Rhode Island

Historical Background

In 1995, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held, in City of Pawtucket v. Sundlun, 662 A.2d 40, that Rhode Island's statutory scheme for financing public education did "not violate either the education clause or the equal-protection provision of the State Constitution." The court interpreted the education clause as providing the legislature with great discretion in this area and advised plaintiffs to seek a remedy "in that forum rather than in the courts."

Recent Events

In February 2010, the school committees, superintendent of schools and a number of students and parents in the cities of Woonsocket and Pawtucket initiated a suit against Rhode Island’s governor and legislative leaders, Woonsocket School Committee v. Carcieri. Steve Robinson, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the present case, who also was also plaintiffs’ attorney in the earlier case, constructed a meticulously documented petition which directly responds to the Supreme Court’s justiciability concerns. Specifically, the petition alleges that over the past 15 years, the state’s General Assembly and the state education department, have adopted detailed academic standards and have imposed numerous obligations on local school districts to provide meaningful educational opportunities for all students, but that they have failed to provide adequate or equitable funding to allow the districts to carry out these obligations. The petition also cites numerous state statutes and regulations, and legislatively-commissioned studies that provide concrete standards and mechanisms for remedying these inadequacies and inequities.

A new financing law was signed in by Governor Don Carcieri on June 23rd, 2010; it will take effect in 2011-2012. The law establishes a per-pupil “core instruction amount” of $8,295, and would supplement aid for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch by a factor of 40%. The state calculated the base amount by averaging 2006-2007 education expenditures in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. The plaintiffs in the Woonsocket School Committee litigation maintain that this school aid formula fails to mitigate inequity and to fully address the needs of students from poverty backgrounds and English-Language Learners. They will proceed with the litigation.

Last updated, August 2010