Right now, multilingual learners and students in Rhode Island’s urban public schools are bracing for a future with fewer resources, fewer educators, and fewer opportunities. While federal programs like SNAP and Medicaid are facing severe threats, Rhode Island is preparing to make its own damaging move. The state is proposing a 50 percent cut to the Rhode Island School for Progressive Education (RISPE) in the FY26 budget.
This is not just a budget issue. This is a decision that directly undermines equity in education.
What’s Happening?
RISPE’s funding from the state is about to be cut in half. The recently released state budget includes a proposed cut from RISPE’s state allocation from $200,000 to $100,000.
At first glance, $100,000 might seem like a small number in the context of a $14 billion budget. But for RISPE, this money represents 26 percent of our total institutional funding. It funds the preparation of more than 60 ESOL-certified teachers each year. These teachers serve over 1,500 multilingual learners annually in school districts across the state, including Providence, where 40 percent of students are multilingual learners.
RISPE is not just a small part of the solution. We are the primary pipeline for certified, equity-centered ESOL teachers in Rhode Island.
This Cut Is Unjustified and Deeply Unfair
This cut is not only harmful. It is disproportionate and unnecessary. Last year, RISPE’s funding accounted for just 0.00013 percent of the state’s total budget. Yet the proposed cut to RISPE makes up 20 percent of the entire reduction in the FY26 budget.
This is not about fiscal responsibility. It is a decision that targets the exact type of programming our state desperately needs more of, not less.
Why RISPE Matters
Between 2019 and 2024, RISPE trained more than 40 percent of all newly certified ESOL teachers in Rhode Island. This is a state that has faced a shortage of qualified ESOL educators since 1997. We are filling that gap with highly trained, culturally competent teachers who reflect and understand the students they serve.
We prepare teachers who are rooted in anti-racist pedagogy. We prioritize multilingualism, lived experience, and deep community connection. RISPE teachers are not only qualified. They are committed to equity and justice in every classroom.
Cutting our funding directly threatens this work.
Who This Hurts Most
This decision will hurt the very students Rhode Island claims to uplift. It will deny multilingual learners access to teachers who are trained to support them. It will slow progress in our efforts to create a public education system that works for all students.
It will also affect the communities that are already carrying the weight of national and local policy decisions that leave them behind. At a time when immigrant families are under pressure and federal support is being rolled back, Rhode Island should be stepping up. Instead, this proposal pulls away one of the few remaining supports our communities can count on.
What You Can Do Right Now
If you believe in equity in education, your voice is needed.
Here’s how you can take action:
- Call or email Speaker Shekarchi (rep-shekarchi@rilegislature.gov or (401) 222-2447) and urge him to restore full RISPE funding
- Contact your state senator and representative and ask them to protect support for multilingual learners
- Share this blog post with your network
- Donate to help RISPE continue this work at www.rhodeislandspe.com
We cannot afford to lose ground. Our students cannot afford to lose their teachers.
The Bottom Line
RISPE was created because Rhode Island needed a bold, equity-centered solution to its teacher shortage. We remain the only higher education institution in the state focused explicitly on recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers of color and ESOL-certified educators for urban public schools.
We do not take this responsibility lightly. And we do not accept this cut quietly.
If Rhode Island is serious about equity, serious about student success, and serious about solving long-standing educator shortages, then RISPE must be part of the solution.
The proposed cut to our funding undermines all of that.
Join us. Speak up. Help us protect RISPE, our teachers, and the thousands of students who are counting on us.
Sample Letter to Speaker Shekarchi:
Subject: Urgent: Restore RISPE Funding in FY26 Budget
Dear Speaker Shekarchi,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the proposed 50% reduction in funding for the Rhode Island School for Progressive Education (RISPE) in the FY26 budget.
RISPE plays a critical role in addressing one of Rhode Island’s most persistent and urgent educational challenges: the shortage of ESOL-certified teachers. Between 2019 and 2024, RISPE trained over 40% of all newly certified ESOL educators in the state. Cutting their funding in half would not only undermine this essential progress, it would directly harm the nearly 20,000 multilingual learners in our public schools—especially in cities like Providence, where 40% of students are multilingual learners.
This $100,000 cut represents 26% of RISPE’s total institutional funding. It is a disproportionate reduction for a program that made up just .00013% of last year’s $14 billion state budget. In fact, this single cut accounts for 20% of the entire decrease in the FY26 budget.
As federal support for low-income and immigrant families continues to shrink, now is the time for Rhode Island to lead—not retreat—in its commitment to equity in public education.
I urge you to restore full funding to RISPE in the final state budget. The future of our educators and the success of our students depend on it.
Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[Your City or School/District Affiliation, if relevant]
[Your Contact Info, optional]
