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Rhode Island
Fewer teachers, bigger classes: How Trump’s proposed education cuts would impact RI schools
Critics of President Donald Trump protest the his actions at the RI State House Monday
Critics of President Donald Trump protest the his actions at the RI State House Monday
CRANSTON − Rhode Island Democratic pushback to President Donald Trump’s agenda turned to education Monday.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, Congressman Seth Magaziner, state education officials and teachers union leaders warned that Republican spending cuts in education could leave local schools with larger class sizes and fewer resources for students with special needs.
“President Trump and the Republicans in Congress have declared war on public education,” Reed told reporters at a news conference Monday morning at the offices of the National Education Association Rhode Island teachers union.
“President Trump has said repeatedly he wants to eliminate the Department of Education and Project 2025, which is their game plan, laid out an attack plan to do just that,” he said. “The architects of that plan are on the march. They have linked up with Elon Musk and DOGE and hey are going in and pillaging the entire federal government.”
How will the cuts impact Rhode Island schools?
Reed and Magaziner targeted the combination of Trump’s plan to dissolve the Department of Education and House Republicans’ budget resolution, which would cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending from several areas.
Although a lot of the specific cuts are a moving target and there is no deal yet with the Senate, the Rhode Island Democrats said they believe education spending will not be spared as the GOP looks for ways to fund more than $4 trillion in tax cuts.
“People need to understand that without federal support, the public education system in Rhode Island would be crippled,” Magaziner said. “If these cuts happen, it means fewer teachers, bigger class sizes, fewer programs, less [career and technical education] and a less talented workforce for employers.”
State Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green said Rhode Island receives $275 million in education spending from the federal government, most of it going directly to districts. The money includes $65 million in “Title 1” funds for low-income students, $60 million in Individuals with Disabilities Act money, $48 million for school nutrition and $11 million for career and technical education.
Paige Parks, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count noted that federal funding also provides early intervention services for at-risk infants and toddlers.
In higher education, Pell Grants for low-income students could also be on the chopping block, warned Rhode Island College President Jack Warner and state Postsecondary Education Commissioner Shannon Gilkey.
“Some of you might say, well, that doesn’t impact my child. Well, guess what? It will impact every student in Rhode Island,” Infante-Green said.
What about DEI in Rhode Island schools?
At the same time the state watches for possible federal aid cuts, schools are trying to understand what they need to do to comply with a letter published by the Trump administration Friday that gave recipients 14 days to rid themselves of DEI policies.
Infante-Green said school leaders have not yet changed policy or abandoned anything DEI related as they “huddle” and “try to make sense” of the latest orders.
“I think when they’re thinking about DEI, they’re thinking about race or they’re thinking about just kind of what they envision equity,” Infante-Green said of Trump administration. “So I think that it is very challenging when we start unpacking where it goes into, because we have made sure that it is a fabric of everything that we do.”
Presidents Day protest against Trump at RI State House
A few hours after the news conference at NEARI, a couple hundred protesters gathered at the State House Monday to rally against what they saw as Trump’s illegal executive orders to unilaterally cut spending and dissolve government agencies created by Congress.
“No kings in America,” they chanted on the south steps of the capitol.
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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Rhode Island
Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/Scott-Naso-022526-1-079e2e33c43a473590695ebdb06147b3.jpg?ssl=1 "Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe")
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