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H 7023Funding & Budget

Education - Cooperative Service Among School Districts

This bill updates the leadership structure of the Urban Collaborative and allows it to receive funding like a school district.

Introduced
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 9, 2026Committee House Education

Plain-English Summary

This legislation restructures the governance and funding eligibility of the "Urban Collaborative," an organization that provides alternative education programs and diagnostic services for students who struggle in traditional school settings. It replaces the previous governance structure with a five-member Board of Trustees, which includes the Providence school superintendent and members appointed by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education. Furthermore, the bill explicitly authorizes the Urban Collaborative to receive Medicaid revenue, federal aid, and state grants as if it were a designated school district, ensuring it has access to necessary financial resources.

For younger readers

There is a special group of schools called the Urban Collaborative that helps students who learn differently or have a hard time in regular schools. This new law changes who manages that group. Instead of a large committee, a team of five people will be in charge. The law also makes sure this group can get money from the government and other programs just like regular schools do. This helps them pay for the teachers and tools the students need to learn.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Students in alternative educationSchool SuperintendentsSpecial education studentsSchool administratorsLocal taxpayers
Impacted communities
Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, Central Falls

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures that alternative education programs serving at-risk students have equal access to Medicaid and federal funding, strengthening the social safety net for vulnerable youth.
  • Formalizes a governance structure that includes state-level oversight, potentially ensuring higher standards and accountability for students who have struggled in traditional settings.
  • Solidifies the financial stability of the Urban Collaborative, protecting essential educational services for students who might otherwise be left behind by the standard school system.
  • Removes direct references to specific diverse communities like Central Falls and Pawtucket from the statute, potentially diluting their specific representation in the collaborative's governance.
  • Centralizes power in an appointed Board of Trustees and the state Council on Elementary and Secondary Education rather than democratically elected school committees, reducing local community control.
  • Granting "school district" status for funding without requiring the full democratic structure of a traditional district could set a precedent for quasi-public entities absorbing public funds without direct voter accountability.
For Conservatives
  • Streamlines the governance of the collaborative by replacing a cumbersome committee structure with a smaller, more efficient Board of Trustees.
  • Allows the entity to directly access federal aid and Medicaid revenue, potentially reducing the financial burden on local municipal taxpayers.
  • Supports alternative education models that operate outside the traditional one-size-fits-all public school approach, offering specialized options for students.
  • Expands the definition of a school district to include this collaborative, potentially growing the size of government and increasing administrative overhead.
  • Empowers unelected bureaucrats on the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education to appoint board members, removing direct accountability to voters.
  • Mandates a permanent leadership role for the Providence school district, which may be viewed as rewarding a failing system with influence over regional education.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 13 additions · 4 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 16-3.1-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-3.1 entitled "Cooperative Service Among School Districts [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-3.1-11. Urban collaborative. (a)(1) The urban collaborative shall be governed by a board of trustees, with the exception of those powers and duties reserved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

(2) The board of trustees of the urban collaborative shall consist of five (5) members including:

(i) The superintendent of the Providence school district, or designee;

(ii) The superintendent, or designee, of any other Rhode Island school district(s) as may be approved for inclusion by existing member districts in accordance with the urban collaborative’s bylaws; and

(iii) The council on elementary and secondary education shall appoint the remaining members of the board of trustees of the urban collaborative with input from the commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

(b) The urban collaborative's board of trustees is Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the school committees of the cities of Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, Central Falls and other Rhode Island school districts as may be approved for inclusion by existing member districts in accordance with collaborative bylaws are authorized and empowered to continue and/or initiate cooperative efforts to provide alternate education programs and/or diagnostic services required by law or regulation for students achieving limited success in traditional settings and to do all things necessary including, but not limited to utilization of technology, including television, all on a collaborative basis. The various school committees may assign and delegate to their respective school committee chairs or designee or superintendents of schools or designee, acting as a regional board any duties, responsibilities, and powers that the committees may deem necessary for the conduct, administration, and management of the urban collaborative. Beginning on July 1, 2013 the urban collaborative shall be funded pursuant to the provisions of § 16-7.2-3. The state share of the permanent foundation education aid shall be paid directly to the urban collaborative pursuant to the provisions of § 16-7.2-7. The local school district shall transfer the difference between the calculated state share of the permanent foundation education aid and the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of § 16-7.2-7 to the urban collaborative, until the transition of the state share is complete. In addition, the local school district shall pay the local share of education funding to the urban collaborative as outlined in § 16-7.2-5. The urban collaborative shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants, Medicaid revenue, and any other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school district. Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in the urban collaborative, if the school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.