CONGRATULATIONS RHODE ISLAND

 The Providence Journal has just announced the following:

Update: RI among 10 winning 'Race to the Top' millions

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Education Department says Rhode Island, eight other states and the District of Columbia will receive money in the second round of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition. Department spokesman Justin Hamilton says the winners are: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The amounts of the grants are expected to be announced later.


Superintendent Gist and the superintendents, teachers and parents who have supported the application reflect the hard work and commitment to the welfare of our children. Your hard work has been rewarded. Now we have a chance to improve our educational system into the one we need to prepare them to grow, develop, mature and prepare for life in the 21st century. To those who have opposed the process for short term and regressive ideals about the role of unions and work to rule, it is time to put that behind you and join in building Rhode Island into what it can become, instead of fighting to keep it what it has become.

Again, Congratulations to those who work so hard for it and to the students will benefit from the grant.

But a word of caution, this is only the beginning. Let's make certain that the plan is followed, the results evaluated and the system is really working.

In defense of Rhode Island Teachers

In light of the Central Falls teachers crisis and the real vile comments that have been appearing in the comments to stories about the crisis on Projo.com, it is only fair to point out that the problem is not the truly professional teacher, it is in an educational system out of touch with the times and the institutions that support it.

Education is critical to individual and community success. Education is how society recruits and trains its young to become full citizens, adults and contributors to the common welfare. And education is done by teachers.

In these tough times, when taxes are perceived to be too high and the quality of the product these taxes buy seems poor and getting worse and when educational establishment itself is found wanting, let us not confuse the individuals who are responsible for what goes on in the classroom, with those institutions which claim to represent or command them.

Teachers, and teaching are a noble professional. Teachers are the link between our past and the future. They are the bearers of the community's wisdom and experience. They are charge with instilling in the next generation the knowledge, skills and values that make civil society possible. They are expected to take the raw talents and potentials of each child and shape and mold them into the best that they can be, even as the child rebels against it.

Rhode Islanders are today engaged in a serious dialogue over the merits and direction of its educational system. Interests groups are aligning themselves for and against the changes that must be made to bring our educational system into the 21st century and prepare our children to compete in the global economy and rapidly changing technological environment. While contracts, standards, policies, and philosophies are being debated, we most not lose sight of the individual teachers and what they do. These individuals are often maligned, disrespected, and treated as the cause of the problem rather than as the victims of the system that they are.

Ever heard the phrase "Those who can't do, teach"? At the Bowery Poetry Club, slam poet Taylor Mali begs to differ, and delivers a powerful, 3-minute response on behalf of educators everywhere.

Economic Development and Binding Arbitration

A recent editorial in the Providence Journal Editorial: And they’ll be back warns that a major piece of legislation sponsored by the teachers' union (NEA and AFL) requiring binding arbitration between the unions and local school committees may reappear again when the RI General Assembly reconvenes next year.

The following comment on the Projo Online edition of the editorial from Ethnographer outlines the issues in the broader context of Rhode Island's economic crisis. Ethnographer's comments are quoted below with permission.

Quality education should be the issue, not Union power when the Assemble reconvenes.

Economic development does not come from higher pay and benefits. It comes from higher value production.

When the teachers unions can demonstrate that it can produce a higher value product for the community that buys their services, then they might have a basis for earning the higher wages, and benefits.

But binding arbitration has nothing to do with quality product, only raw power.

Unions serve a useful purpose when a worker group is at a disadvantage, such as the recent article about the "adjunct faculty" at URI and RIC, and the employer is in a monopoly position. But when the union is the monopoly, as they would be in a binding arbitration situation, they no longer serve a useful purpose for the consumers (the communities) which purchase their product (teachers) nor the resource (the teachers) they monopolize through their representation.

The growth of the Charter school movement demonstrates how the public is prepared to spend its education dollars on quality if given a competitive option.

At one time teaching was a "noble" profession and for some it still is seen as a "calling."

Unfortunately, today it is sold as a commodity to the communities and a job to young teachers ("cattle calls")entering the field. Meanwhile the real purpose, educating students suffers as seen in RI graduation rates.

Education is too important to the economic development and welfare of the community and to the next generation to be entrusted to the "wisdom" and monopolistic power of Union leaders and union politics.