JOINT RESOLUTION MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $10,000,000 TO THE RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION (Authorizes the appropriation of the sum of $10,000,000 to the Rhode Island Foundation, to generate funds to support public education through distributions to local education agency foundations. The funds would be disbursed over 5 years.)

Bill Summary: $10 Million Appropriation for Public Education

This bill would have directed $10 million in state funds to the Rhode Island Foundation, a nonprofit community foundation, to support public education across the state. Rather than spending the money all at once, the funds would have been distributed over a five-year period. The Rhode Island Foundation would have used this money to generate additional funding and then pass those resources along to local education agency foundations — meaning the local nonprofit organizations that support individual school districts throughout Rhode Island.

The people most directly affected would have been public school students, teachers, and communities across Rhode Island. Local education foundations typically use funding to support things like classroom supplies, extracurricular programs, teacher grants, and other educational initiatives that may not be covered by standard school budgets. By routing the money through an established nonprofit foundation, the bill aimed to potentially grow the original investment before distributing it to local communities.

It is worth noting that this bill did not advance through the legislative process — it was withdrawn at the request of its own sponsor, meaning the lawmaker who introduced it chose to pull it back before it could be voted on. It had been referred to the House Finance Committee but never moved forward from there. As a result, no funding was actually approved or distributed under this proposal.