Providence, RI - Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, today issued a public call to members of the Rhode Island Council of Elementary and Secondary Education, part of the RI Board of Education, to reject the continued politicization of K-12 education in the Ocean State.
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at 5:30 PM at RIDE's office, the RI Board of Elections will consider adoption of social studies standards proposed by the RI Department of Education and its commissioner, Angelica Infante Green.
"Yesterday, I sent a private email to five of the council's seven voting members, advising them of our concerns and received zero response," said Stenhouse. "So, today, I publicly call on all council members to read our Center's recent report, to inquire of and challenge the commissioner's proposed standards, and ultimately to reject these inaccurate and inappropriate US History guidelines. I also call on the public to join me in sending a message directly to council members."
By visiting RIFreedom.org/BOE, concerned citizens can send an email, along with their own comments, directly to the Board Of Education, urging them to reject these unworthy standards that will shortchange Ocean State students and teachers. The public is also encouraged to personally (or via Zoom) attend next Tuesday's BOE meeting to express their concerns and/or to sign-up by Monday to reserve a public comment speaking slot.
Last week's report published by the Center, in partnership with the Civics Alliance, entitled, "Taken For a RIDE", presents a detailed critique of Rhode Island’s Social Studies Standards (Standards) as proposed this past December. The report documents how these "standards" have been overly-politicized and are full of grammatical mistakes, inaccurate historical information, and anti-American propaganda, and includes the following declaration:
“The Standards is neither by the people of Rhode Island, nor of the people of Rhode Island—but it nevertheless will be imposed on the people of Rhode Island.”
The 54-page report, subtitled, "How Rhode Island's Social Studies Standards Shortchange Students," also made an argument for substantially modifying or entirely replacing the Standards with a more historically accurate and widely acceptable set of standards.
