State of Rhode Island secondary Archives: on Education
Allan Fung:
Choice in schools; plus funding for technical education
For schools, Fung is pro-choice and is a big proponent of charter schools and increasing awareness and funding for technical education. He said that technical schools provides kids with an opportunity to learn a valuable trade and also get credits for
college if they choose to go that route. "It's great that we're seeing this push to go to college--which I support--but sometimes you've got to make sure that you have options for students too," he said.
Source: Cranston Herald on 2018 Rhode Island gubernatorial race
Nov 2, 2017
Allen Waters:
Let free market forces determine student loan pricing
Waters' stance on student loans: "Free market forces without government intervention, such as government backed student loans,
will force colleges and universities to align their pricing and affordability to the ability of students and families to pay."
Source: Providence Journal on 2020 Rhode Island Senate race
Dec 16, 2019
Allen Waters:
Taxpayer dollars should fund all educational options
School choice is about a fundamental right for parents to have access to an educational environment that serves their children best. I believe taxpayer dollars should fund all educational options. Rhode Island parents, and parents across America,
should have a wide range of high-quality schools to choose, like traditional public schools, charter schools, private and religious schools, or virtual learning online. I support the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act in Congress.
Source: 2020 Rhode Island Senate campaign website AllenRWaters.com
Jun 17, 2020
Allen Waters:
Phase out government student loans, leave it to free market
One of the ways to reduce the inflationary effect of government backed student loans on rising college costs is to phase the government out of student lending, leaving it to the private sector, such as banks. I don't advocate free tuition which only
shifts the burden of cost to taxpayers. I do believe that free market forces without government intervention will force colleges and universities to align their pricing and affordability to the ability of students and families to pay.
Source: 2020 Rhode Island Senate campaign website AllenRWaters.com
Jun 17, 2020
Allen Waters:
Teach Natural Law & moral principles in public schools
Q: Do you promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles?A: Yes.
Q: Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values?
A: I belief in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I tend to pray to God directly and not through his son. I believe that Exodus 20:2-17 covers most of what you really need to know to live a moral and ethical life, and to walk a righteous path.
I grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and still consider myself a Methodist.
I believe that Natural Law, "a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct," should be taught in public schools.
Source: AFA iVoterGuide on 2020 Rhode Island Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Ashley Kalus:
Pay our teachers more, promote school choice, fund pre-K
Education--a quality public education--is the great equalizer. It allows for the pursuit of economic opportunity. We need to make education a constitutional right, pay our teachers more, fund universal Pre-K, invest in technical education, rework our
funding formula to ensure communities most in need like Pawtucket, Woonsocket, and Central Falls are not being left behind, and promote school choice because no child should ever be trapped in a failing school.
Source: Press release on 2022 Rhode Island Governor campaign website
Jun 23, 2022
Bob Flanders:
States define education standards and feds support
Q: Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
A The states should have the primary responsibility and authority to do this,
Source: Rhode Island VoteSmart 2018 Political Courage Test
Nov 1, 2018
Bobby Nardolillo:
Diversity of choice in education
It is critical that parents be intimately involved in the education of their children. We have to give those parent-led educational teams real options for the different paths on which they can launch their kids.
Traditional public schools will benefit from competing with home schooling, charter schools, mayoral academies, and technical training programs that, together, will offer real diversity of choice to our children.
Source: 2018 Rhode Island Senatorial website Bobby4Senate.com
Oct 1, 2017
Dan McKee:
As mayor created the first mayoral charter school
As Cumberland mayor, he created Blackstone Valley Prep, the first mayoral charter school in the state and template for independent public schools. It remains his most high-profile accomplishment in public life. The Blackstone Valley Prep CEO
calls McKee a "great man who cares deeply for children. He's a family man, married to a lifelong educator, and I think he understands as well as anyone how important and hard it is to be a public school teacher," Chiappetta told The Journal.
Source: Providence Journal on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Jan 8, 2021
Dan McKee:
Charter schools support criticized by public sector unions
McKee successfully lobbied the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing mayoral academies, a controversial achievement in Rhode Island education that's pitted public-sector unions against him ever since. During his re-election campaign for mayor
in 2008, the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals sent out direct mailings and paid for TV ads claiming McKee was destroying public education.
Source: WPRI on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Jan 7, 2021
Dan McKee:
COVID and schools: locally driven, state supported
McKee is looking to working more with local communities in managing the impact of COVID-19 on schools. "It should be locally driven, state supported and also a local decision," McKee said of local districts deciding when they can resume full operation
of their schools. "The state should play a role in providing the information to the local districts so that they can make the best decisions that they can," McKee said.
Source: The Independent on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Jan 21, 2021
Dan McKee:
Set up after-school programs to make up time lost to COVID
We can be intentional about getting on top of the hours that have been lost. You bring in educators, retired, under-employed teachers, current teachers, and we run a reading program. It's kind of like when you were 10 years old, taking a piano lesson.
We structure curricula, and we have these programs that families sign their kids up for, and they come in a couple times a week for a reading lesson, or a math lesson, or a music lesson.
Source: The74million.org on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Feb 10, 2021
Dan McKee:
School reform by partnering without being demanding
I think it's going to look like partnering with the current structure without being demanding, right? You're going to have to create partnerships, and you're going to have to listen to the people who are running those schools, including the labor
groups, and you're going to sit down and say, "How are things going and how do we make things better?" You can't just drive in and demand change. Our approach is going to be, "OK let's, let's hear what you think can happen."
Source: The74million.org on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Feb 10, 2021
Dan McKee:
Make two years free community college program permanent
Q: Sunset provision [expiration of program] on free community college program--will you make it permanent?A: Yeah, I think that that's good. On the community college level that first two years, I think we're going to support that. And again, I think
that President Biden's going to actually make that more real than less real, too. I'm hearing that the Pell Grants are going to get increased. So I think in that area, I think things look pretty bright for students in Rhode Island.
Source: The74million.org on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Feb 10, 2021
Dan McKee:
For universal Pre-K through a mixed delivery system
- Work towards ensuring all children, starting in infancy, have access to high-quality affordable childcare in which no family in the state must spend more than 7% of income to access high quality childcare (the federal standard of childcare
affordability).
- Implement universal, high-quality Pre-K for children ages 3 and 4 through a mixed delivery system.
- Ensure that children enter Kindergarten ready to learn and are on a path to reading proficiently in third grade.
Source: Governor press release "Rhode Island 2030"
Oct 15, 2021
Donald Carcieri:
Strong advocate of expanding Charter Schools
We also need to embrace our heritage of independence and enlightenment by fostering more charter schools. I have been a strong advocate of Charter Schools, and we have added new ones, and expanded existing ones. These are public schools utilizing a
different model, and are achieving excellent results. This is another "revolution" that Rhode Island can and should lead. In order to build the 21st century economy successfully, we will produce high school graduates with 21st century skills.
Source: Rhode Island 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 26, 2010
Gina Raimondo:
PrepareRI Dual Enrollment: free tuition for high schoolers
When I was my kids' age, most jobs in Rhode Island required nothing more than a high school degree. But, for my kids and yours, that's not the case anymore. The reality is that most jobs being created now in Rhode Island will require some degree or
certificate beyond a high school diploma.I set a goal to ensure that by 2025, at least 70% of Rhode Island adults have some degree or credential beyond high school. To achieve that goal, we've taken strides to make college more accessible and more
affordable. We now offer the PSAT and SAT, free of charge, in every public high school. We provide student loan relief for recent graduates who live and work in RI.
PrepareRI Dual Enrollment: Last year, nearly 4,000 students were able to take college
courses for free. These students earn college credits while they're still in high school, and some are able to get a full semester of college under their belt before they graduate high school. The budget I will propose expands funding for this program.
Source: 2017 State of the State address to Rhode Island Legislature
Jan 17, 2017
Gina Raimondo:
All-day kindergarten for all; computers in every school
Our schools are getting stronger. To set all of our students out on the right path, we've made important investments in their success. We came together two years ago to guarantee that every child is able to attend all-day kindergarten.
And we've made new investments to triple the number of public Pre-K classes.By the end of this year, Rhode Island is going to be the first state to offer computer science classes in every public school around the state.
Source: 2017 State of the State address to Rhode Island Legislature
Jan 17, 2017
Gina Raimondo:
More pre-K classrooms; free community college
We've made record investments in education, and we're committed to ensuring that everyone has a shot to continue their education past high school: Today, there are three times as many public pre-K classrooms as there were four years ago.
We've guaranteed all-day kindergarten for every child in Rhode Island. And more than 1,500 Rhode Islanders are getting a shot at a career because we made community college tuition-free. But there's so much left to do. So let's keep going.
Source: 2018 Rhode Island State of the State address
Jan 16, 2018
Gina Raimondo:
Major investment to repair crumbling schools
Let's make a once-in-a-generation investment in our schools. Together with our cities and towns, let's commit to investing $1 billion over the next five years to fix our public schools. Don't let anyone tell you we can't afford to do this. We can.
We have a detailed plan that outlines how we can invest more and do it smarter so that we protect taxpayers at the same time. Every year we wait, we waste millions of dollars putting band aids on our crumbling schools. So let's act now.
Source: 2018 Rhode Island State of the State address
Jan 16, 2018
Gina Raimondo:
Replace freeze with major investment repairing schools
One of the first things I did as Governor was to end the previous administrations' freeze on school construction. Let's make a once-in-a-generation investment in our schools. Let's commit to investing $1 billion over the next five years to fix &cour
public schools. We have a detailed plan that outlines how we can invest more and do it smarter so that we protect taxpayers at the same time. Every year we wait, we waste millions of dollars putting band aids on our crumbling schools.
Source: 2019 State of the State address to Rhode Island legislature
Jan 15, 2019
Gina Raimondo:
Additional $30 million to support schools statewide
Schools in every community have to do better, so I am announcing an additional $30 million to support students and teachers in every community. In every district across the state, we'll invest in high-quality curricula and ensure more students have
access to advanced classes in high school. We'll invest to support multilingual learners for whom the playing field is still devastatingly unequal. We'll increase the number of mental health professionals in our schools.
A very bright spot in our education system is our public PreK. Rhode Island is a nationally recognized leader. The problem is, for too many people, it's unaffordable.
So let's invest in what we know works. Kids shouldn't have to be lucky or rich
to get a strong start. Tonight, I'm proposing a more than 50% increase in the number of high-quality public PreK classrooms throughout the state. That's taking a big step forward toward our goal of Universal PreK for every 4-year-old in Rhode Island.
Source: 2020 Rhode Island State of the State address
Jan 14, 2020
Gina Raimondo:
Make scholarships for community college permanent
A few years ago, we tried something new to help more young people get a college degree and training for a good job. We enabled high school graduates to enroll at CCRI tuition-free. Today, the Promise Scholarship is a proven success. CCRI's
graduation rate has tripled. That scholarship is set to expire. Let's make the Promise Scholarship permanent and cement affordable higher education and job training into the very foundation of our economy.
Source: 2020 Rhode Island State of the State address
Jan 14, 2020
Gina Raimondo:
Made community college tuition free before most states
We increased the number of high-quality career and technical training programs in our high schools by 60%. Later this year, we'll cut the ribbon on another education center in Woonsocket--replicating the successful model that has already provided
skills for new jobs to over 3,000 students. We took bold steps to make community college tuition-free for every high school graduate. At the time we did that, few states had taken this path. Now our country looks to us as a model.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to Rhode Island legislature
Feb 3, 2021
Lincoln Almond:
Measure school performance and report to parents
Look how far we've come. We've placed an emphasis on early childhood initiatives to ensure that all kids enter school ready to learn. We've raised standards and accountability.
Through Information Works, we're collecting data on every single school in our state so parents will know exactly how their child's school performs. And we have a system in place to intervene in situations where schools aren't measuring up.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to Rhode Island Legislature
Feb 7, 2001
Lincoln Almond:
We will not tolerate failing schools
We have a system in place to intervene in situations where schools aren't measuring up. Let's make one thing crystal clear. For children to succeed, they must have a good education.
Therefore, we will not tolerate failing schools. We expect results; otherwise, there will be consequences.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to Rhode Island Legislature
Feb 7, 2001
Mark Zaccaria:
Oppose nationwide Common Core standards
Question topic: The federal government should establish nationwide standards (such as Common Core) for high-school graduation.
Zaccaria: Strongly Disagree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Rhode Island Senate race
Sep 30, 2014
Matt Brown:
Smaller class sizes, at least $60,000 for teacher salary
RI Political Cooperative Policy Platform: - Quality Education for All
- Tax the rich to fund our schools, create smaller class sizes, and improve our school buildings
-
Ensure that all public school teachers earn at least $60,000 each year
[Brown heads this RI coalition].
Source: GoLocalProv.com on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Sep 22, 2021
Nellie Gorbea:
Pass "Right to A Quality Education" constitutional amendment
Support and pass a constitutional amendment for a "Right to A Quality Education", which shows our state is clear on its priorities. This constitutional amendment holds us and future generations accountable for ensuring our children receive the education
they deserve. Become a national leader in providing high quality care and early childhood education for our youngest children by providing affordable, universal access to early childhood care and pre-K programs by the end of my first term.
Source: 2022 Rhode Island Governor campaign website NellieGorbea.com
Jun 26, 2022
Seth Magaziner:
Ensure every child has access to free universal pre-school
As Chair of the state's school building task force, Seth launched a once in a generation plan to transform Rhode Island school buildings so all students can go schools that are safe, warm, dry and have the facilities to prepare them for 21st century
jobs. Under his leadership, the statewide school construction initiative has created more than 28,000 jobs and helped to repair or replace over 189 schools, like Eden Park and Garden City Elementary Schools in Cranston.Americans are struggling to
pay their bills. Seth will focus on creating good jobs and lowering costs so that families can make ends meet. That means:
- Ensuring every child has access to free universal pre-school and affordable childcare so it's easier for parents
to re-enter the workforce
- Making college and career and technical training more affordable so workers can get the training they need and employers can fill more jobs
Source: 2022 Rhode Island House campaign website SethMagaziner.com
Jun 19, 2022
Helena Foulkes:
Promised a single term if school test scores don't improve
We've never had a governor who has committed to be personally accountable for the results of our education system–it's time to change that. I've promised a single term as governor if school test scores don't improve. Our kids are our future, and we
have a moral and economic responsibility to give them the amazing education they deserve. My plan calls for more teaching assistants in K-8 classrooms, universal PreK, expanding the RI Promise Scholarship to cover tuition for education majors.
Source: GoLocal24 (New England) on 2022 Rhode Island Governor race
Aug 22, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023