Former School Official—Prov. Teacher Contract a ‘Blow’ to Ed Reform

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Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Stephen Beale, GoLocalProv News Editor

The former president of the Providence School Board blasted the new contract with teachers yesterday, describing it as one of the worst contracts in the state and a “blow” to education reform efforts.

“It’s a major blow to education reform in the city and it’s one of the reasons I resigned from the school board,” said Crain, who stepped down last month.

She claims that Mayor Angel Taveras pushed for legislative to cut the school board out of the negotiating process because he knew the school board would not have approved the contract. Crain resigned soon after the law passed the General Assembly.

The contract does deliver one key win to the city: over the course of three years it saves a total of $53 million at a time when the city is aiming to steer its way out of a financial emergency. But Crain said saving money had taken priority over improving education. “The good part of the contract is that the mayor and his team got money which is what they wanted but they got nothing for education reform,” Crain said.

Crain said she was especially concerned over the weakening of a policy on criterion-based hiring which the school board adopted several years ago. Under the new contract, she said seniority once again plays a role in hiring. She said the union has now gained the right to review the notes of interviewers—something which she said would have a “chilling effect” on the ability of interviewers to be objective and truthful. And, she said the union can now file grievances over hiring decisions.

“This shows me it isn’t about kids and education—it’s about the power of the union,” Crain said.

‘Worst contract in the state’

But her issues with the contract did not stop there. She ticked off several others:

■ Sick Days: The contract reduces the number of sick days from 20 to 15, but that’s still a week longer than the national average, Crain said.
■ School Day: The contract lengthens the school day, but the impact will be negligible, Crain said. “To say they’re increasing the school day is disingenuous because it’s only five minutes,” she said. Each year the day will increase by five minutes so that by the third year of the contract it will be 15 minutes longer than it is today.
■ Professional Development: The contract still does not require professional development.
■ Meetings with Parents: It also does not have a requirement for parent-teacher conferences.

“It’s three more years of the worst union contract in the State of Rhode Island,” Crain concluded.

School closings unnecessary

She also took exception to the fact that teachers are guaranteed no layoffs. Without shrinking the teacher force, she said there was little point to closing the schools. Now, she says she feels misled by the city administration when she was told that the closures were necessary to help the city deal with its budget crisis.

“I am heartbroken at what we did to these neighborhoods closing these schools. I take responsibility for that,” Crain said. “At the end of the day it was for nothing.”

Councilman: City still committed to education reform

Crain’s likely successor at the school board, Nina Pande, declined to specifically respond. But she did say the school board had had a number of concerns and that, on the surface, it appears those are addressed in the final version of the contract. She said the board received a final copy several days ago and will review the document more thoroughly in closed session at an Aug. 9 meeting.

Two city councilmen also praised the contract last night. “This agreement sets the stage for success for our students and our school system,” said Councilman David Salvatore.

Both Salvatore and Councilman Kevin Jackson said they would need to study the contract more thoroughly before they could address the criticisms leveled by Crain. But Jackson said he is confident the city is still on the path to education reform. “The city continues to make progress towards education reform [and] is committed to that,” Jackson said.

Editor's Note: The Mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Also, GoLocalProv requested a copy of the contract but was told none was available for public viewing yesterday.

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