Jencunas: Gist’s Departure Leaves RI Education at Crossroads
Wednesday, February 04, 2015
Rhode Island public education is at a crossroads. The next Education Commissioner will decide if the schools continue improving or if they simply accept having the worst outcomes in New England.
This crossroads exists because Dr. Debra Gist has decided to resign and become the Superintendent of the Tulsa Public Schools.
Gist’s six-year tenure as an education reformer was a rebuttal to the usual perception of Rhode Island government. In a state known for insider politics, Gist was an outsider. In a government known for reluctance to change, she enacted sweeping reforms that improved education for Rhode Island students. In a state with a strong teacher’s union, Gist made improvements despite staunch union opposition.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHer leadership increased the graduation rate, created innovative charter schools, and Rhode Island now beats the national average in gains to student achievement. Thanks to Gist, Rhode Island, teachers are now given yearly evaluations. Judging employee performance seems like common sense, but the teachers union considered it an unforgivable sin.
Those unions want a commissioner who will roll back Gist’s reforms. They know this is the last chance to undo teacher accountability and charter schools. Once the policies have been in place for two successive commissioners, they will become part of the status quo that is so resistant to change.
Raimondo’s Choice
Governor Raimondo will choose Gist’s replacement. The choice will show whether Raimondo is continuing her iconoclastic political career or is changing to become more like the average Rhode Island politician.
As treasurer, Raimondo was a kindred spirit to Gist, taking on unions and enacting polarizing reforms.
These changes earned Raimondo praise from wealthy liberals and reform-minded academics, but were despised by organized labor. Yet despite labor’s opposition, Raimondo easily won the Democratic primary.
Unfortunately, she could choose an ineffective education commissioner to appease parts of the Democratic Party. Raimondo might want to fix her relationship with labor, viewing them as essential to pressuring more conservative parts of the General Assembly to adopt her budget.
Additionally, she may want to appeal to liberal hardliners, who some view as the future of the Democratic Party in Rhode Island. That crowd, epitomized by the bloggers at RI Future, view charter schools as a corporate takeover of public education. They were as critical of Gist as they were of Republicans like Scott Walker and Chris Christie, lumping them all into the category of union busters.
Appointing a pro-union commissioner would be a political and policy mistake for Raimondo. Her brand as a politician was built on siding with taxpayers over unions, and Rhode Island is ready for that brand.
Union Power
The Central Falls bankruptcy and Providence’s near-bankruptcy have weakened unions’ political power. It’s not a coincidence that none of labor’s favored candidates prevailed in last November’s election. Unions simply aren’t the political force they once were. Any benefit Raimondo gets from an olive branch to the teachers union will be cancelled out by the damage done to her public brand.
Liberal hardliners have won a string of victories in the last few years, defeating incumbent Democrats in the General Assembly and becoming more visible in the party’s infrastructure. But they’re still the minority in a Democratic Party ruled by business friendly centrists. Those are the people Raimondo needs to court to have success with the legislature, and those are people who want to continue reforms in the Rhode Island schools.
Though Rhode Island will miss Debra Gist, replacing her with an equally effective reformer lets Raimondo to deliver the change she promised voters. The governor was elected as a reformer, and she can prove it by picking an Education Commissioner who will continue to put students first.
Brian Jencunas works as a communications and media consultant. He can be reached at [email protected] and always appreciates reader feedback.
Related Slideshow: Who Could Be RI’s Next Education Commissioner?
Related Articles
- Cities and Towns with the Most Registered Sex Offenders in RI
- NEARI President Claims Gist Threatens Careers of Her Critics
- Gist Sparks Debate by Pronouncing RI Schools Best in Nation
- Pell Bridge Run Accepting Registrations
- Which RI Communities Have the Most Registered Sex Offenders?
- PODCAST: RI Cities+ Towns with the Most Registered Sex Offenders
- Don Roach: Deborah Gist, You Go Girl!
- Honoring 9/11: A Talk with Naval Cryptologist Richard Griffin
- The Scoop: RI GOP To Name US Senate Candidate, Metts Blasts Gist
- Don Roach: My Education Crusade - An Interview with Deborah Gist
- Listen: INVESTIGATION: Half of State Magistrates are General Assembly Relatives, Insiders
- General Assembly ‘Patronage’: Relatives, Insiders Get State Magistrate Jobs
- NEW: Gist Finalist For Tulsa Job
- Marrow Registry Drive Unites Students of Wheeler School and Hope High School
- BIG STORM - See The Meteorologists Predictions for the Blizzard
- NEW: Gist Now The Only Candidate For Tulsa Job
- NEW: Gist To Begin Contract Negotiations with Tulsa
- Herb Weiss: Prominent Oncologist’s Death Wish at Age 75
- Gist’s Future Debated by RI Education Leaders
- INVESTIGATION: Half of State Magistrates are General Assembly Relatives, Insiders
- Mollis Reminds Rhode Islanders of Upcoming Voter Registration Deadline
- Sports Psychologist Greg Dale to Speak at Moses Brown
- Gist Proposes Strategic Plan and Requests Public Input
- Jencunas: Gist’s Departure Leaves RI Education at Crossroads
