NEW RI EDUCATION COMMISSIONER and NATIONAL TAXPAYER ORGANIZATION’s LEADER TO BE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT RISC ANNUAL SUMMER CONFERENCE

The Rhode Island Statewide Coalition (RISC) will emphasize the critical link between the management of the state’s public schools and the state’s overall economic future at its Annual Summer Meeting, to be held this Saturday, August 1st, 9:00 am- 11:00 am, at the Hyatt Hotel, Goat Island, Newport, RI. There is no charge for admission.

“Rhode Island’s public education system and its approach to economic development are critically intertwined in the state’s ability to realize any future success,” RISC Chairman Harry Staley says. “That’s why we plan to showcase prominent speakers who will address both the public education system and the state’s overall economic/business climate.”

The RISC Annual Summer Meeting will feature remarks on educational reform by Deborah Gist, new Rhode Island Commissioner of Education, as well as a presentation by Jordan Forbes, National Taxpayers Union, who will discuss how pro-growth tax policies in states other than Rhode Island have resulted in vibrant economies.

Ms. Gist comes to Rhode Island with an impressive track record in enacting education reforms in the Washington, DC school system and is believed to possess the talent and courage to be able to achieve needed reforms here. RISC intends to make statewide education policy reform among its top legislative goals in the upcoming 2010 legislative session. “It has long been known that when it comes to public education, Rhode Island has some of the highest compensated teachers in the country yet ranks among the lowest states when it comes to results in the classroom,” President Jim Beale notes. “One of RISC’s top policy goals next year will be to see how that contradiction can be erased.”

“ Higher quality public education, which does not have to come with the highest price tag, must be incorporated as both an education and economic development goal if this state is going to have any chance to compete for the knowledge-based businesses of the 21st century,” Beale continues. “Twenty-first century growth businesses require a skilled labor force that this state’s public school system is simply not producing in high enough quantity or quality. That has to change or businesses will simply not locate here, period.”

For further information, or to reserve a seat for the event, email Catherine Ringling at cat@risc-ri.org or call 401.213.6316.

For more information about RISC, visit www.statewidecoalition.com