Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce Applauds Rhode Island’s Race to the Top Award

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce today applauded Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist and the many partners who helped the state secure funding in the second round of the $4 billion federal Race to the Top competition. Rhode Island was one of 19 finalists out of 36 applicants, and finished 5th out of 10 award winners.

The Chamber, and more specifically, its Board of Directors, had joined many other business and labor leaders, elected officials, educators, parents, students and community members in support of Rhode Island’s Race to the Top grant application. The Chamber was also pleased to have a seat on the Race to Top Steering Committee.

“This funding will provide critical resources to jumpstart this effort which will effectively transform Rhode Island’s educational system for the betterment of our students,” said Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. “ The Chamber is proud to have been part of this collaborative effort.”

The four objectives as outlined in the application include ensuring educator excellence, accelerating all schools toward greatness, achieving world class standards and assessments and developing user friendly data systems. White noted this is especially important in providing Rhode Island’s youth with the necessary education and skills for the jobs of the future which will require achieving increasingly higher educational attainment levels.

“The state’s education system plays a pivotal role in shaping the quality of the workforce which is so important to the business community and their ability to find skilled workers,” she said. “Our goal needs to be providing a well educated and trained workforce to meet our employers workforce needs now and in the future.”