Raimondo’s pension cuts benefited hedge funds more than RI, says Brown
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown attacked pension cuts for state employees dating back to Governor Raimondo’s previous role as state treasurer at a town-hall style “Restore Our Pensions” event at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence on Monday evening. The event came mere hours after WPRI published polling results showing Brown lagging behind in name […]
Deya Garcia runs to advocate for a neglected neighborhood
Sitting in The Lunch Box, a Dominican restaurant on Park Avenue in Cranston, Democratic candidate for Providence city council Deya Garcia (Ward 8, Reservoir and West End) shows me pictures of flowers. Her neighbors have dug in chayote, a kind of squash plant usually reserved for humid climates, and gave Garcia tips on how to […]
Providence students tell their stories with their public art
A new piece of public art on the side of Empire Loan, at the corner of Broad and Somerset streets in Providence, is a bit of an optical illusion. Incorporating sculptural elements on a chain-link fence, spray-painted designs on the asphalt, and a mural on the building’s side, the piece comes together only when one […]
Warwick wants to charge students for riding the bus, playing sports
In an effort to balance its budget, Warwick wants to charge students $1 to take the bus to and from school as well as a fee to participate in after school sports. But because these cost-cutting moves flout state law, the local school committee is seeking the approval of the state Department of Education to […]
Graduate workers at Brown dodge Trump’s labor board in historic agreement
Graduate workers at Brown University announced a landmark agreement with the university Thursday afternoon, paving the way for one of the first collective bargaining agreements for graduate employees at a private institution in the country. Graduate teaching and research assistants at public universities have long had access to collective bargaining rights, as they fall under […]
Rhode Island public schools are pretty segregated
There’s at least one metric by which urban schools in Rhode Island equal their suburban and rural counterparts – racial segregation. People of color comprise 80 percent of the combined student bodies at public schools in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket while the rest of the state’s public schools are 78 percent white, according […]
Parent complains about lunch shaming, but Aramark employee says it works
Aniece Germain, mother of a kindergarten and a second grade student in the Cranston public schools, didn’t know her children’s lunch accounts were in arrears until after they missed a meal because of it. “When the boys came home from school they were so mad,” she said. Because their lunch accounts were delinquent, each by about […]
RI seeks to boost school breakfast
Eating in the classroom once resulted in detention. At the Veazie Street School in Providence, it’s a part of the curriculum. The K through 5 elementary school in Wanskuck, where 94 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, serves breakfast in the classroom to start the school day. “We know that every child […]
Professor Kalwant Bhopal on race, education in US, UK
Kalwant Bhopal is a visiting professor at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Education and deputy director of the Center for Research in Race & Education at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Next Spring she will be publishing her book “White Privilege – the myth of a post-racial society.” Her first US […]
No more charter school lotteries, pick students at random
A Providence Journal editorial on Thursday, September 14, “Some schools lead the way” praises charter schools for outstanding performances on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests. They are described as “heroic schools…in the urban core,” and are held up as proof that “the old canard that poverty is an […]
RIDE commits to statewide policy protecting transgender and gender non-conforming students
Education Commissioner Ken Wagner announced his commitment to require all school districts in the state to adopt comprehensive policies affirming the civil rights of transgender and gender non-conforming students.
Valerie Lawson to primary Daniel DaPonte in Senate District 14, East Providence
Valarie Lawson announced today that she is a candidate for Rhode Island Senate District 14, East Providence. She will be running against incumbent Daniel DaPonte, who has served in that position since 1999.
The March for Racial Justice in Rhode Island
Well over 400 people converged on India Point Park for the March for Racial Justice (M4RJ). Sister marches were held across the country. In Providence, the “march” was actually more of a rally.
Pokanokets reach agreement with Brown University
On Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, Brown University and the present-day Pokanoket Tribe members encamped since Aug. 20, 2017, on property in Bristol, Rhode Island, signed an agreement regarding the land.
Here’s the agreement:
Youth-led social justice activism in Rhode Island
“The activist that I am is breaking the system from within,” said Latifat Odetunde, a senior at Classical High School and a member of Youth in Action speaking at a conference on “Youth-Led Social Justice Activism in Rhode Island.”
Wagner on transgender policy: “You can’t force people to love”
“You can’t force people to love and sometimes when you force you actually create the very issues that you say you are trying to prevent,” said Education Commissioner Ken Wagner.
Pawtucket ends lunch shaming, moves toward free food for all students
Pawtucket is employing a two-part strategy to changing its approach to school lunch. The first part was to stop lunch shaming. In April, RI Future flagged the Pawtucket School District as one of several in Rhode Island that serves cold cheese sandwiches to students if their parents don’t pay their food bill on time – […]
Groups urge RIDE to adopt statewide policy for transgender students
A recent report from the ACLU of RI found that more than 25 percent of RI public schools have no comprehensive policy in place to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students.
Providence elementary school students eat free this year
School meals will be free for every elementary school student in the Providence Public School District this year, according to a press release from PPSD. “Providence Public Schools are committed to creating educational environments that support health and wellness,” said School Board member Robert Gondola, the chairman of the board’s Health and Wellness Committee. “The […]
RI needs new investments in higher education to ensure prosperity for all
Like most states, Rhode Island’s state funding for higher education remains well below pre-recession levels (though Rhode Island’s disinvestment in higher education preceded the onset of the Great Recession by several years, as seen in Figure 1). Economic opportunity and a thriving state economy depend on a high-quality, affordable system of public higher education. At […]
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