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 have initiated a suit against Rhode Island’s governor and legislative leaders.

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.

Last updated, February 2010