School’s Out For Ever!

The statistics make for bleak reading. Nationally, Rhode Island ranks 33rd in high school attainment, by far the lowest rate in New England. The state also has the highest proportion of adults over age 85 in the country, while the proportion of the population aged 65 and above will increase to 23% by 2030. And it gets worse. Rhode Island is suffering from a decline in birth rates that has now dropped beneath the replacement level. In short, we are dying more than we are fucking.

And even if we were creating li’l’ Rhody lovebabies, a statewide analysis of school buildings found that it would cost upwards of $2.2 billion to bring facilities up to scratch with 21^st century standards — $627.6 million to correct immediate health and safety concerns.

Not that the schools possess the funds required to undertake such a monumental overhaul. In July 2018, the Warwick School Committee proposed charging students to ride to the school bus as just one of the many suggestions to offset a $6 million deficit in funding that failed to appear. And the decay is deep set. Since 1973, Warwick public schools have closed or repurposed 23 schools, with the State House recently proposing a project to close schools in an attempt to address budget shortfalls.

What does this mean for Rhode Island? A health crisis. The correlation between lower rates of education and lower standards of health are well documented, while the resources required to support an aging population go without saying. So, buckle up! This is gonna be a rough one.