The Central Falls Teachers Union approved a measure that would save the jobs of every “teacher, librarian and guidance counselor” at the school. The accord is an initial step in enacting the reforms favored by state education officials to improve test scores and graduation rates. Both federal and state administrators heralded the agreement as a step forward for school reform.

As punishment for a walkout last Thursday, Hope High School students will be forced to attend a 2 hour detention on Friday where administrators will make their case for the new six-period schedule that the students oppose. The students will also be prohibited from participating in the school’s June 16 field day and will have to perform community service on that day.

Rhode Island’s Department of Health has received 15 applications to open what would be the state’s first compassion center, a store that provides marijuana to medical-marijuana patients. The state will likely approve up to three of the proposals and a public hearing on the applications is scheduled for June 21.

Gov. Carcieri ’65 signed legislation outlawing greyhound racing in the state. Once operated by Twin River Casino, dog-racing was no longer profitable for the gambling hall, which supported the law. Twin River is now facing bankruptcy and has been forced to restructure.

After the May 13 walk-out that involved over 200 Hope High School students protesting a proposed schedule change, Mayor Cicilline  ’83 has agreed to moderate a meeting between teachers and students from the high school and administrators in the School Department. The offer comes after Brown students presented their case to the mayor at a “my time with the mayor” event, where voters can talk to the mayor informally. School Supt. Tom Brady has already offered to meet with the Hope students, but they rejected his offer after he requested names of students who would participate.

Parents of Central Falls High School students have a lot more to contend with than the politics of education reform that have dominated news coverage of their children’s school. This Projo video investigates the challenges and complexities, particularly for recent immigrants, of parenting a high school student at Central Falls.

The last shoe has dropped (though I don’t know why you’d have three shoes): the third North Providence councilman arrested by the FBI for alleged extortion, Raymond Douglas III, has resigned. At this point, it looks to be a developing story, but you can read Douglas III’s letter of resignation here.

Hope High School students know what they want, and it isn’t a new class schedule. Sounds like the school district is considering making the school change to a daily six-period schedule like other schools in Providence, away from Hope’s current block schedule. But the block schedule, the protesting students say, has proved beneficial for them. Some Brown students helped the Hope ones organize the walkout, which even got its own police escort. You can watch a video of the action here.

The Central Falls police chief has launched an internal investigation into a possible case of racial profiling. Mario Ortega, a Central Falls resident, has accused a desk-duty officer of refusing to let him report a beating because Ortega was assumed to be an “illegal immigrant,” Ortega said through an interpreter.

Seven Catholic schools have closed this year in Rhode Island, a “crisis in Catholic education” that is likely exacerbated by a tough economy and high health-care costs. Another issue is the cost of tuition for prospective parents, many of whom simply can’t afford to send their children. Recently, Catholic schools witnessed a marked decline in enrollment from 11,877 in 2004 to 9,321 in 2009. Meanwhile, school tuition jumped from $3,423 per year to $4,535.

The top executive at CVS, Tom Ryan, has announced he will step down in May 2011 and will give up some responsibilities until then to groom other executives for leadership. Ryan has spent 36 years at the Woonsocket-based company and has overseen its rise to become the 18th-largest company in the country. CVS is also under investigation in the aftermath of its acquisition of pharmacy-benefits manager Caremark Rx Inc., and its executives had earlier been investigated for possibly bribing state legislators.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed helped shape the Senate financial reform bill when he co-sponsored (with Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown) an amendment to create a consumer protection agency for members of the military. The amendment would provide services to those in the armed forces to help them manage their finances and teach them about consumer financial products. Reed spoke glowingly of Brown, saying, “As a lawyer, as a company commander, and as someone who has served in various capacities within the Guard, Scott Brown knows from firsthand experience that young troops particularly, men and women of our Armed Forces, can be exploited by unscrupulous business practices…”

The ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition might be coming to Central Falls High School. The producers of the show invited school officials to apply for renovation; the school is already in the process of making a video to showcase why they need the renovations, though school officials clearly stated that they are not guaranteed a spot just by applying.

Speaking of Central Falls High School, more than 700 people have applied for teaching and other jobs at the school. This includes almost all of the people who were fired three months ago; those 87 applicants will have quite the competition, Superintendent Frances Gallo said.

A bill passed in a Rhode Island House committee would require that any student suspected of having a sports-induced concussion be removed from the practice or playing field and not allowed to return until a doctor grants clearance. The language of the bill, which is actually an amended version, has been made clearer and more specific than what was in the original.

Good news for Rhode Island’s budget deficit and those concerned about the state’s big-spending ways–budget officials announced Monday night that the state government’s shortfalls are smaller than previously thought. The announcement means that public employees, schools and local communities may be spared some painful cuts that were intended to fill in a projected $220 million deficit.

State Representative David Segal, D-Providence, confirmed his intention to run for Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s House seat Monday night, joining a Democratic primary line-up that already includes Mayor David Cicilline ’83 and former chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, William Lynch.  Segal currently has two significant pieces of legislation pending at the State House.  The first is a bill advocating the withdrawal of Rhode Island National Guard troops from Iraq, and the second would add crimes against the homeless to the state’s hate crimes roster.

State Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87, a Democratic candidate for governor, refused a request from Gov. Carcieri ’65 to take legal action against federal health-care reform legislation. Lynch vowed that he will not join the 20 other top state attorneys who are bringing suit against the federal government, calling attempts to do so “a political stunt.”

After North Providence Town Council President Joseph Burchfield resigned Friday after being arrested by the feds on charges of extortion, another party who was arrested for the alleged scheme, Councilman John Zambarano, has also resigned. Mayor Charles Lombardi has expressed hope that the third party arrested, Raymond Douglas III, will soon resign as well.

The federal government still needs to approve Providence Mayor David Cicilline’s ’83 employment program that he envisions as creating 500 new jobs in the city. Local officials are pushing the federal government to speed things up.

Two weeks before Teresa Mahony turns 80, she will check off one more item from her to-do list — becoming a college grad. Mahony, a registered nurse, mother of 12 and a grandmother of 34, will graduate from the University of Rhode Island on May 23. It took her ten years to complete her degree in history, but she’s doing it — and graduating with honors.

The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education voted on Thursday to seek comment from the public on a protocol that Education Commissioner Deborah Gist wants to use to take action against failing schools. The document was used to identify six of the state’s worst schools, including Central Falls High School, the site of the mass teacher firing that took place in February. Improving schools is a top priority for the school board, since Rhode Island schools could be eligible to receive millions in federal dollars for schools serving low-income students.

Farmers’ markets around the state opened this week, offering customers the change to put their money towards local food and environmental sustainability. Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a food nonprofit, estimates that over 40 farmers’ markets will operate in Rhode Island and Massachusetts this year.

North Providence Town Council President Joseph Burchfield resigned Friday amid allegations of bribery in the construction of a Stop & Shop supermarket. Burchfield is accused of accepting a $25,000 bribe from a developer in return for permitting the construction of the supermarket across from a high school. Burchfield is one of three councilmen implicated in the case.  His resignation marks the end of the embattled councilman’s 13 years in public service.

Three North Providence councilors were busted by the FBI on Thursday under charges of extortion. The arrested include Council President Joseph Burchfield and two other council members, John Zambarano and Raymond Douglas III. A fourth council member turned them in by filming a conversation between the councilmen and a real estate developer named Richard Baccari; the footage shows Zambarano promising $25,000 in exchange for votes on building a Stop & Shop across the street from North Providence High School.

Good news! Apparently budget officials at the State House think that Rhode Island’s rising unemployment, foreclosure rates and shrinking consumer confidence will taper off soon. This is all in spire of the floods last month.

A Rhode Island woman is a bit unnerved after finding out that Faisal Shahzad, the man who confessed to the attempt to place a car bomb in Times Square on Saturday, used to live right around the corner from her. Deborah Bashar has had brushes with suspected terrorists in the past — while house hunting, the tenant in the home she was looking at turned out to be Mohammed Y. Mullawala, who was under investigation for terrorist activity himself and arrested in 2006.

There’s a reason why T.F. Green might be a little less crowded when Brown students fly home for the summer. Many passengers have opted to take Southwest Airlines flights departing from Boston’s Logan Airport, instead of flying out of T.F. Green.  The passenger losses have been less than the company forecasted, according to Southwest chief Gary C. Kelley. Kelley’s take on the issue channeled the ‘keep it undead’ outlook of the RISD zombies, with the executive saying of the competition for passengers,“There’s no business reason that we want to come in and cannibalize ourselves.”

State and federal authorities are working to identify culprits in five gang-related firebombings of Providence homes that have occurred since September. Bombed using Molotov cocktails thrown through doors and windows late at night, the targeted homes were centers of gang activity. While no one has been hurt or killed due to the firebombings so far, police are concerned that an escalation in gang warfare would have a human toll.

Legislators at the State House are gathering to celebrate the start of Gaspee Days, which commemorate the 1772 torching by American colonists of the British revenue ship the HMS Gaspee in Narragansett Bay. Re-enactors of the revolutionary event are likely to attend the State House ceremony.