Rhode Island General Laws Title 16. Education § 16-83-2. Legislative findings

It is hereby found and declared as follows:

The importance of education and the need to educate our children to ensure the future of our state's work force and economic development is one of the major goals of the general assembly; and

Our state's top educators have been calling for school reform that will help produce a higher performing public school that best meets the educational needs of students; and

The governor is calling upon our state's business leaders to join the crusade for school change and reform by becoming involved in school issues and by being part of the solution to help improve our public schools.

The business education roundtable has been a catalyst for the involvement of our business leaders in school reform; and

The school improvement report of 2001 found that a significant number of Rhode Island middle schools performed poorly. In addition, the 2002 middle school performance analysis showed similar results; and

The “Rhode Island Middle School Reform Act of 2004” is designed to improve education in all the middle schools in Rhode Island.