Rhode Island Politics
I was at the Gaspee Days parade over the weekend and was canvassed by a representative of Operation Clean Government who was looking for signatures supporting a Voter Initiative referendum question this November. I signed it, with some trepidation, but the proximate situation of the current state of Rhode Island politics won out over my…
A new ProJo editorial comments on the plan to unionize babysitters in Rhode Island: …the Rhode Island General Assembly is roaring ahead with a very bad plan to unionize babysitters — and send the gigantic bill to the taxpayers… …The bill would create a new and very powerful special interest added to the one that…
Milton Friedman has written a new editorial entitled “Free to Choose: After 50 years, education vouchers are beginning to catch on” Little did I know when I published an article in 1955 on “The Role of Government in Education” that it would lead to my becoming an activist for a major reform in the organization…
Tom Coyne of RI Policy Analysis offers this ProJo editorial on whether teachers are fairly compensated: A growing number of Rhode Island communities are experiencing acrimonious contract negotiations with their teachers’ unions. At the heart of these discussions lies the question of whether teachers are adequately compensated for their work and the results they produce.…
Here is a very rough, running summary of the two hour discussion between WPRO’s Dan Yorke and the NEA‘s Bob Walsh. Again, it’s pretty rough and, though I doubt I’ll get to it any time soon, I’ll clean it up if I have time. Remember, I’m not a stenographer].
I just received several telephone calls from some East Greenwich residents who were at one of the local schools, Hanaford Elementary School, today and saw that a number of teachers had placards on their cars that read: “Bargaining Rights are Civil Rights” Stop for a minute and ask yourself: What does that comment mean? The…
Edward McElroy is a Rhode Island native and happens to be president of the American Federation of Teachers, the fourth largest labor union in the country (1.3-million-members). In the keynote address at the Institute for Labor Studies 25th anniversary awards dinner, he recalled the legitimate fight in the 60’s and 70’s to get teachers the…
The contract negotiations between Providence Mayor Cicilline and the Providence Firefighters Union continues to drag on. It seems that they can’t even agree on what they agree upon. Cicilline said three issues are impeding negotiations: employee contributions to health insurance, cost of living increase for pensions, and “management flexibility.” Cicilline said the firefighters must agree…
There was a government worker union rally held yesterday in Providence, but this wasn’t your father’s or grandfathers mill worker union rally, folks. This rally was for members of public service employee unions: state employees, teachers, firemen, police, etc., supported by taxes and rather ungrateful for it. Here are just a couple things that were…
Here are two provocative pieces on public education issues, including teachers’ compensation and public school performance: First, Tom Coyne of RI Policy Analysis on RI Teachers Unions. Second, a multi-part debate in the Narragannsett Times between Robert Walsh, Executive Director of the NEA-RI, and Tom Wigand, an attorney.