Education
I would never gainsay the importance of data and evidence to polemics, nor would I parade the pure primacy of reason, but I can’t help but be amused at the failure of evidentiary debate to advance the discussion concerning Rhode Island’s educational system. As is so often the case, skepticism and credulity appear to find…
For anybody who has not already done so, wading through the comment-section discussion appended to my recent post on teachers and education is well worthwhile. Having followed it in progress, myself, I’ve observed a point that apparently needs stressing before such conversations proceed: Unions are not the only problem that requires fixing in Rhode Island’s…
Is Rhode Island’s statewide moratorium on charter schools, currently slated to end at the of the 2007-2008 school year, really going to be allowed to lapse? According to Rochelle Lefebvre of the Pawtucket Times, officials in Central Falls must believe so…Students may be soon be able to enroll in [Central Falls’] first charter school that,…
It is certainly worth reminding ourselves that parents, as a group, bear some of the blame — most of it — for children doing poorly in school. But inasmuch as parents don’t draw government salaries, receive paid days off, or claim retirement benefits for their efforts, the public rightly makes schools an area of particular…
I just returned from two weeks at Ashland University in Ohio where I taught two courses as part of an excellent program for teachers of American history and government. It is a program that serious teachers in Rhode Island ought to investigate: the Master of American History and Government (MAHG) degree program, a unique curriculum…
About a week ago, Dan Yorke interviewed Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee about the bottom-up education reform package he was shopping around. Since then, McKee has gained some support and he and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian were on yesterday’s ABC 6’s On The Record with Jim Hummel to talk about the plan. McKee and Avedisian talked…
Charles Bakst’s column in today’s Projo contains this item about House Finance Chairman Steven Costantino (D-Providence), generally considered to be the main architect of the House’s budget…Interestingly, Carcieri hoped to spend $19 million more on school aid. But Costantino, looking for savings, wasn’t convinced such an outlay, spread over the various districts, would make much…
Matt Jerzyk of RI Future offers these long-term recommendations in response the Rhode Island House’s decision to REDUCE — not level-fund — statewide education aid…Consolidate and merge school districts to some smaller level (perhaps five districts).Eliminate the funding of schools by property taxes and fund them solely through the state. Two immediate thoughts in response…These…
I’ll readily admit that I don’t know much about the state of Providence schools other than what I get from the news, but it seems that Providence Superintendent of Schools Donnie Evans has some good ideas. Evans announced a series of new initiatives that address his strategic plan, Realizing the Dream, which calls for improving…