Public Education: A Signature Initiative

The I Pledge campaign, funded by The Rhode Island Foundation and The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, was designed in the fall of 2012 to generate a positive rallying cry around education and show support for our educators and students.

Activities toward the goal

Examples of our integrated grantmaking, development, and community leadership activities toward this goal include:

• Supporting the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals with a $200,000 partial match to secure a $5 million federal Investing in Innovation grant.
• Supporting Rhode Island's successful application for the federal Race to the Top program, resulting in $75 million being awarded to our state; see also Rhode Islanders celebrate first anniversary of Race to the Top.
  
  
• Supporting passage of an equitable education funding formula, the first for Rhode Island in 15 years.
• Supporting Teach For America's expansion to Rhode Island, bringing 90 dedicated teachers to highest-need schools in the next three years.
  
  
• Supporting, in partnership with W. W. Kellogg Foundation, The Learning Community to expand its nationally-recognized professional development work in reading to five area public elementary schools.

Events

The Foundation is co-sponsoring an education speaker series with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Featured speakers for "Building a 21st Century Education System in Rhode Island: Getting it Done" have included:

• Robert Balfanz, Ph.D, research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University
• Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, Ph.D., president, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County; see video clips from the talk and panel discussion
  
  The Foundation co-hosted with WRNI, Rhode Island's NPR station, a community forum, "What makes a great teacher?"  This community forum series is made possible with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Spotlight on public education

• The Learning Community
• SmART Schools
• Rhode Island Department of Education, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers partnership
• Highlander Institute

What makes this work possible?

The Foundation has committed a significant amount of unrestricted funds - dollars given by generous Rhode Islanders who have left the decision of what the state's most pressing needs are to the Foundation - as well as field of interest funds for education to improve public education. Examples of field of interest funds for education established through the years include the Alice M. Howland Fund, established in 1944, and the Norman and Dorothy R. McCulloch, established 50 years later.

If you also want to improve public education in Rhode Island, we invite you to join us. Call or email Denise Jenkins, grant programs officer, (401) 427-4008.