Creates a 5 member commission to provide recommendations for legislation changes and/or oversight for the Act on Climate, and would report back by May 1, 2026, and would expire on June 1, 2026.
Requires the department of elementary and secondary education to propose, by October 1, 2025, funding alternatives to increase state aid for districts with high poverty, with recommendations on funding levels and their impacts.
Provides that the department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with a workgroup composed of various stakeholders, develop a funding formula for school districts sending students to career and technical programs outside their district.
Maddy summarySB 746 amends the state law concerning minimum salary schedules for certified school personnel. Currently, all municipalities and regional school districts in Rhode Island must establish salary schedules with a maximum of 12 annual steps, based on years of service, experience, and training. This bill creates an exception for the Providence public school district only. It allows Providence to negotiate alternative salary schedules that do not have to follow the standard 12-step structure and may include other compensation methods, such as bonuses for teachers taking on greater responsibilities.
Amends the teachers' tenure act for Providence public school teachers and provides a process for the dismissal and demotion for teachers or other persons assigned full-time to the school.
Allows the Providence public School district by reason of a substantial decrease of pupil population within its school system, to suspend teachers in numbers necessitated by the decrease in pupil population and provide a process for any suspensions.
Requires a review by the department of elementary and secondary education of the formula components used to compute the aid needed to support high need students.
Allows Ukrainian parolees residing in Rhode Island under the federal Uniting for Ukraine program, who have been granted temporary parole, to qualify for in-state tuition at Rhode Island state colleges and universities.
Eliminates the "doubt" about culpability requirement and replace it with "unwilling" or "unable" to pursue charge(s) in cases for persons sentenced to imprisonment for violations of suspended sentence.
Maddy summarySB 662 aims to improve communication and adjust financial responsibilities between school districts for students attending career and technical education (CTE) or pathways programs outside their home district. Effective July 1, 2025, receiving districts must provide quarterly updates to home districts on these students' status, including any withdrawal from the program. The bill also limits the home district's financial responsibility for education costs to the lower per-pupil cost of the receiving district, if applicable. Additionally, home districts will only be required to pay the actual cost of transportation for these students.
