Jan.

25, 2011

Dear Governor Chafee,

Congratulations on your recent inauguration. As you begin your term as governor, we know you
face many important decisions for Rhode Island. Perhaps the most crucial decision of all is the
direction you set for our public schools. We believe that the best way to put Rhode Island children
first is for Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, Board of Regents Chairman Robert Flanders and
the rest of the board to continue their work. We ask you to maintain the current board composition
by nominating only Board of Regents candidates who will continue the transformation underway of
Rhode Island public schools.

2010 was a landmark year for the state’s public schools. With the support of educators, labor
leaders, students, parents and members of the business and philanthropic community, Rhode
Island rose to national prominence as one of only 11 states, plus the District of Columbia, to win
the federal Race to the Top competition. That victory secured $75 million – the largest federal grant
Rhode Island has ever received – for public schools in the middle of a deep recession.
Commissioner Gist also worked tirelessly with House and Senate Leadership, municipal leaders,
school committees and others to bring Rhode Island a groundbreaking school funding formula to
provide fair, transparent and predictable school funding for all students. These accomplishments
were achieved through an unprecedented collaborative effort.

The current team has proved to be a winning one, scoring substantial victories on behalf of Rhode
Island schoolchildren. But the battle is far from over. The reforms initiated over the past year are an
important start to transforming Rhode Island’s public schools, but they must continue to have real
impact.

As governor, you have a unique opportunity to help Rhode Island become the gold standard for
education policy that other states can look to for inspiration. We urge you to build on the progress
made so far and keep the winning team together by nominating or maintaining a Board of Regents
that will support Commissioner Gist, the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education team and Rhode Island’s strategic plan to ensure that we reach our ultimate goal of
providing great public schools for every Rhode Island child.

Thank you for your leadership.

Sincerely,

Andres Alonso, CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools

Tom Vander Ark, Managing Partner, Learn Capital

Lisa Beaulieu, Vice Chair, Cumberland School Committee

Kenneth Block, President, Simpatico Software Systems

Roswell S. Bosworth, Jr., Publisher Emeritus, East Bay Newspapers

Jean-Claude Brizard, Superintendent, Rochester City Public Schools

Eli Broad, Founder, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation

Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education Policy, Center for American Progress Action Fund

Governor Jeb Bush, Foundation for Excellence in Action

Maryellen Butke, Executive Director, RI-CAN

Christopher D. Cerf, Acting Education Commissioner, New Jersey

Kevin P. Chavous, National Board Chair, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and Black
Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)

Michelle Cotes-Harkins, Partner, Harkins Wealth Management

James Diossa, Councilman, Central Falls City Council

Malcolm Farmer, III, Partner, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLC

Chester E. Finn, Jr., President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Yolie Flores, Vice President, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education

Howard Fuller, Board Member, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)

Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman, Hassenfeld Family Initiatives

Jock Hayes, Board of Directors, Bristol Warren Education Foundation

Matthew Hayes, President and Publisher, East Bay Newspapers

Paul A. Herdman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rodel Foundation of Delaware

Frederick M. Hess, Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise
Institute for Public Policy Research

David Hibbitt, Trustee, Community Preparatory School, Providence

Susan Hibbitt, Trustee, Lincoln School, Providence

Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce of Rhode Island

Alex Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, ConnCAN

Mike Johnston, State Senator (D-CO)

Saul Kaplan, Founder and Chief Catalyst, Business Innovation Factory

Lisa Graham Keegan, President, Education Breakthrough Network, and Former State
Superintendent, Arizona

Joel Klein, Executive Vice President, News Corporation, and Former Chancellor, New York City
Schools

Patricia Levesque, Executive Director, Foundation for Excellence in Action

Patricia Martinez, Executive Director, Center for Family Support and Student Development,
Central Falls School District

David Milner, Chief Executive Officer, NuGen Capital Management

Kara Milner, Advisory Board Member, RI-CAN

Leo Morales, Board Chairman, Progreso Latino, Inc.

Sydney Morris, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Educators 4 Excellence

Jeff Mutter, Chairman, Cumberland School Committee

Joop Nagtegaal, Board President, Paul Cuffee Public Charter School

Donna Nesselbush, State Senator (D-RI)

Michael Obel-Omia, Head of School, Paul Cuffee Public Charter School

Michael J. Petrilli, Vice President for National Programs and Policy, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Gwendolyn Samuel, President and Founder, State of Black CT Alliance, Inc.

Erika Sanzi, Cumberland School Committee at Large

Van Schoales, Executive Director, Education Reform Now

Jeff Senese, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Johnson & Wales University

Evan Stone, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Educators 4 Excellence

James Vincent, President, NAACP Providence Branch

Kate Walsh, President, National Council on Teacher Quality

Joe Williams, Executive Director, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER)

!