Education
In the midst of a very edifying conversation in the comments section of my “Powers and Victims” post, Tiverton teacher Ed Davis offers the following significant perspective: You’re right, no one is forcing us to work here. Unfortunately, I saw this philosophy take hold in the school system my son attended. Many of the good…
It’s maximally conspicuous that Louis Gerstner omits a key detail while enumerating his recommendation for public school reform: I recommend that President-elect Barack Obama convene a meeting of our nation’s governors and seek agreement to the following: – Abolish all local school districts, save 70 (50 states; 20 largest cities). Some states may choose to…
Here is another set of recommendations made by the Governor’s Urban Education Task Force that Justin discussed yesterday, as relayed by Linda Borg of the Projo…The report recommends that urban elementary schools offer 20 minutes of daily phonics instruction, set aside time every day for children to read individually and in small groups, and test…
Yet another task force, this time addressing education in Rhode Island, has convened and tossed some suggestions out into the public breeze: Expand the school day. Offer preschool to all students. Allow students to earn a high school diploma by taking night classes or enrolling online. … The task force also recognized that the state,…
By far the most interesting audio from last night’s Tiverton School Committee meeting, in my opinion, was Vice Chairwoman Sally Black’s reasoning for voting to approve the teachers’ contract (stream, download) because the thought processes are indicative of the flawed way in which Rhode Islanders have conducted their public business. Mrs. Black cycled through a…
Well, here we are, at what’s sure to be a tense school committee meeting — as the teachers demand their retroactive pay and a handful of us concerned citizens try to explain that it would be insane to dig our financial hole deeper, with the state facing such a daunting task. You know it’s got…
Dear Tiverton School Committee members: It so happened that, the Friday before you’ll decide whether to approve the arbitrated teacher contract, my boss called me on the construction site to tell me that, after I take my five paid days of annual vacation this week, he and I will have to sit down and agree…
Tiverton Citizens for Change is moving forward from its electoral successes: The School Committee should reject a tentative two-year teachers’ contract at its meeting Tuesday in light of possible unanticipated cuts in state aid to local schools during the current fiscal year, according to the anti-tax group Tiverton Citizens for Change. The committee and the…
So here’s what’s going on in other towns while the Tiverton teachers demand retroactive pay for time spent working to rule: As state leaders wrestle with a second-straight year of mid-term budget cuts, mayors and managers across Rhode Island are looking at everything from later bill payment schedules to union concessions to offset expected losses…
There’s creeping desperation in West Warwick: The Town Council and School Committee agreed to open the lines of communication as part of a settlement of the Caruolo lawsuit the schools filed against the town in April, which seeks a $1.1-million addition to its $49.4-million budget. … … the first step, Thomas said, is addressing the…