Education

NEA “Pay Cut” Analysis Hostage Day Count: Day 5

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 26, 2007 |

Still nothing from the NEA so the “pay cut” analysis hostage day count continues. Day 5 is now history. We eagerly await a response! The offer to post it here on Anchor Rising remains open. Here is our analysis showing there is NO “pay cut.” It even comes with spreadsheets and documented assumptions for public…

NEA “Pay Cut” Analysis Hostage Day Count: Day 4

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 25, 2007 |

Still nothing from the NEA so the “pay cut” analysis hostage day count continues. Day 4 is now history. We eagerly await a response! The offer to post it here on Anchor Rising remains open. Prove us wrong and we will admit to it. Or ‘fess up that your claim about East Greenwich teachers taking…

A Nutritionist in Every Classroom?

By Marc Comtois | September 25, 2007 |

Last week, the Warwick School Department sent our kids home with an opt-out letter from the city-wide Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement of all students. Of course, the actual “opt-out” portion was only mentioned after a longer legitimization of why the program was being implemented (PDF). The letter included dire warnings of the spread of…

UPDATED: Excuse me, but this is NOT how to win friends & influence people in East Greenwich

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 24, 2007 |

Are East Greenwich teachers being asked to take “pay cuts” by the School Committee? The NEA says yes but cannot and will not prove it. What follows below is an analysis which shows the “pay cut” claim is a lie and that can only mean the NEA is intentionally misleading East Greenwich residents. Background In…

NEA “Pay Cut” Analysis Hostage Day Count: Day 3

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 24, 2007 |

Still nothing from the NEA so the “pay cut” analysis hostage day count continues. Day 3 is now history. We eagerly await a response! The offer to post it here on Anchor Rising remains open. Prove us wrong and we will admit to it. Or ‘fess up that your claim about East Greenwich teachers taking…

“Pay Cut” Analysis Hostage Day Count: Day 2

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 23, 2007 |

The NEA’s very public claim that the East Greenwich School Committee’s contract proposals would result in “pay cuts” for teachers has been discredited in this post and several earlier posts mentioned at the beginning of that referenced post. Along the way, many commentators on this blog and I have all challenged the NEA to put…

East Greenwich Pendulum Viewpoint: Clarifying the Teachers’ Union Contract Debate With Facts

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 20, 2007 |

Today’s East Greenwich Pendulum town newspaper contains a Viewpoint editorial in which I wrote these words: The NEA teachers’ union strike and their contract demands are not about doing right by our children or about education. They are about maximizing adult entitlements where the NEA is willing to use our children as pawns to get…

UPDATED: The Entitlement Mentality of Certain Union Teachers & Their Leaders

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 19, 2007 |

I got a phone call today which passed along the following story: When the Judge recently heard the case involving the illegal East Greenwich teachers’ union strike, a teacher went up to a parent at the courthouse and said “Thank you for your support.” To which the parent replied: “I am supporting my child’s education…

A Structural Scapegoat

By Justin Katz | September 17, 2007 |

Julia Steiny’s column yesterday on Rhode Island’s poor treatment of its school principals is worth a read: In Massachusetts, principals can hire new faculty and make many of their own decisions. The Massachusetts 1993 Education Reform Act shifted much authority to the principals, with the understanding that they would delegate and share that authority with…

East Greenwich Teachers’ Union Contract Negotiations Update

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 15, 2007 |

The East Greenwich School Committee met with the mediator and NEA union negotiators last night for over 7 hours. No progress occurred. Here is the Word document-based press release they issued today. This was the first time I have been disappointed in the public statements of the School Committee. If I was on the School…