Skip to main content
S 2434Education

Education - Failing School Choice Act

Allows students in low-performing public schools to transfer to other schools, funded by a new tax on private college endowments.

Introduced
Population
Affected
28
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This bill creates a school choice program for students currently attending "failing schools," defined as the bottom 15% of public schools in Rhode Island based on performance. These students would be allowed to transfer to any other public school that has available space. The state education funding for that student would follow them to the new school. To fund the program and related transportation costs, the bill establishes a new statewide property tax on private and nonprofit colleges and universities, calculated based on the size of their financial endowments.

For younger readers

This new rule helps kids who go to schools that are having a hard time teaching. If a school gets very low scores compared to other schools, the students there can choose to move to a different public school that has room for them. To pay for the costs of moving these students and their bus rides, the government will collect money from big private colleges and universities. Also, if a student gets into too much trouble at the new school, they might have to go back to their old school.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Students in underperforming schoolsParents of school-aged childrenPublic School DistrictsPrivate and Nonprofit Colleges/UniversitiesSchool Administrators
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

The provision creating a property tax on nonprofit colleges based on endowment size faces significant constitutional risk. Many universities, such as Brown University, operate under state charters that grant specific tax exemptions. Revoking these via statute could violate the Contract Clause. Additionally, taxing real property based on "endowment" rather than property value may violate state constitutional requirements regarding fair and uniform taxation, potentially being viewed as an arbitrary or targeted penalty rather than a valid tax.

Estimated cost
Private/Nonprofit Colleges: Amount based on endowment size
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Provides immediate educational alternatives for students trapped in underperforming schools, who are often from low-income or disadvantaged communities, potentially narrowing the achievement gap.
  • Establishes a mechanism to tax wealthy private and nonprofit institutions with large endowments, redistributing resources to support public education needs and student services.
  • Includes provisions for transportation funding, ensuring that the school choice option is accessible to working-class families who cannot afford private transport, rather than just the wealthy.
  • Diversts per-pupil state aid away from struggling school districts, potentially destabilizing them further and harming the students who remain behind in the "failing" schools.
  • Allows receiving schools to expel students who have been suspended twice, which could lead to discrimination against students with behavioral issues often rooted in trauma or poverty, effectively allowing schools to "cherry-pick" their population.
  • Promotes a market-based approach to education that erodes the concept of neighborhood public schools and collective community investment in favor of individual competition.
For Conservatives
  • Breaks the monopoly of underperforming government-run schools by introducing competition and empowering parents to choose the best educational environment for their children.
  • Incentivizes schools to improve performance and accountability, as they risk losing students and associated funding if they remain in the bottom 15 percent.
  • Includes disciplinary standards that allow receiving schools to maintain order and safety by expelling students who are repeatedly suspended, ensuring a focused learning environment.
  • Imposes a new, targeted tax on private and nonprofit institutions, infringing on property rights and attacking the tax-exempt status of private entities based on their financial success (endowments).
  • Expands government bureaucracy by creating new state-level funds and regulatory requirements for reclassifying schools and managing transportation logistics.
  • Violates the principle of local control by forcing school districts to accept non-resident students and interfering with local school board autonomy regarding enrollment and capacity.

Votes

Loading votes...

Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 61 additions

SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapters: 16-117-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Failing School Choice Act". 16-117-2. Purpose. Any student who is assigned to a failing school, as defined by the department of education as the bottom fifteen percent (15%) of public schools in Rhode Island as defined in § 16-117-5, shall be eligible to utilize the provisions of this chapter to petition any public school with available capacity to enroll in that school. A receiving school, of the parent’s choice, may enroll any nonresident students. 16-117-3. Funding. Receiving schools shall be eligible for the state aid portion of the per-pupil aid from the sending local education agency (LEA) in accordance with the state aid education funding formula for reimbursement. The sending LEA shall pay and reimburse the receiving LEA for the full tuition costs being paid for the student by the sending LEA with respect to any student with special needs or an individual education plan. 16-117-4. Eligibility.

(a) Students currently enrolled in failing schools shall be eligible for school choice pursuant to § 16-117-2.

(b) A receiving school may expel any student who has been suspended two (2) times or more in a single school year. Any student who is expelled during the current school year is only eligible for enrollment in their home district for that school year. The suspended student shall be eligible for school choice for the next school year; provided, that if the student is again expelled, the student shall be ineligible for school choice for four (4) consecutive years. 16-117-5. Reporting requirements.

(a) Every five (5) years, the department of education shall reclassify schools based upon their performance, except for students participating in the school choice program as set forth in § 16-117-4. Students attending a school that falls into the bottom fifteen percent (15%), shall be eligible for school choice. At no time shall any student who has been granted school choice lose that status, except as set forth in § 16-117-4(b).

(b) Every five (5) years, the department of education shall determine the functional capacity of each school, in every school district, to determine the number of school choice students available for enrollment.

(c) Any student who has enrolled in a receiving school under § 16-117-4 shall be entitled to attend the receiving school through the highest grade level offered by the failing school. 16-117-6. Transportation.

(a) Parents participating in school choice may utilize state school transportation only within the same transportation region as defined in § 16-21.1-2.

(b) Parents participating in school choice may utilize private school transportation to send the student to any school district.

(c) School transportation shall be provided at the sending school district’s expense or from the Rhode Island education revitalization fund (RIERF), as provided in chapter 118 of title 16, as long as the receiving school is in the same transportation region as the student’s sending school subject to regulations promulgated by the Rhode Island department of education.

(d) Funding for transportation inside transportation regions shall be pursuant to § 16-21.1- 2. 16-117-7. Rules and regulations. The department of education shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this chapter. 16-118-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rhode Island Education Revitalization Fund Act". 16-118-2. Purpose. The State of Rhode Island shall establish the Rhode Island education revitalization fund

(RIERF) to provide funds for any school choice program pursuant to chapter 117 of title 16. 16-118-3. Funding.

(a) There shall be created a statewide property tax on all real property of any private college or university, nonprofit college or university, or any other post-secondary school.

(b) The amount of the tax in subsection (a) of this section shall be based upon the endowment of the private college or university, nonprofit college or university, or any other post- secondary school.

(c) The amount to be collected to fund this chapter shall be included in the annual state budget approved by the general assembly each fiscal year.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.