Can Regionalization Be Mandated?

That’s the question that was asked on the front page of the Newport Daily News yesterday in an article that did not answer the question. Maybe yes or maybe no. The real problem is that someone is now seriously considering it.

Now, when school regionalization is finally getting off the ground with the commitment of the Middletown Town Council to formally consider the concept, the RI Commission on Regionalization of Aquidneck Island Schools has decided it’s time to raise the specter of the unholy mandate.

It’s not enough that the state has crippled the cities and towns by imposing mandates that siphon away precious dollars and then has refused to lift them even a little during these hard economic times.

Instead the state is going to help us solve our problems again.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I do support school regionalization, but I support it under the auspices of local control, not under the threat of Big Brother.

Starting with the recent action of the Middletown Town Council to form a committee of the whole to explore the concept for Middletown, the island is moving in the right direction and, if the other towns will jump on board with their own committees, we can begin to make it happen in a way that is acceptable and even beneficial for the students in all the towns on the island.

However, I don’t see that happening if the state gets involved. Aquidneck Islanders are independent. The quickest way to raise opposition is to tell us what we have to do.

Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, the island communities will choose to be proactive, and Providence will let us do it our way.