R.I. education board chairperson to step down, takes new role with U.S. Commerce

BARBARA S. COTTAM will step down on Oct. 6 from her role as chairperson of the R.I. Board of Education to take on a new role with the U.S. Department of Commerce. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS
BARBARA S. COTTAM will step down on Oct. 6 from her role as chairperson of the R.I. Board of Education to take on a new role with the U.S. Department of Commerce. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS

PROVIDENCE – The state’s education board chairperson will soon be heading to the nation’s capital to work with Rhode Island’s former governor.

In a Sept. 28 letter to Gov. Daniel J. McKee, R.I. Board of Education Chairperson Barbara S. Cottam informed the governor that she will be stepping down from the board on Oct. 6 after leading it for the last seven-plus years. Cottam told the governor that she has taken a new job as senior advisor for external affairs with the U.S. Department of Commerce, led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo, in Washington, D.C.

Cottam in her letter told the governor that in her new role in Washington, she will assist administering the commerce department’s “Internet for All” initiative that, she said, will allow her to contribute to the effort of connecting every American with the chance to access education.

It is currently unclear who will serve as the state’s new education board chairperson, either interim or permanent. McKee spokesperson Matthew Sheaff told Providence Business News on Friday that more details on a new chairperson will be announced in the coming weeks.

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Cottam noted in her tenure multiple highlights the state has achieved in education. Along with the state opening its first Workforce Development Education Center in Westerly and in 2020 Rhode Island College’s Workforce Development Hub in Central Falls, Rhode Island implemented the “Rhode Island Promise” free-tuition program at the Community College of Rhode Island, giving residents within the Ocean State a free education opportunity.

While she said she will miss the active engagement with many education professionals in Rhode Island, Cottam said the state must continue to “push the envelope” and encourages the education councils to “make decisions that do not underserve any student.”

“While education policy will never be perfect, we should never stop seeking perfection,” Cottam wrote. “We owe it to each other to give every person the opportunity to reach his or her potential. When we do, we will have leveled the field for all and erased the opportunity gaps that exist today.”

In a statement, R.I. Postsecondary Commissioner Shannon Gilkey said that higher education has benefited from Cottam’s stewardship of the board, providing “forward-looking, innovative and collaborative leadership.”

“It is not a surprise that her work in the U.S. Commerce Department will be focused on the equitable access to broadband, a must-needed tool for under-resourced students who rely on the internet for online learning, research, studying and more,” Gilkey said. “I thank Chair Cottam for her service to the state and her legacy of outstanding public policy.”

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.

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