From loan forgiveness to funding fixes, how this group would fix RI's education system

A coalition of local leaders that convened five years ago has, for the first time ever, released an ambitious legislative agenda aimed at strengthening Rhode Island's education system with loan forgiveness, hiring incentives and more funding for students of low-income families.

The Long Term Education Planning Committee, launched by the Rhode Island Foundation after a slew of subpar standardized state test scores, was formed to brainstorm changes that could improve student outcomes. Now, it has a list of proposals.

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Here's what the committee wants

The recommendations released Friday were formulated by a policy subcommittee co-chaired by Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council President and CEO Michael DiBiase, and President of the Rhode Island Federation of Teacher and Healthcare Professionals Frank Flynn.

Among their top priorities are more incentives to recruit and retain teachers — a hurdle Providence schools have already been trying to clear by offering thousands of dollars to new hires. While the district has said incentives are helping, its still dealing with a low number of applicants for high-needs positions, and with teachers leaving for other districts.

"Everybody’s looking for incentives," Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil Steinberg said. "We’ve done them in the past here at the foundation … It’s going to be up to the individual districts and RIDE to look at what those incentives are, but we’ve got to do something."

The committee is recommending higher pay, loan forgiveness and scholarship funds for those studying to become teachers in urban schools. It also wants financial incentives for educators of color and those in subjects in which there are shortages, such as special education, science and math.

Supports for new teachers need to be better, too, the committee believes.

"We used to have very well-established induction and mentoring programs for our new teachers," Flynn said. "There’s a shortage of teachers. We’re going to be hiring more and more as us baby boomers retire, so we need to re-establish that."

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Funding formula needs fixing, committee says

The state's fast-growing contingent of multi-language learners, or MLLs, are also a focus for the committee, which feels more money for those students needs to be factored into the funding formula, in addition to increased funds for low-income and special-needs students.

DiBiase expressed some support for the education funding that's already been laid out in Gov. Dan McKee's proposed budget, but feels it needs to go further.

"I think we need more comprehensive solutions," DiBiase said. "For example, he has more funding for multilingual learners, but it’s categorical funding. We think it should be in the funding formula itself."

Another try at a contentious constitutional amendment

Among the committee's other recommendations are a state fund for teachers' professional development and an amendment to the state constitution that would make an equal and fair education a right.

That's not a new idea. Having been kicked around for years, a bill to do just that already made its way past the Senate and into the House last year where it died. Once again, it passed the Senate this year, though its future remains in question.

"It’s been a very contentious issue for many years because of the implication that it would allow individuals or groups of people to sue the general assembly," Flynn said. "And I think that’s where people are reluctant to do it."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island Foundation releases proposals to fix RI's education system