PROVIDENCE – With Rhode Island schools needing nearly $2 billion in repairs, a group of policymakers and labor leaders is calling on state lawmakers to find ways to increase funding for construction-related projects in the coming years, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported Feb. 27.
The Fix Our Schools Now Coalition has unveiled a policy platform that includes asking the General Assembly to approve legislation that would raise taxes on the wealthy in order to fund school infrastructure projects.
Led by the Rhode Island AFL–CIO, the group is also asking lawmakers to allocate 1 percent of all state sales tax revenue for school repairs. Other parts of the platform include increasing overall state funding for school construction, as well as approving a statewide bond question for school infrastructure projects in 2018.
In 2013, the R.I. Department of Education released an assessment that showed cities and towns would need to spend $1.7 billion to fully improve every school. •
