Education

More on the Issues in the East Greenwich Teachers’ Union Strike

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 4, 2007 |

A lot of words are being said as the East Greenwich teachers go out on strike. Many of the public comments by union officials and some teachers have nothing to do with the facts. These contract negotiations and strikes are not about doing right by our children or about education. They are about maximizing adult…

Breaking News on Anchor Rising: East Greenwich Teachers to Strike on Tuesday

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 4, 2007 |

You heard it here first: East Greenwich teachers will strike on Tuesday morning. More thoughts on their illegal strike here. UPDATE: ARE THERE REALLY 8-12% ANNUAL SALARY INCREASES IN THESE CONTRACTS? Regarding Bob’s comment of “I am certain no one is asking for such high pay increases, as you propose…You might want to get accurate…

Update on the East Greenwich Teachers’ Contract & Suggested Future Actions

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 3, 2007 |

Here is the latest on the East Greenwich School District teachers’ contract status: The NEA voted last Thursday to let their negotiating team call a strike. The current contract expired last Friday. There was a special School Committee meeting last Saturday. Tuesday is the first day of school. Teachers are paid prospectively and, because of…

Education Partnership Reports: Learning a lot more about RI teachers’ union contracts

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 2, 2007 |

A lot of fur is flying in the Comments sections of various posts on teachers’ union contracts. If you want to get some good information on such contracts in RI, your best bet is to go read the three annual reports by The Education Partnership: Teacher Contracts: Restoring the Balance (Volume I, 2005) Teacher Contracts:…

Saying “No” to Legalized Extortion

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 1, 2007 |

I endorse John’s words in the Comments section of Justin’s post entitled Children Are Their Life? No, Children Are Their Leverage.: Maybe someday in RI a school committee will have the guts to fire striking teachers, replace them with new ones, and say to the union, “see you in court.” I have no doubt where…

Re: Researching from Outside the Library

By Donald B. Hawthorne | August 31, 2007 |

As a former member of the East Greenwich School Committee, I read Justin’s post about Pat Crowley’s comments on the Burrillville teachers’ strike with a certain bemusement. Justin touches on one of the really big issues about RI teachers’ union contract negotiations: It is my experience that it was the teachers’ union who demanded that…

To Fix Education, Fix Families First

By Marc Comtois | August 27, 2007 |

Julia Steiny wrote in the ProJo on Sunday: Over the course of this summer, I studied a whole range of troubled kids. Instead of seeing them from the outside as the upsetting little pains-in-the-tush they are, I tried to get a glimpse of their lives. I met kids recovering from sexual abuse, neglect, violence, drug…

That Old-Time Education

By Justin Katz | August 23, 2007 |

Victor Davis Hanson takes a worthy (albeit brief) look at modern education and makes some suggestions: We should first scrap the popular therapeutic curriculum that in the scarce hours of the school day crams in sermons on race, class, gender, drugs, sex, self-esteem, or environmentalism. These are well-intentioned efforts to make a kinder and gentler…

An Archival Tete-a-Tete

By Justin Katz | August 12, 2007 |

In the comments to the previous post, Tom W provides a link to his Narragansett Times debate with Bob Walsh, which is still available on RI Policy Analysis as a PDF.

The Problems Go ‘Round and ‘Round

By Justin Katz | August 12, 2007 |

Following up on my (probably poorly stated) previous post, a specific instance of the conversation’s various subthreads is illustrative, beginning with the following, from Thomas: The average teacher salary in RI for 04-05 was $53,473 (I know Frank will say it’s higher, but I don’t think he’s given us figures and a source yet, so…