Kathy Crain was nice enough to attend the City Council Finance Committee meeting tonight at City Hall.
She reports the following:
Matt Clarkin (the Internal Auditor) did an analysis of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and puts the projected savings at $21,686,274 over the next three years. He did not include the retirements of 55 teachers because he does not believe those to be part of the CBA negotiations. He adds that the savings resulting from increasing the school day 5 minutes/year for three years with no increase in pay is $14,727,272 over the course off the next three years. Perhaps the most interesting point, however, is the one that was brushed aside. Matt Clarkin writes this of the No Layoff Provision:
”A new layoff provision has been included in this Agreement. Specifically, this new provision prohibits the School Board from laying off or terminating PTU members for financial reasons. This new provision removes an option the School Board had available to balance future budgets and could result in the establishment of a new pool of displaced teachers. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is expected to identify more Providence schools as “Persistently Lowest-Achieving” (PLA). Additional funds are available to a PLA-designated school. THe designated school must undergo an improvement or corrective plan, and there are four School Reform Models (Turnaround Model, Restart Model, Transformation Model and School Closure) for each PLA school to choose. Dependent upon the Reform Model chosen, there could be teachers displaced from the PLA school. For example, the Turnaround Model requires that no more than 50% of the teachers currently at a PLA-designated (sic) be rehired. The Turnaround Model would likely result in new teachers being hired and a number of the teachers who worked at that PLA school being displaced at the beginning of the new school year. It is unclear as to whether this layoff provision will prohibit the School Department form laying off teachers who were displaced from a PLA school. If layoffs in such instances are prohibited, THE END RESULT WILL LIKELY BE A NEW POOL OF DISPLACED TEACHERS BEING MAINTAINED WITHIN THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE AT THIS TIME TO QUANTIFY THE FUTURE PROJECTED COSTS TO THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, BUT DEPENDENT UPON RIDE’S DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL PLA SCHOOLS, THE REFORM MODEL CHOSEN, AND THE MOVEMENT OF CURRENTLY EMPLOYED TEACHERS FROM AND TO THESE SCHOOLS, THE TOTAL COST OF A NEW POOL OF TEACHERS COULD BE SIGNIFICANT. (emphasis added).”
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Kathy goes on to state:
“If the City Council approves this, then our elected officials – the Mayor and the City Council – are willfully and knowingly approving a very short term fix that (a) will cost the School Department significantly in the long run, and (b) does very little in terms of educational reform. The Mayor has cut a deal that doesn’t even save money in the long run. How incredibly short-sighted.”
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Anyone remember the GM “Rubber Room”?
http://wsjclassroom.com/archive/06may/auto2_jobsbank.htm
http://wsjclassroom.com/archive/06may/auto2_jobsbank.htm
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The final meeting is:
WEDNESDAY, 5:30pm:
PUBLIC HEARING ON THE TEACHERS CONTRACT, City Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall. Parents and all PVD residents encouraged to give public comment.
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Parents from all parts of Providence should come to this Council hearing and speak out on the teachers contract.
