Gov. candidate Morgan: More funds for schools
Morgan pitches using tax credits to boost spending on classroom supplies; lobbies for security upgrades
WARWICK –– As a former special education teacher, Rhode Island House Minority Leader and Republican candidate for governor Patricia Morgan says she understands the value of a good education, and plans to put a number of initiatives at the forefront of her day-to-day tasks if elected.
In the second segment of her “Blueprint for a Stronger Rhode Island,” released this week at a press conference at her campaign headquarters on Bald Hill Road, Morgan pledged to strengthen schools throughout the state through a number of strategic goals, things like offering tax credits to teachers for supplies and implementing more virtual learning in the classroom.
“Good schools deliver better futures,” she said. “Education is the most powerful force in changing lives for the better. It allows every person the chance to maximize their potential. Recent tests scores for our schools are alarming. Too many children are simply not succeeding. This is unacceptable. We must give all our stakeholders: teachers, parents, students and employers the support and tools they need to improve education, so every child can thrive.”
The education portion of her Blueprint for a Stronger Rhode Island includes goals such as providing teachers with more instructional freedom, identifying children who still have difficulty reading in grade 3, encouraging virtual learning, and providing money to help school departments upgrade the security of their buildings.
“The most important is giving teachers the freedom to do what they must to reach the kids in their seats,” she said. “This is about local control, local accountability. I know that as a special education teacher I had complete freedom. I had 60 children in front of me and I was expected to reach them. We need to refocus on giving teachers the freedom they need and making sure they are exceeding the needs of those students.”
Morgan has been vocal about her request for the Attorney General to allocate $23 million in Google settlement funds to be used for school security. Under her plan each school would receive $75,000 to go toward key swipe locks, bulletproof glass and training for staff.
“When students are anxious they don’t learn as well,” said Morgan. “It impairs their ability to learn. If you can keep a shooter outside the school the students inside the school are safe.”
She noted that if she couldn’t get the money through Google settlement funds she would instead find the money in her budget to fund additional security measures. She would also call on colleges for tuition freezes.
“We can’t keep raising the tuitions. If we’re going to make it affordable for students we have to find ways to do that and increasing the fees is not one of them,” said Morgan. “There’s a lot of different tools that college presidents and administrators can use to make college more affordable on their campuses, and the assembly has to step up, too.”
She said in order to keep costs down at places like the University of Rhode Island she would appoint members to the Council on Postsecondary Education who will commit to tuition freezes.
Morgan said as governor she would institute a new Governor’s Award program to encourage high performance from students across various categories, such as schools with the best attendance or test scores. She hopes to pass a law exempting school construction projects from prevailing wage to save school departments money.
“In Coventry they had buckets out in the hallways when it rained,” she said. “They couldn’t repair it until they put out a bond for it. That money should be readily available.”
Her blueprint includes taking 8 percent of the state aid each school department receives annually and placing it in a restricted account for maintenance only.
She plans to give tax credits to companies that help establish programs to help their employees repay their college loans. Some of her other ideas include allowing colleges to keep the sales tax revenue generated on campus, expanding vocational training by allowing companies to assist in curriculum development and repairing school infrastructure.
Following her presentation Morgan fielded questions from reporters, stating that she is in the race to win it and has no plans of backing out, despite a recent poll put out by Mayor Alan Fung’s campaign showing the House Minority Leader 40 points behind him. She said she doesn’t think the polling results are accurate and stands by her belief that she is the better candidate for Rhode Island.
“I am not changing my mind,” said Morgan. “I am in this. My ideas are better for Rhode Island. My opponent has no ideas. He won’t talk about them. He won’t take a stand on either side of the issue. I’m running for governor because I think Rhode Island is worth fighting for and I will continue to do that.”
She said she has a strategy and intends to win.
“At the backbone of any strong economy is a well-educated workforce,” she said. “For Rhode Island to once again be a powerhouse of prosperity, our people must have the educational tools they need to maximize their potential. I ask you to join me, so that together we can work to ensure all Rhode Islanders can contribute to and compete in a thriving Ocean State.”
Morgan’s “Blueprint for a Stronger Rhode Island” is available at patriciaforRI. com.