too burdensome? What that looks like, we have to figure out. I don’t care if we’re delivering instruction on technology or not, that’s a separate conversation, but we need to figure out some tools that can help teachers manage personalized learning so that we can do this at scale.”

Culatta closed with a provocative thought about a new “digital divide” not about access, but about the difference between using digital tools in passive versus active modes.

“What I’d like us to all be thinking about is a new digital divide: a digital use divide. How can we be using technology not to digitize traditional practices, not to have a digital version of what used to be on the chalkboard. How do we use technology to engage and empower and connect, and allow our students to be designers and builders, and allow them to work on what they want, when they want — that’s relevant, and aligned to quality standards that are common and accepted across the board.”

“A rigorous curriculum that is still tailored to individual needs and not be soul-crushing for teachers to have to come up with 75 individual lesson plans every day. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s pretty audacious. But I think Rhode Island is the place that can pull it off faster and better than anybody else, and if we do, it will transform not just Rhode Island, but the world.”

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Cicilline bill would reduce college student loan debt http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-making-college-more-affordable/ http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-making-college-more-affordable/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:15:15 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67384 Continue reading "Cicilline bill would reduce college student loan debt"

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cicilline college debtCongressman David Cicilline will file a new bill in September that will address the student loan debt crisis facing America, he announced at a press conference today.

“Millions of young Americans are being forced to either take on massive amounts of debt or give up on the pursuit of a college degree,” Cicilline said. “This is completely wrong. Higher education must be accessible and affordable to all who are willing to work hard, and not a privilege for the wealthy.”

The legislation is being called the Making College More Affordable Act. Watch the round table discussion Cicilline organized about the issue.

“It reforms and simplifies our broken student loan system and moves us closer to making college a right for everyone, not a privilege for a few,” Cicilline said. “The Making College More Affordable Act will ensure that more young people have access to college education and the resources they need to get ahead.”

The bill will “address the root causes of this problem through a five-point approach,” according to a news release from Cicilline’s office. See fact sheet here.

1) Creates an automatic payroll deduction, thereby simplifying the payment process by deducting monthly payments in the same way that Social Security contributions are deducted today.

2) Lowers the required monthly payment for undergraduate student loans from the current range of 10-20% of a borrower’s after-tax income to a starting contribution of 4% of pre-tax income, with payments increasing for incomes more than $100,000 annually.

3) Eliminates interest payments for borrowers who make monthly payments on time.

4) Shifts from a range of 10-25 years on a loan to a clearly defined 30-year loan – the same as a home mortgage.

5) Allows at least 30 million Americans who are holding student loans today to refinance existing student loan debt by entering into this new system.

The average Rhode Island college graduate would save $11,124 under Cicilline’s proposal, according to the news release. The average RI college grad owes $35,169, said the news release.

“Access to higher education is one of the single greatest predictors of success later in life,” said the news release. “Among millennials, someone with a college degree, as opposed to a high school diploma, will make 62.5 percent more in annual income, will be three times more likely to have a job, and will be four times less likely to live in poverty.”

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Public input needed on proposed changes to RI diploma system http://www.rifuture.org/public-input-needed-ri-diploma-system/ http://www.rifuture.org/public-input-needed-ri-diploma-system/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2016 10:17:16 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=66941 Continue reading "Public input needed on proposed changes to RI diploma system"

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diploma billHopefully many parents, teachers, and concerned RI residents are aware that the RI Council on Elementary and Secondary Education has proposed changes to the high school diploma system. They will host four public hearings in late August and early September, and also are accepting public comment in writing. Here is the link to the draft changes.

The meetings will be held Monday, August 22 at the Cumberland Public Library; Monday, August 29 at the Newport Public Library; Tuesday, September 6 at the Warwick Public Library; and Monday, September 12 at URI’s Providence Campus.

In addition to the dates and venues for the public forums, this document says that written comments can be submitted to Sonya Barbosa at Secondary@ride.ri.gov. One week ago, on August 1, I submitted the following email with my questions and concerns. I re-sent them two days later, when I realized that Ms. Barbosa might not have read through to the end of my email and not have realized that I requested a confirmation that my comments had been received and forwarded to the members of the RI Council on Elementary and Secondary Education and the members of the RI Board of Education. It is now August 8, and I still have not received an acknowledgement. Therefore, I am making my concerns public. I hope that this will inspire others to read the proposed changes, consider their impact, and provide a statement in person at a forum and/or in writing. The future of our students is too important to leave to the educrats to decide.

To: Sonya Barbosa, RIDE
Email: Secondary@ride.ri.gov
To the Members of the RI Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Members of the RI Board of Education:

Thank you for the opportunity to express my thoughts on the proposed changes to the graduation requirements. As a retired teacher from the RI School for the Deaf, I have read through the proposed changes and considered how they would affect my former students and students in general across the state. I have several questions and concerns.

• As many of you may know, I have been an outspoken critic of the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC assessments, for many reasons. I was surprised to see on lines 70-73 of the proposed regulations that the definition of Common Core Standards had a strike-through of the entire paragraph. What does this mean, since the PARCC tests are based on the CCSS (and so are the PSAT and SAT), and students in grades 3-9 will still be expected to take the PARCC annually?

• Lines 305-307 state that as of 2017 LEAs may choose to include the state assessment or other standardized assessment as a graduation requirement. How does this mesh with the latest announcements from RIDE that 10th and 11th graders will no longer take the PARCC, and may optionally take the PSAT and SAT? This is purportedly for the purpose of guarding against over-testing.

Some districts have already made participation in the PARCC a graduation requirement as of 2017. Many RI parents and parents across the country have researched the PARCC ELA and Math assessments and decided that it is not is the best interest of their children to participate. Will RIDE accept the situation that students who have fulfilled all other requirements for graduation will not receive a diploma for not taking this flawed test? Will an exemplary student be denied a diploma in 2021 for refusing to participate in the PARCC Algebra 1 test in 8th grade, or the PARCC ELA test in 9th grade? We are soon entering the 2016-2017 school year. There is so much confusion around the diploma requirements across the state. RIDE keeps changing the recommendations, people assume that the RIDE recommendations are state-wide regulations, but districts can still decide otherwise. This situation is untenable.

• The major proposed changes to the current Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements seem to involve the Optional Commissioner’s Seal and the Optional Pathway Endorsement. These are alluded to in lines 446-464 as Council Designations. Yet the Commissioner’s Seal and Pathway Endorsements are not described in detail in the proposed changes. According to the “Proposal for a Revised Rhode Island Diploma System: Overview and Frequently Asked Questions,” developed as of May 20, 2016: http://www.ride.ri.gov/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Diploma-System/Regs_FAQs_v%202_5%2020.pdf

“6. Why don’t I see a reference to the Commissioner’s Seal or Pathway Endorsements in the proposed Secondary Regulations?

“The Commissioner’s Seal and Pathway Endorsements would be allowed under the proposed section L-6-3.3, which outlines the criteria for Council Designations. [L-6-3.4 says “Council designations” but does not outline them.] In order to stay current with innovative practices in the field, the proposed Secondary Regulations create the structure for the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education to name, define, and allow the Commissioner’s Seal and Pathway Endorsements at a later time than the initial vote on the regulations, and to review and revise these designations as necessary.”

It seems quite problematic to leave the specifications of these endorsements to the Council to determine at a later time. Will there be public input?

• Lines 466-479 discuss the alternate recognition of high school accomplishment, defined as a Certificate, which is not considered a high school diploma. It states that students with an IEP and modified proficiency standards [i.e. students who take the alternate assessment] may, at LEA discretion, be awarded a diploma. From my experience teaching at the RI School for the Deaf, students who took the alternate assessment had to meet very stringent criteria, and those criteria included significant cognitive impairment. Very few students at the school were eligible for the alternate assessment. Yet many of the students who had in actuality been successful throughout their academic careers at the school, but whose reading levels were considerably below typical for their grade level, were not eligible for the alternate assessment. Many students have additional learning disabilities, live in families who do not speak English, live in families who do not fluently communicate with them in sign language, and/or live in poverty. These students are capable of post-secondary level work, but might be denied a diploma depending on how the proficiency levels are set.

According to the Frequently Asked Questions mentioned above, the proposed diploma system is intended to be flexible enough to help students with disabilities and any students academically at risk by allowing schools and districts to set the proficiency levels for their students. Yet the schools are to be held accountable for preparing their students for post-secondary education and the workplace.

Who is to decide if the proficiency levels as determined by individual schools are reasonable and fair to all students with varying special needs, when this decision is left to the districts? Will there be comparability of proficiency levels from school to school within a district and between districts?

• At the RI Board of Education meeting on May 17, 2016 Commissioner Wagner discussed the menu of standardized assessments that might be approved for the Commissioner’s Seal endorsement. He said that these would be nationally recognized assessments and nationally recognized cut scores. Again, as a retired teacher from the RI School for the Deaf, I am deeply concerned about this. In my many years of experience teaching deaf and hard of hearing middle school and high school students, we had numerous students graduate and go on to post-secondary programs. Many went to Gallaudet (four year liberal arts college for the deaf) or to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, affiliated with the Rochester Institute of Technology.

These programs for the deaf required the ACT as a college entrance test. However, cognizant that mastery of academic English is a challenge for many students deaf from birth or early childhood, these institutions set the cut scores for entrance considerably below that for non-deaf students entering post-secondary programs. This did not mean that the students had inferior aptitude, but considered their challenges, anticipating the appropriate supports they would be provided at the post-secondary level. Many of our students completed college and went on to satisfying careers. A nationally recognized cut score for the general population is not an appropriate hoop for all students to jump through to be recognized as prepared for college level course work.

At the same Board of Education meeting, the Commissioner explained that RIDE can factor into the districts’ accountability system the % of students that earn a Commissioner’s Seal or a Pathway Endorsement. If the RI School for the Deaf were to be evaluated by how many students achieve the Commissioner’s Seal as currently described, the evaluation would not accurately reflect the quality of the teaching and learning at the school.

• When asked by a Board of Education member at the same Board of Education meeting, “What resources will be provided to districts to accomplish all this? [i.e. the proposed diploma system], the Commissioner’s answer was: districts can adjust with advanced notice. The Commissioner is expecting an awful lot from districts if they are to accomplish personalized systems of pathways for every middle school and high school student with no additional resources. I hope that the Council will further consider the impact on districts of such a sweeping overhaul of the diploma system.

Thank you for considering my concerns. I would appreciate an acknowledgement that my concerns have been forwarded to the Members of the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Members of the Board of Education.

Sincerely,
Sheila Resseger, M.A.
Retired teacher, RI School for the Deaf

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Malala Yousafzai comes to Providence, talks education and Pokémon http://www.rifuture.org/malala-yousafzai/ http://www.rifuture.org/malala-yousafzai/#respond Fri, 29 Jul 2016 15:16:10 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=66657 2016-07-28 Malala 200032To her fans and supporters all over the world, she is Malala. She is a superstar. But when she arrived in Providence the night before her appearance at the Dunkin Donuts Center, no one recognized her.

On her first night in our city, Malala Yousafzai, youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, ate at the restaurant India on the East Side. In her telling, she ate too much and decided to go for a walk in the park with her father. In the park, she says, “Nobody was even looking at me.” Everyone was too busy playing Pokémon Go. Nineteen year old Malala knew about the game, her brothers play it, but her father did not know about it. They talked to a couple of players, asking them to explain the game. Her father still doesn’t understand the game. Malala doesn’t play but she is happy that the game gets her brothers out of the house, instead of keeping them indoors playing games on the television.

It’s such an ordinary story, yet Malala Yousafzai has not had an ordinary life.

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A young Malala fan holds a sign for the crowd

On October 12, 2012, Malala Yousafzai, already an outspoken education advocate, was 15 years old when two members of the Taliban, no older than she, got on her school bus in Pakistan and shot her in the head. As Malala spoke about that day before an audience of 6,000 in Providence Thursday evening, she said, “It was the longest bus ride. I still haven’t arrived at my home in Swat Valley.”

Malala doesn’t remember the day of her attack. She was taken from hospital to hospital before ending up in Birmingham, England. After multiple operations and procedures she says is well and nearly fully recovered. About the men who shot her, Malala said, “The two boys who attacked me are about the same age as me. They were brainwashed. I blame the ideology. Islam doesn’t allow anyone to kill another person. Forgiveness is the best revenge.”

“The terrorists tried their best,” said Malala, “and I realized that even God is supporting me. Even Death is supporting me. Death doesn’t want me.”

2016-07-29 Malala in PVD 006When Malala was 11 the Taliban took over her homeland in Swat Valley, Pakistan. The Taliban stopped her education. “Women’s rights and dignity were taken away… That was a very hard time.” On her last day of school, Malala says she “decided to speak out for [her]self and all the girls in [her] community.”

She wrote about life under Taliban control and the need for education for women for the BBC and was profiled and wrote for the NY Times. When her name and the name of her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, a school principal, was revealed on the radio, she became a target.

Since her recovery Malala has become an outspoken advocate against terrorism and for women’s rights. She has spoken out against child labor and child trafficking. She became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, sharing the honor with Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s rights activist from India. Malala, ever humble, doesn’t see the Nobel Prize as something she received. She sees it as an award recognizing the importance of children.

2016-07-29 Malala in PVD 007Malala doesn’t see herself as special. “There are amazing girls in Swat Valley better than me,” she said, “but their parents did not allow them an education.” Malala’s father supported his daughter’s right to an education. When people ask her father what he did to raise such a daughter, says Malala, her father answers that it’s what he didn’t do that is important.

“I didn’t clip the wings of my daughter,” says her father.

Channel 10’s Patrice Wood conducted Malala’s interview, but at one point, Wood handed over the questioning to Hilde Lysiak, a nine year old reporter who publishes The Orange Street News. Lysiak’s reporting came under fire earlier this year when she covered a murder that took place near her home. Many were outraged that a cute nine-year old girl was covering a terrible murder. Lysiak struck back with a masterful video telling people who didn’t like her reporting, “If you want me to stop covering news, then you get off your computers and do something about the news. There, is that cute enough for you?”

2016-07-28 Malala 195937Lysiak’s short, on-stage interview with Malala demonstrates Malala’s commitment to women’s rights and the power of young girls. She was excited to answer Lysiak’s questions. To Malala education means allowing children the right to question and giving them access to critical thinking skills.

“Believe in yourself,” said Malala several times.

Malala is a devout Muslim. She wears a headscarf but balks at covering her face, as is the tradition for many. She believes that women should make their own choices. “Freedom means I wear the headscarf, as is my right,” said Malala. “I don’t feel comfortable covering my face, because that is who I am.”

As for being a young woman meeting with presidents and prime ministers, Malala says she is not afraid of powerful world leaders.  “Am I afraid of presidents?” she asked, “Presidents should be scared of me because I’m speaking for the people.” It is the government’s responsibility to provide “complete, quality education for every child.” And Malala intends to hold governments and leaders to this obligation.

“Terrorists,” said Malala, “understand how important education is.”

In the video below, a choir sings a song written to honor Malala, and she joins them on stage.

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Nuns on the Bus visit RI http://www.rifuture.org/nuns-on-the-bus-visit-ri/ http://www.rifuture.org/nuns-on-the-bus-visit-ri/#respond Thu, 28 Jul 2016 13:35:22 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=66441 2016-07-23 Nuns on the Bus 2683The Nuns on the Bus came to Providence Saturday night as part of a 13 state tour that ended at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. At each stop, the Nuns held meetings where concerned residents could share their concerns about a range of topics – including tax justice, living wages, family-friendly workplaces, access to democracy, healthcare, citizenship and housing. These meetings were held under the general title of “Mending the Gaps” and the discussion points and concerns from each meeting are to be delivered in Philadelphia.

The Nuns arrived at St. Michael’s Church in South Providence to the music of the Extraordinary Rendition Band and St. Michael’s own drummers.

During the discussions the Nuns learned about the obscene child poverty rates in Rhode Island, the criminality and disconnect of many of our elected leaders and our state’s support for the fossil fuel industry and the environmental racism such support entails. The meeting filled the basement of St. Michael’s.

From Providence the Nuns headed to Hartford, Scranton and Newark before arriving in Philly on  July 26. You can follow their progress here.

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Teacher absenteeism related to failing school infrastructure http://www.rifuture.org/teacher-absenteeism-urban-school-infrastructure/ http://www.rifuture.org/teacher-absenteeism-urban-school-infrastructure/#comments Sat, 16 Jul 2016 02:16:11 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65542 Continue reading "Teacher absenteeism related to failing school infrastructure"

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Calabro
Calabro

The answer to why public school teachers are absent so often is easily explained if you ever walk into our under-funded school buildings that have gone decades without serious renovations and are host to a variety of workplace hazards.

Perhaps Gov. Raimondo is right to be concerned.

“I use the example that our buildings are extremely run-down and they’re not well-kept and they’re not really clean,” said Providence teachers’ union president Maribeth Calabro. “I know of several teachers, myself included, who, somewhere in September, get sick with bronchitis and the last bout of bronchitis that they have is somewhere in February or March. There’s been years where I’ve had bronchitis three and four times, just me personally.

She added, “But I also know other teachers who, when you go to the doctor, the doctor says ‘Are you a teacher? Are you in an older building?’ So we have a lot of respiratory illness, a lot of asthma, a great deal of bronchitis, and it just wears people down. It wears their immune system down to be working in environments that are not clean.”

Click the player below to listen to this interview

Calabro said all stakeholders know the biggest issue in urban education is the facilities.

“I’ve walked our buildings with school committee members,” she said. “I’ve walked our buildings with Senator Pichardo and other members. I’ve walked them with George Nee and Mr. Sabatoni. We all realize, it’s abundantly clear that our buildings are in disrepair, to the point of being just disrespectful in the fact that we think that kids should just come here and feel good about themselves when the building is so run down. There’s an acknowledgement at the state and local level that this is in fact the case. The issue is, and it always comes down to this, it’s the money. So there was a moratorium put on construction funding for schools for a good long time and that moratorium served to further exacerbate the issues that are in schools. We have holes in ceilings, holes in floors, missing screens, you name it. Peeling paint, I can’t even tell you how much peeling paint there is, mold, etc.”

“So all of those things cost money and I realize that and the building trades realize that and I think the public in general, John Q. Public, realizes that it costs money. But there has to be a way sustain and maintain these buildings through funding from the state and/or city that doesn’t hinge upon the whim of the person who is in political office and the fact there is no money. So we don’t have a rainy day fund, we don’t save specifically for schools, we don’t do anything in particular to support school construction that is not charter-like. So all of those things exacerbate the situation in that we have basic needs of our kids and they’re not being met because of financial obligations.”

Last year PTU Treasurer Alex Lucini described how some buildings in his district are supposed to be legally condemned:

“They always pick and choose a topic area every year to focus on and it’s typically never anything positive, it’s always the negative angle which vilifies teachers for whatever reason,” says Providence teachers union president Maribeth Calabro. “I think that it’s very interesting that the conversation just focuses on the word ‘absences’ but it doesn’t talk about reasons for absence.”

 

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If you like my reporting, please consider contributing to my Patreon!
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YPI applauds PVD School Board policy on transgender and gender expansive students http://www.rifuture.org/ypi-applauds-pvd-policy/ http://www.rifuture.org/ypi-applauds-pvd-policy/#respond Fri, 01 Jul 2016 18:22:10 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65336 Youth Pride inc logoYouth Pride Inc. (YPI) applauds the new policies of the Providence School Board in its efforts to ensure best practices to providing services and support to transgender students that not only create a more safe and affirming learning environment, but also protects the rights of transgender students in the city’s schools. YPI is the only youth service organization in the state that is exclusively focused on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. They serve not only as advocates for our LGBTQ youth, but also as a resource to any school in our state who wishes to engage YPI as partners in the process to supporting LGBTQ youth.

“This policy is a welcome change and one that YPI has been advocating for many years,” said Chris Lauth, Executive Director at Youth Pride. “This policy is a key step in recognizing transgender students’ needs to feel supported from our school leaders and paves the way for our schools to extend this right to them.

Joining the national and regional call to action to support transgender students, both Providence School Board Member Robert Gondola, who sponsored the board initiative and School Board President Nicholas Hemond demonstrated good leadership in the creation and approval of this important policy. The Policy for Transgender and Gender Expansive Students compliments Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza‘s priorities for a school district that is welcoming, accessible and free of discrimination.

For more information about this new policy and/or what it may mean for you as a parent or student, YPI is always available for support and counseling.

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ProJo news story corrects Projo op/ed misinformation http://www.rifuture.org/projo-news-story-corrects-projo-oped-misinformation/ http://www.rifuture.org/projo-news-story-corrects-projo-oped-misinformation/#respond Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:38:36 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65174 How misleading are Providence Journal editorials on public education and specifically charter schools? The news department ran a front page story this morning overtly correcting misinformation found in its editorials.

This from the second paragraph of the story ‘Bill would not end expansion’ on page A1 this morning (web version):

news projo bvp  And this is from the ProJo Editorial Board on June 18:

editorial projo bvpBVP was also used as an example in a June 9 editorial by the Providence Journal. A June 26 letter to the editor from former WPRO radio host Steve Kass, who also worked for Republican Don Carcieri, lauded and parroted the editorial’s focus on BVP.

ProjoThe ProJo editorial board has a long history of using – and misusing – Blackstone Valley Prep to represent all charter schools in Rhode Island. Many Rhode Islanders, even some charter school supporters, think the Journal editorial writers are purposely deceiving their readers in an attempt to improve public perception of charter schools.

In the same editorial, the Providence Journal writes, “What sin did the academy commit, in the eyes of the legislature, that necessitated its loss of funds? It is not unionized. And it tried to focus its spending on serving the students rather than providing costly benefits to adults.”

Even the most ardent charter school supporters know there are more valid reasons than this to better regulate charter school expansion. Objectively, charter schools divert critical funding from the vast majority of public school students. The ProJo editorial board never mentions this more salient point. The all-white, conservative-leaning editorial board only seems to care about inner city students when charter schools are involved – and charters serve only 5 percent of overall public school students.

But don’t confuse that with a hyper focus on charter schools. The ProJo editorial board has had nothing to say on a recent scandal at BVP involving teachers sending disparaging emails about students. But when a teachers’ union official was found innocent of cyber-harassing a state legislator, the op-ed board still called for the official to be fired.

If the editorial board is banking on the fact that most readers don’t pay close enough attention to see the nuance behind its obstructive and often misleading editorials, it is committing a gross miscarriage of journalism. Thankfully, the news department seems to be fighting back.

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Rob Goldman to challenge Rep Diaz in District 11 http://www.rifuture.org/goldman-v-diaz-district-11/ http://www.rifuture.org/goldman-v-diaz-district-11/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:17:18 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65032 DSC_5643 (1)Rob Goldman is running as a Democrat against incumbent Grace Diaz in District 11. He’s running on a platform of universal healthcare and a $15 minimum wage with a call for increased education spending.

Goldman, founder and president of Living History, which is a hands-on history learning program for high school students, has been a homeowner in Elmwood since 2001.

Goldman is running a campaign called “11 for 11”, 11 things the state must do for District 11.

  1. Rhode Island must raise the minimum wage to $15.
  2. Rhode Island must implement single-payer universal health insurance for all residents.
  3. Rhode Island must increase spending for adult education by 200 percent (Yes, 200 percent).
  4. Rhode Island must re-instate the Historic Home Tax Credit for individual home owners.
  5. Rhode Island must make Brown University, other colleges, and LifeSpan pay property taxes of 100 percent valuation and also pay the full amount of state corporate income taxes.
  6. Rhode Island must eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy.  The state income tax rate for the rich (over $400,000 per year) must be 25 percent.
  7. Rhode Island cities and towns must  have the right to require residency for all newly hired police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other municipal workers.
  8. Rhode Island must legalize marijuana use and sales.
  9. There must be a state-wide Public Library Repair Bond act on the 2018 ballot.
  10. Rhode Island must ban the sale and ownership of automatic weapons and ammunition.
  11. Rhode Island government must take its money out of the big banks such as Citizens, Bank of America, Wells-Fargo and place it with local institutions.

Previously, Goldman was the development director for West Bay Community Action in Warwick and the Genesis Center in Providence. Rob has a BA in Political Science from Tufts University (1974) and a MS in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts (1988).

Patreon

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Young Dems endorse Susan Donovan for Rep Gallison’s vacant seat http://www.rifuture.org/young-dems-endorse-donovan/ http://www.rifuture.org/young-dems-endorse-donovan/#respond Fri, 03 Jun 2016 15:39:13 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=63971 susan-donovan (1)
Susan Donovan

YDRI is proud to announce our endorsement of Susan Donovan in the democratic primary for House District 69, Bristol/Portsmouth. While it is rare for YDRI to make an endorsement this early, we felt in Susan’s case it was warranted. In our conversations with Susan, it became immediately clear that she was both an exceptional candidate and would make an equally exceptional representative.

At YDRI we hold ourselves accountable to three goals. One getting young Rhode Islanders involved in politics. Two getting young Rhode Islanders elected to office. Three pushing policies that help young people not only stay, but thrive in our state. It was in the final regard that Susan stood out. From her 33 years as an public school educator, Susan demonstrated a strong understanding of our public education system and both it’s strengths and weaknesses.

She made it clear that providing a quality education and working to make college affordable for all would be among her top priorities. We at YDRI believe a knowledgeable voice dedicated to education is desperately needed at the State House and we believe Susan will be a strong advocate not only for her district but for young Rhode Islanders everywhere.

YDRI wholeheartedly endorses Susan Donovan for the Democratic Primary in HD 69, Bristol/Portsmouth.

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