Education

A water drop and ripples

Helena’s not one of your average Foulkes.

By Justin Katz | January 27, 2022 |

To be sure, Governor McKee’s rescission of his School Choice Week proclamation was a worrisome move independently of the underlying issue, so we can’t really fault Helena Foulkes, who’s campaigning for his job, for jumping on it. That said, because the underlying issue is school choice, which seeks to expand the educational opportunities for all…

Governor Dan McKee and Sgt. Pete Philomena

McKee should withdraw from the governor’s race.

By Justin Katz | January 26, 2022 |

Yes, it’s early in the campaign, but I’m comfortable issuing the declaration in this post’s subject line based on Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s rescission of his historic proclamation recognizing School Choice Week: Gov. Dan McKee’s office said Tuesday night he hadn’t intended to issue a newly surfaced proclamation as part of a national campaign in…

A water drop and ripples

Moses Brown wokeness shows what high-end private schools are really for.

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2022 |

In fairness, I don’t think Nicole Solas has it quite right when she calls Moses Brown School “the most expensive private school in Rhode Island.  Even without boarding, it looks like St. George’s, St. Andrew’s, Portsmouth Abbey, and the Lincoln School all have Moses Brown beat.  But who’s going to quibble over a few thousand…

A water drop and ripples

Something subcutaneous is going on in the education establishment.

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

Anybody else getting the feeling that there’s some deliberate initiative going on under the skin of public education that we only see here and there when it bursts out into a blemish?  Here’s one such pimple, from Timothy Duffy, who is the head of the state association for school committees: Most teachers are white. Most…

National School Choice Week 2022 logo

What if nobody in RI knew about McKee’s one saving grace (school choice)?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

Because Democrat Governor Dan McKee has been so broadly disappointing from a moderate-to-conservative perspective, this is encouraging news: For the first time in the state’s history, a Rhode Island governor has officially recognized the last week of January as “Rhode Island School Choice Week.” Gov. Daniel McKee recently signed a proclamation recognizing School Choice Week…

A water drop and ripples

Why is the head of a labor union such a thorough partisan?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

Here’s a line worth teasing out from Ted Nesi’s latest roundup column: NEARI union leader Bob Walsh said he is considering a run, adding, “I am also weighing what is best for the Democratic Party to keep this seat in Democratic hands.” Yes, the answer is obvious, but it’s worth pausing to ask:  Why is…

Richard August and Susan Donovan on State of the State

State of the State: Current Legislation, Concerns, and Issues

By Richard August | January 23, 2022 |

Host Richard August reviews with Representative Susan Donovan recent legislation and current concerns and issues of the past legislative session. This includes pay equity, a privacy bill relating to health care, child opportunity centers, gender conversion therapy for minors, affordable housing, the safe school act, non-gender specific rest rooms, the nursing home equity staffing act, an African American history curriculum and more.

Boy in a library

Anybody who wants to help disadvantaged minorities should support this.

By Justin Katz | January 19, 2022 |

You can’t help but be moved by stories like this.  Similarly, you can’t miss the political reasons they aren’t more widely spread. [Denisha] Merriweather’s future looked bleak. “Teachers would sigh when I walked through the door,” she said of the district schools she attended. “Another Merriweather,” they would judge. “My family name was not that…

A water drop and ripples

They really do think that racism is good.

By Justin Katz | January 18, 2022 |

Apparently, the RI Foundation’s racist pay boost for Providence teachers of the right race is not the only policy of its type in the country.  This is in Minnesota: The Mankato School Board voted unanimously earlier this month for a policy that may grant additional pay exclusively to non-white teachers. The board is chaired by…

Scene from Fun Home musical

Did a Pawtucket parent finally find education insiders’ sense of shame?

By Justin Katz | January 18, 2022 |

These days, it’s surprising to see an article, by Abigail Judson in the Valley Breeze, that doesn’t make Pawtucket father Brendon Hall out to be a suspicious villain for objecting to inappropriate material in his daughter’s freshman classroom.  The graphic novel at the center of the controversy (now a Broadway musical!) is Fun Home, which features…