Criticizing Rhode Island's Education System

Article XII of the Constitution of the State or Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1) establishes it as the duty of the General Assembly to promote schools, to establish a perpetual school fund to support the schools, and to ensure that all donations for the support of public schools or other educational purposes received by the General Assembly are applied according to the terms of the donors. Money is not to be diverted from this fund or in any way borrowed or appropriated for any other purpose. In essence, therefore, the Rhode Island public school system is to be financed and overseen by the General Assembly of the state.

In April 2006, the Joint Committee on Legislative Services let a contract to R.C. Wood & Associates (1) to conduct a series of research projects designed to develop an education finance distribution aid formula that would ultimately ensure that funds were targeted on an as needed basis and in a manner that would ensure that the special needs of all students were met in a reasonable and cost effective manner. R.C. Wood & Associates (3) developed four models accompanied by target expenditures to address varying school and district needs and to use a per pupil average expenditure of approximately $9,500. The overarching goal of the research by R.C. Wood & Associates was to ensure that greater equity would be provided to each school in a manner that would permit the state to meet the goals and objectives of, among other initiatives, the No Ch

Related Essays

American Revolution .... Written in an irreverent, sarcastic, and humorous tone, the gentleman spends his topic matter criticizing The Rights of the Colonies Examined. .... (1181 5 )

Case Analysis .... on group dynamics. Team members must be assertive about their own opinions without criticizing the opinions of others. So, too, team .... (1240 5 )

Petronius' The Satyricon .... The various devices and techniques Petronius uses to express his self-reflexive work all serve the larger purpose of criticizing society and everything in it .... (1514 6 )

The Revolutionary Age .... In Goya's case, he displayed his wrath not so much when he was criticizing others, which he often did, but when others were criticizing him.5 Goya's anger and .... (2483 10 )

The Plain Dealer .... is acceptable if it be done to the other's face turns back upon him, when he is summoned by the court to apologize formally for criticizing a rival's love .... (2742 11 )

l private sector workers by a wide margin. Jordan ("Health Care" 2) also said that the teachers union in Rhode Island not only objects to escalating the cost of health insurance for teachers but also takes the position that school districts should not vary in terms of the cost of these benefits and should pay a greater share of them. In response, the state's Board of Regents, which also is active with the General Assembly in setting policy for Rhode Island public schools, is calling for new legislation that would ban teacher strikes and enforce a requirement that teachers maintain all of their duties including those not outlined in their contracts ("R.I. Regents" 5). Any number of key actors are therefore easy to identify in the Rhode Island battle over school standards, finance, and structures, particularly the issues of charter schools and district consolidation. David Scharfenberg (1) reported that each school district has a school committee that is augmented in policy making by city council finance committees. District administration, unionized teachers in the Rhode Island National Education Association, the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, the American Federation of Teachers, the General A

Category: Government - C