In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Lincoln Almond trumpeted the investment his administration has made in higher education.
“Together, we have made historic investments in our institutions of higher education, creating new high-tech academic buildings, computer labs and rehabilitated dorms,” he said. “Now we have an opportunity to do more.”
In explaining “more,” the governor announced his intent to recommend a $33 million bond to enhance infrastructure at Rhode Island’s colleges and university.
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That investment in higher education is laudable. But Almond’s address ignored a serious problem – a problem that won’t go away on its own. Rhode Island’s public elementary schools are largely failing our children.
This is no longer a subject of debate, but a harsh reality. A detailed report by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says so. It says that at 113 elementary schools throughout Rhode Island, students fail to meet state standards for math and English. That is inexcusable. School officials, administrators, teachers, and union leaders should be embarrassed.
The only good news in all of this is that as a follow-up to its report, state education officials will be meeting with municipal school districts. They will be discussing tangible changes to the way we educate our children.
We hope the “action plans” that are supposed to come out of these meetings contain significant changes. The status quo is not working.
As for the governor, he should have used his State of the State address to challenge the education community and the legislature to do more. He has the authority to make this issue a priority. His State of the State address would have been a good place to start.
