Includes individuals as contributors. Increases annual credit cap by percentage amount of unused credits. Increases the tax credit rate percentage. Establishes scholarships of $750,000 to disadvantaged students and $250,000 to pre-K students.
Removes the sunset provision of the Rhode Island hope pilot scholarship program, making it a permanent scholarship program and renames the program as the Rhode Island hope scholarship program.
Ensures any public school with available seats, after completion of the initial enrollment period for students, shall make all open seats available to other students residing within the same school district.
Permits students at failing schools to enroll in any public school and also established the Rhode Island education revitalization fund to provide funding to the school choice program.
Ensures any public school with available seats, after completion of the initial enrollment period for students, shall make all open seats available to other students residing within the same school district.
SB 2556, the Bright Today Scholarship and Open Enrollment Education Act, would create a new education program in Rhode Island allowing parents of K-12 students to choose public or private school options. Eligible students (those attending public school previously, starting school for the first time in RI, or coming from private/homeschool settings) could receive state-funded scholarships to cover tuition at participating private schools, approved curricula, tutoring, textbooks, and standardized test fees. The program requires parents to commit to providing specific core subjects and using scholarship funds only for designated educational expenses, with unspent funds rolling over for future grades. It aims to let state education funds follow students to their chosen schools while maintaining district funding levels.
HB 7525 requires charter schools in Rhode Island to offer nontraditional, student-centered learning approaches (like project-based or progressive methods) instead of traditional memorization-focused teaching. It mandates the Rhode Island Department of Education to review all charter school applications using these approaches to ensure they adequately replace traditional education. The bill also specifies that if a charter school loses its renewal, its allocated student seats must be reallocated to another school offering nontraditional learning methods. This legislation directly affects all Rhode Island charter schools and their students, reinforcing accountability while expanding educational approaches within the public school system.
Permits local communities to adopt an all-charter public school model for public education upon an affirmative vote of the local municipality’s council and school committee, and an affirmative vote at a special or general election.
This bill, the Military Child Act, creates new enrollment rules for military-connected students in Rhode Island public schools. It defines "military-connected student" as a dependent of active-duty U.S. military personnel or Rhode Island National Guard members. The law allows these students to enroll remotely without physical presence using military orders, and permits "open enrollment" into any school district regardless of capacity if they provide a Department of Defense ID and proof of active duty orders for 30+ days. These provisions aim to reduce disruption during military relocations by simplifying school transfers.
Prohibits participation in federal school voucher tax credit for contributions to scholarship-granting organizations unless both the general assembly and the governor approve such participation.
