Tagged: Caruolo Act

The House Labor Committee holds a hearing today on repealing what’s known as the Caruolo Act. The law, now infamous in Rhode Island education circles, allows school committees to sue their city or town for more funding.

There have been several attempts to do away with the Caruolo Act, but so far none have succeeded. Critics say it is nonsensical for an arm of local government to essentially sue itself, and local officials complain the lawsuits rack up expensive legal bills and sour relations between city and school leaders.

Hearings on the bill that would repeal the “Caruolo Act” are scheduled begin Tuesday at the State House.

The “Caruolo Act,” enacted in 1995, allows local school committees to sue their towns for more funding.

Representative Patricia Morgan (R Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick) who introduced the bill speaks from experience when describing what she sees as the act’s potentially negative effects.