Other 1. H7672/S2185: Prevents a standardized assessment, and possibly any statewide assessment, from ever* being used as a graduation requirement. (H Health, Education and Welfare; Wed, Apr 2 & S Education; Thu, Apr 3)

S2185 was heard in the Senate Education Committee last week, as one of three possible alternatives for postponing/prohibiting standardized testing as a graduation requirement. It’s definitely the prohibit-not-postpone bill, and is the only bill of the three that’s been called back. It’s listed on the Education committee agenda as “scheduled for consideration”, which means there is a very strong likelihood it will be voted on.

If it is eventually passed by the entire Senate, the question will of course become what will the new House leadership (including new House Majority Leader and old Providence Teachers’ Union legal counsel John DeSimone) do with it.

*Note that I am using “forever” in its democratic-legislative sense, i.e. until a future legislature decides to actively change it.

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Several other education-related bills will be heard at the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 2:

• H7836: Requires that high-school graduation requirements “be based on a holistic assessment of each student’s readiness for graduation”.
• H7835: Addresses a perceived problem of too many resources being spent on testing in public education by mandating that resources be spent to study and report on testing.
• H7581: Requires the state education commissioner to analyze student discipline data “to determine whether the discipline imposed has a disproportionate impact on students based on race or ethnicity” and, in systems where “racial or ethnic disparity is found”, requires those systems to “prepare and present to [RIDE] a plan to reduce that disparity”.