AISR Speaks Out: Commentary on Urban Education

Providence Teachers Terminated: Dollars & Sense or Teachers & Students?

Published on February 25, 2011

Author:

Warren Simmons

After two hours of contentious discussion last night, the Providence, R.I. School Board voted 4 to 3 to issue termination notices to each of the city’s 1,926 public school teachers. The Annenberg Institute’s Warren Simmons comments on this remarkable development that has ricocheted around the U.S. as other cities attempt to grapple with their own huge budget deficits.

At last week’s conference on Labor-Management Collaboration Education Secretary Duncan cited the partnership between Providence school superintendent Tom Brady and Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teacher’s Union as an exemplar of leaders putting students first as they collaborate to turn-around low performing schools.

The Providence School Board’s decision to notify all teachers that their positions might not be renewed gives the system the flexibility it needs to address a $40 million budget deficit, but damages the trust needed to shift labor management relations from a traditional focus on wages and work conditions to one centered on teaching and learning. Mayor Taveras, the Providence School Board, Steve Smith and Tom Brady must work to engage the community in finding a constructive solution to the budget crisis — one that puts students and effective teaching at the center of the conversation rather than dollars and nonsense.

PREPARED BY
Warren Simmons
Executive Director,
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Warren_Simmons@brown.edu