Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - June 28, 2019

HOT

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris

The Califonia Senator emerged from the two nights of Democratic primaries as the best positioned to debate sitting President Donald Trump. 

She soundly beat former Vice President Joe Biden -- who has been leading in the polls -- in a dispute over busing and states' rights.

2020 just got a reset. 

HOT

Education Bill of Rights

It would be entirely appropriate for Rhode Island’s political leadership to promulgate and enforce an Educational Bill of Rights. The salient features of an Educational Bill of Rights for students and their parents might encompass the following guarantees. The tenets written by Gary Sasse are:

1) The right to be taught by effective teachers. Effective teachers are trained and certified in the subject matter being taught. They are knowledgeable about their discipline, use state the art teaching strategies, and respect and respond to student inputs.

2) The right not to be taught by teachers who, after due process evaluation, fail to meet standards established by state and local education officials.

3) The right to appropriate academic materials and resources. This would include materials necessary to support all instructional programs, access to computers and the internet, and modern facilities to support rigorous science, technology and mathematics instruction.

4) The right to safe, clean and environmental-friendly school facilities.

5) The right to emotionally supportive schools that do not tolerate harassment, discrimination or abuse.

6) The right to attend a school where funding is based on student need with the goal of providing access to adequate educational opportunities.

7) The right to a pathway out of a failing school. This requires the availability of options to attend schools that best enhance a student’s opportunity for academic achievement.

8) The right to a fair, accurate and transparent assessment system that measures student performance and need. The assessment system should include multiple measures for students to demonstrate their competencies and clearly state what students are expected to know and accomplish.

9) The right of parents to current and reliable information about their child’s progress and performance.

Coach Vince Lombardi observes that “some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist, but football is only two things- blocking and tackling.” Adopting an Educational Bill of Rights can provide the next governor with the blocking and tackling fundamentals that will enable him or her to advance an educational agenda down the field given fiscal realities.

Who will be the first Rhode Island leader that pledges to work for an Educational Bill of Rights?

HOT

IGT

IGT (formerly GTECH) may be Rhode Island's most successful homegrown technology company.

It has come along way since Don Stamford and Guy Snowden kicked off the startup above Capriccio Restuarant.

Now the global company with thousands of workers is staying in Rhode Island until 2043 -- with a guarantee of 1,100 jobs.

HOT

GEV

On Monday, Governor Gina Raimondo announced that GEV, one of the largest wind turbine maintenance companies in the world, will make Rhode Island the home for its U.S. headquarters.

This is the second significant siting of a corporate headquarters in the past few weeks.

Twin River announced that it would locate its corporate headquarters in downtown Providence recently.

GEV will create approximately 125 jobs consisting of blade technicians, support staff, and management, said Commerce RI. 

Presently, the company maintains 9000 blades for 375 client sites, working in different 17 countries.

HOT

DBR Cutting Regulations

Give credit where credit is due.

The Department of Business Regulation's Director Liz Tanner is asking for Rhode Islanders to help make the state more efficient.

Tanner over the past few years has helped lead an effort to eliminate outdated, confusing, and bureaucratic state regulations — to date, one-third of all regulations have been eliminated.

"A couple years ago we undertook an effort and called it a 'road show' and we went out to every chamber of commerce, every trade association we could possibly, see every BNI, every Rotary [Club], every merchant's association -- we tried to get out to well over 350 events, several thousand business owners and we got to hear from them," said Tanner.

HOT

Real Estate Prices

Rhode Island set a new median sales price record for the month of May, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

According to RI Realtors, there were 1076 single-family homes sold in May of 2019, topping May of 2018 sales by 11.5 percent while the median sales price of those homes was over $300,000 for the first time.

At $300,500, May’s median price represented a 9.3 percent increase over May of 2018.

NOT

Providence Schools

Johns Hopkins reported, "There are gang problems. According to one teacher, “I had 12 gang members in my classroom who ended up being arrested. Nobody had warned me…”

Another insight from the Hopkins report, "Assaults have gotten “very violent,” with girls throwing other girls on the floor, and then surrounded by other people kicking them. There are violent attacks on buses. “I had a new-arrival student go into the bathroom and another student pummeled his head into the wall and there were no consequences for it. Teachers have almost given up entering infractions because they know there is no follow-through.”

It goes on and on...

NOT

Jorge Elorza

Let's get this straight.

The city's budget is in chaos, Providence Schools have just been named amongst the worst in America, and the Mayor is traveling to Hawaii paid for via a boondoggle fund lined by political donors. 

Not much more to say.

NOT

Appointed State and Providence Education Leaders

At what point do you think you might want to step down?

NOT

Sea Rise

"For hundreds of small coastal and tidal communities identified in the report, the costs will far outstrip their ability to pay, making retreat and abandonment the only viable option unless enormous amounts of financing emerge in a very short period of time. As just one example of the scope and gravity of this problem, in 178 small communities the cost of building basic coastal defenses is more than $100,000 per person," reported CCI.

The CCI also studied thousands of miles of coastline to determine areas that are at risk of being at least 15% underwater by 2040. Seas are estimated to rise up to three feet higher by 2100, as the planet heats up and land-based ice melts.

According to the report, Florida will have to spend $76 billion by 2040, Louisiana comes in second at $38 billion and North Carolina third at $35 billion. In addition, cities such as New York and Virginia Beach could spend more than $1.5 billion, respectively.