Mayor Taveras and School Board go full Walker

Here's some stunning news from our capital city:




My teacher friends in Providence, across the river from where I live, are calling this a "back door Wisconsin." Terminating all teachers in the city, instead of laying off all teachers in the city, makes a mockery of the teachers' union contract. With a huge budget shortfall, teachers were expecting layoff warning letters. They knew that some teachers would lose their jobs. But the recall process from layoffs still respects the negotiated contract. Those teachers who are recalled still enjoy step raises based on seniority, for example. Termination ends the contract. An award winning teacher with 25 years service, working at a higher pay scale, will now have to compete with an untested graduate, who can be paid at the lowest rate, to get her job back. Will the board choose the proven veteran who costs twice as much? Teaching in a largely low-income city like Providence is a very tough job. This insane action almost guarantees that the experienced glue that holds these fragile schools together will be melted away, replaced by eager, energetic, but probably (at least for a few years) much less effective teachers.