STATEMENT: Poor PARCC Scores Demonstrate that RI Families Need More Choices

STATEMENT

November 17, 2015

One-Size-Fits-All Government Schools Not Adequately Preparing Many Students for Success in College, Career, and Life

Empowering Parents with More Choices Needed Now More Than Ever

For a more detailed analysis of RI’s PARCC scores, read the blog on The Ocean State Current

 

Providence, RI — The disappointing results among RI students in the recently released PARCC test scores re-enforce the need to empower families with additional educational choice options, according to a statement today from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity.

“Education is the civil rights issue of our time. Every parent wants an effective education for their children that prepares them for college, career, and life. When government schools fail to inspire students, it is our moral obligation to provide each and every child with an immediate and better option,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “Our proposed ESA legislation empowers parents to choose a public or private educational path for their children that will motivate and challenge them.”

The PARCC results further demonstrate that educational funding is not the primary issue. Rhode Island public schools spend among the highest per pupil in the nation, yet numerous national benchmarks place Rhode Island student performance at below average or middle of the pack.

As compared with PARCC results in Massachusetts, for example, even the Ocean State’s better performing school districts, would be just about average in the Bay State.

The Center recommends that significant reforms and immediate options are required to benefit all students.

The Center is part of the statewide Bright Today coalition advocating for an educational choice policy that would directly benefit students trapped in schools that do not adequately prepare them for a secure and successful future, by empowering parents – via Educational Scholarship Accounts (ESA) that can be used at private schools of the parents’ choice.

For more information about ESAs, visit RIFreedom.org/EdChoiceRI.

Media Contact:
Mike Stenhouse, CEO
401.429.6115 | info@rifreedom.org

About the Center
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise research and advocacy organization. The mission of the 501-C-3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.

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