Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rhode Island Should Be One School District

Elisabeth Harrison:

“In the year 2000, Woonsocket had a $75 million school budget. Now it’s down to $59 million,” said Donoyan, adding that the decrease comes as expenses for everything from heating oil to personel continue to rise. “The costs across the board have escalated just to keep the bare minimum. The things we can control, we do our best to control, but there are uncontrollable costs.”

I don't want to completely forget to praise Brian Chidester for ending last week's anti-AF rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day by calling for unifying Rhode Island in to one district for the purpose of equity and desegregation.

It is not a magic bullet, but it is the "one demand" that would do the most good for moving education forward in Rhode Island. Now is a good time, since multiple districts seem to be entering fiscal death spirals.

It would even make charter school expansion a lot easier with fewer negative side effects!

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