PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Instead of going to school Monday, several students gathered outside Providence City Hall to demand action.
“I think it’s a shame that I even have to be here,” Providence Career & Technical Academy junior Nya Isom-Agazie said. “My education matters, and I shouldn’t have to constantly fight and pull teeth just to get funding that all of the students deserve.”
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley is now warning community members that those cuts are “inevitable” as negotiations between the city, state and school district for the $10.9 million funding gap remain at a standstill.
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Students see what the lack of funding over years has already done to the district, pointing to overcrowded hallways to deteriorating school buildings.
“I’m out here fighting for my education,” Classical High School sophomore Issah Pereira said. “I just don’t understand because us young people, we are the future, so why not invest in our future?”