EDITORIAL: The Predictable Brown University Hustle to Avoid Paying Providence Is On
Friday, February 17, 2023
It is that time once again.
Brown and the City of Providence are supposed to be entering negotiations for a new payment structure.
When that season starts, Brown begins to pump out the “initiatives” to support Providence school children.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThese initiatives usually end up looking like a five-car pile-up on 95.
Let’s look back at Brown’s education initiatives in the past.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Brown’s "Essential Schools" initiative, led by the late education guru Brown Professor Ted Sizer, took over Hope High School.
That ran for years and was, for all intents and purposes, an unmitigated disaster.
During much of the time that Brown was running schools-within-the-schools, Hope High was Brown’s petri dish — and no Hope High School students were admitted to Brown.
In 2007, Brown promised to donate $10 million to establish the Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence.
Oops. Brown forgot to make the payment and then did so after media attention and community criticism.
Now, Brown has announced yet another initiative.
“Brown to provide full Pre-College scholarships to all admitted Providence public school students — as part of the University’s ongoing commitment to its home city, Brown is providing Providence public school students full financial support to a robust summer experience to explore academic pathways and college life,” Brown announced on Thursday.
Please stop the initiatives and stroke a check.
Yale now pays New Haven more than $20 million a year.
As GoLocal wrote in 2021, Yale University announced a major increase in payments to New Haven.
“A significant increase in Yale’s voluntary payments to the city, totaling $52 million in new money over six years. When combined with Yale’s existing voluntary payments, Yale will contribute approximately $135.4 million to the city over this six-year period. This amount is unprecedented nationally,” said Yale in its announcement.
In contrast, despite the record growth of its endowment and fundraising, Brown University only pays a fraction of the amount Yale contributes.
Brown pays between $3 million and $6 million a year, depending if you use the City of Providence’s numbers or Brown’s claims.
To quote Jerry McGuire, Brown needs to keep its failed educational initiatives and instead “show Providence the money.”
How about $20 million a year -- that seems like the right number.
An editorial is the opinion of a publication — specifically, the ownership.
While based on facts and news reporting, it is an opinion intended to discuss critical community issues. Often, the opinion is written with the intention of positive change.
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