PROVIDENCE REPUBLICAN
CITY COMMITTEE
NEWS RELEASE
| Release Date | 2019-08-08 |
| Subject | Providence GOP On City Council And Failing Schools |
| Contacts | DAVID TALAN < DaveTalan@aol.com > |
| WILLIAM RICCI < ProvidenceRepublican@gmail.com > |
The Co-Chairs of the Providence Republican Party, David Talan and William Ricci, have welcomed the "new-found" interest by the City Council, to fix the failing Providence Public School System.
Last night (Wednesday), the City Council held a special meeting, to discuss the condition of the city's school buildings. But, the GOP leaders noted, the City Council has had so little interest in our schools, that they actually eliminated their Committee on Education, this past January.
Previously, the City Council used to have an Education Committee, headed by former Councilmen Sam Zurier and Bryan Principe. But under the current leadership of the Council, this Committee was completely eliminated. So the City Council has Committees on Public Works and on Public Safety. But the School Department, which makes up more than half the city's budget ($396,000,000 out of the $770,000,000 that the city spends), is not considered important enough to have its own Committee.
Talan and Ricci added, "Now that the City Council has finally shown some interest in building maintenance, we trust that they will now finally start to show interest in allowing parental and community involvement in the schools; bringing back neighborhood schools; cutting through the bureaucracy; fixing the teachers union contract (which the City Council voted to approve); having the state Commissioner of Education override the contract; allowing charter schools to expand, and to share their successful techniques with traditional public schools; using the City's colleges & universities to take over some school operations; and improving security."
The GOP leaders continued, "Or better yet, the City Council should just get out of the way, and allow the new State Commissioner of Education, Angelica Infante-Green, to step in and make all the major reforms that the Council and the Mayor have been unwilling or unable to make".