Rhode Island is doling out $4 million in funding that will match $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, Gov. Dan McKee said, that will be directed at school districts and community-based organization programming for students.
The Ocean State Current has obtained the testimony below, as submitted earlier today by Mike Stenhouse from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity … **** March 23, 2023 TO: House Committee on Education FROM: Mike Stenhouse, CEO, RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity SUBJCET: My […]
The RI House Education Committee will hear H5498 on Wednesday, March 22. In 2019, the Rhode Island General Assembly granted authority to the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to develop curricula for various subjects and mandate it to every school district in the state … removing authority from local school districts to determine what […]
Guest Stenhouse discusses RIDE curriculum mandates for social studies and history. His organization RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity sponsored a review of the curriculum.
Intrepid parent activist and head of Parents United RI, Laurie GB, weighs in on Twitter with her thoughts on Tuesday’s press conference announcing the launch of the federally-funded Courageous RI org. . Mike Stenhouse, CEO, for the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity calls the group’s mission a scam intended to further indoctrinate students, teachers, […]
Originally published by the Providence Journal, March 4 (online version not available) America’s upcoming 250th birthday should be a patriotic celebration of our inalienable rights and recognition of our American birthright of liberty. Instead, we find that patriotism has systematically been de-institutionalized across our country. Regrettably, the RI Department of Education and the RI Board […]
The chair of the Rhode Island General Assembly’s Senate Education Committee has introduced a trio of bills geared toward specific student populations across the state. State Sen. Sandra Cano, D-Pawtucket, has introduced bills she said would “bring more equity to the state education funding formula” in a news release.
In 60 Illinois Public Schools No Students Were Proficient in Reading or Math Lawmakers blame COVID even though scores were almost as bad in 2019 prior to the pandemic Per-student annual spending exceeds $50,000 in some schools Across the Prairie State, there are 23 schools, including 18 in Chicago, where no student demonstrated proficiency in […]
In a disdainful and dishonest act last evening, the Council for Elementary and Secondary Education, part of the RI Board Of Education, unanimously passed the inaccurate and overly-politicized social studies standards, as proposed by Commissioner Angelica Infante Green and her RI Department of Education. Despite overwhelming public opposition, and without any discussion at all, the […]
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023 the RI Board of Education will consider adoption of social studies standards proposed by the RI Department of Education and its commissioner, Angelica Infante Green.
Our founding fathers fervently believed that an informed and educated citizenry is vital to the preservation of our great American democracy and our God-given and constitutional freedoms. As citizens across Rhode Island and America celebrate President’s Day and the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, I hope you will forgive me for taking liberty […]
Last week, the Principal of Veterans Middle School in Warwick issued a public appeal on Facebook to school parents about the increasing violence that is occurring among its student body (the full appeal is below). It is clear to me – based on common sense and on the many conversations I’ve held with child psychologists […]
by David Randall, author of “Taken for a RIDE” The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has just issued its final draft of the Rhode Island Social Studies Standards. RIDE made cosmetic changes in response to the critiques of Taken for a RIDE: How Rhode Island’s Social Studies Shortchange Students (Civics Alliance and Rhode Island […]
Originally published February 15 on Reason.com by Emma Camp as Bad Schools Aren’t Always Underfunded “More money can help schools succeed, but not if they fritter those extra resources in unproductive ways,” says one researcher. (Illustration: Lex Villena) A viral TikTok video of Carmel High School outside Indianapolis, Indiana, has sparked a revealing conversation about school funding […]
Originally published on National Review Online, by DAVID RANDALL February 10, 2023 as; Rhode Island’s Woke Social-Studies Standards May Soon Come to Your State Woke education bureaucrats around the country are working feverishly to steal America’s history from our children. They use the same playbook in every state, from Minnesota to Louisiana to Virginia: write new social-studies standards that remove the […]
These images were part of a presentation on February 11 by concerned North Kingstown mom, Ramona Bessinger, who is also a suspended Providence teacher for blowing the whistle on inappropriate curricula in Providence schools. The photos are examples of the inappropriate content that is being pushed upon North Kingstown students in school curricula or by […]
After the so called ‘presentation’ in the North Kingstown school library, a 15 minute intermission was given so people could talk amongst themselves and then reconvene for more discussion. I took that time to search the library for the very books (and others) that you are parents are trying to remove from Westerly and other […]
Read the Report: “Taken for a RIDE” (click here) How Rhode Island’s Social Studies Standards Teach Radical Activism Instead of America’s Birthright of Liberty The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, in partnership with the Civics Alliance, today released a report entitled, “Taken For a RIDE“, which presents a detailed critique of Rhode Island’s Social Studies Standards […]
Families Will Get $7,598 in an Education Savings Account “For the first time, we will fund students not systems!” – Gov Kim Reynolds “What an amazing day for our children!” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was ecstatic Tuesday as she signed into law a seismic education plan three years in the making. “What an amazing day […]
Rhode Island Families for School Choice will be conducting its first ever “school choice fair” where parents and students can learn about the many opportunities available in Rhode Island, when considering the best educational path for K-12 students. With public schools in Rhode Island failing students, and as student achievement levels continue to fall, many […]
The media release and the official legal complaint can be viewed below. A former West Warwick school teacher, John Lancellota filed a lawsuit last week against the Superintendent and multiple School Committee members in that school district for violating his Frist and Fourteenth Amendment rights, after he was fired for choosing not to pay dues […]
by Bob Chiaradio from Westerly, RI Last Friday, RIDE released the 2022 district LEA scores for ELA, Math, and Science, and they were not pretty. Overall: 60% of those tested were NOT proficient in ELA, 67.2% were NOT proficient in Math, and 62.9% were not proficient in Science This comes out to an overall proficiency […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is the opinion of The Ocean State Current’s staff that the the Cranston School School Committee, its School Department, and certain of its employees and members continue to ignore and purposefully exacerbate its ongoing disputes with a parent of one of its students. The Current has documented much of Josh Mello’s contentious […]
The U.S. Department of Education on Monday abruptly disbanded a Presidential parent council that was ostensibly created to include families in federal decisions about public education. The subsequent announcements of obviously one-sided council members led conservative parent groups to file a lawsuiit in July against Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, arguing that his picks of members […]
The national coalition letter below, which was emailed yesterday to Rep. Jim Jordan, was co-signed by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity along with 69 other national and state organizations. The letter requests that Report Language be added to the Department of Education Appropriations Bill that would bar the DOE from making proposed changes to […]
Massachusetts education officials and lawmakers alike are grappling with how to make up for lost time.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Current has been warning Ocean State families that the RI Department of Education may be seeking to develop new rules that would justify government-run child protective service agencies to remove children from their families’ care if their parents impede the minor student’s “woke” or “gender” transition … and potentially house them in […]
Allen Waters, who just two weeks ago lost his bid to unseat longtime incumbent US Congressman, David Cicilline, is seeking a new position as a member of the Providence School Board. Waters is an outspoken supporter of educational freedom and school choice. The city of Providence this year amended its charter such that the School […]
School Committee Member Jennifer Lima Supports The Radical Position To ‘Respond Accordingly’ If Preferred Pronouns Are Not Honored ‘Any act of violence in our schools which creates an unsafe environment (physically or emotionally by or for any member of the school community) needs to be dealt with accordingly.’ Lima told Fox News: “I also believe […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Anti-Racism Coalition (ARC), is a Westerly, Rhode Island based group, self-billed as the town’s first multicultural committee, whose stated mission is “Embracing multiculturalism to address racism through education and empowerment.” Concerned parents and ARC have regularly been engaged in a war of words – online and at public meetings – about what […]