Hey guys,
Well by now most of you are probably aware that Providence Mayor Angel Taveras approved a plan to essentially fire the city’s entire teaching staff… over 1900 teachers. Providence is somewhere around $40 million in debt, and the mayor believes that a reorganization and restructuring of the city’s schools can help fix the budget.
The plan also calls for most of the teachers to be rehired beginning in mid-March. What appears to be likely is an attempt to rehire certain teachers without regards to seniority, as well as an increase in class sizes. People fear that veteran teachers will not be called back because they earn more money than do newer teachers. As of right now, it is difficult to see how Providence will be able to examine each of the city’s 1900 teachers in order to decide their status based on teacher quality rather than just income.
Other school districts are watching closely; if Providence is successful with these mass firings, we can expect other cities, possibly Warwick, to attempt to follow suit.
Obviously, being a teacher, I fear that these types of actions will come to Warwick. I love my job, and I like to think I’m pretty good at it… I also fear what increase class sizes will do to the learning environment for our students… could this mean 40+ student per class?!?!?! Talk about potential for kids falling through the cracks and a lack of personal attention!!!
Obviously something needs to be done to fix the economic situation in public education… but firing entire staffs and bringing people back based solely on how much they make is detrimental to the academic success of our students… as is bringing back people based solely on seniority… so what do we do to fix the problems?
The job of unions is to protect union members and union jobs… and I’m thankful for that. The job of school committees is figure out a way to run the schools in an economically viable way. What is missing here?... students… there is no one representing or protecting students…
Do parents really want forty students per classroom? Do they want experienced, dedicated teachers to lose their jobs because they make more money than a first tear teacher? Do they want ineffective teachers to stay in the classroom while effective teachers get laid off because of a hiring date?
I’m not saying I know what the solution is, but I do know that what Mayor Taveras is doing in Providence is not it.
What do you think?
- X
Hmmm....well,instead of giving tax cuts to the rich, use that money to improve education, instead of helping 1% of our population, help everyone. And yes, this starts with going inside the schools and fixing the problems that need to be fixed. Not all of them are teachers, but thats a percentage of it. They need to make kids excited about schools, they need to make TEACHERS excited about teaching. If that's what has to be done, So be it.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an extreme action which should not be taken. I think that every now and then someone comes up with a bad idea, but those should be put to the side and not used as a solution! I feel that by hiring every teacher, even if they do get rehired, that it is creating insecurity in them. How are teachers suppose to educate if they are uncomfortable? Students are constantly playing the game of compare and compete, and now teachers will be too. A school should be a community and having teachers compete against each other for jobs does not enhance that sense of unity. Granted, they do all have in common the fear of being fired and its stress, but ultimately no one is being benefited.
ReplyDeleteI understand that money is tough in our economy, but I don't think that this is a good solution. The thing that stood out most to me is having 40+ students in a classroom. It's hard to concentrate and to get attention when there are only 20 kids in the class. I can't even imagine having that many students in my class. I think that this will make academics worse in schools, and will not benefit the students at all. They need to think more about the students, which is what school is all about.
ReplyDeleteI just, ahhh! I don't even know how to express how obnoxious this entire thing is. I think it is just ridiculous that he just decided to fire all these teachers without any notice. I also think it is super obnoxious that the teachers found out through the media that they were going to be fired instead of being the first to find out and then seeing it on the news later. I understand that something needs to be done about the budget problems in the schools, but education should be the first priority, and firing the teachers isn't going to help. Closing schools and creating bigger classes will only help to worsen the education in the Providence School Systems. This post is so not organized at all but I am so upset about this that I don't know how to organize it.
ReplyDeleteI personally am going to be impacted by this because my mom is an employee of the Providence Schools, and she could potentially lose her job because of this.
What are all of these teachers supposed to do? How are they supposed to effectively teach between now and the end of the year when they know that come June, they may no longer have a job. The teacher's anxiety is going to rub off on the students, and less learning is going to happen in the classrooms.
I could go on and on about this because I am so upset about it, but I guess this is all for now.
Firing every teacher and then rehiring the younger, less experianced ones is a terrible idea. It would cost much less for the city but also, every decade, they would have to repeat this process to keep pay rates down. That would take too much time and would never actually solve the main money issue. Instead, they should cut down on other unecessary things the school has. Although everyone hates when taxes are raised, this could also improve the amount of money the schools have. By firing the teachers they are not only causing them to lose jobs but they are also causing the students to not get the best education possible because of lack of experience.
ReplyDeleteObviously he's not as bright as the people of Providence think he is. What a dumb idea. Yes, lets fire an entire staff of a job that is needed for the progress of a child's mind-state
ReplyDeleteSo I just keep thinking about this and new ideas keep popping into mind. Teachers are role models. Whether they are aware of it or not, they are influential to their students. If the teachers are nervous, angry, scared, sad, and so much more the students are going to unintentionally feel the same. They are going to imitate the feelings of their teachers. Also, through mirror neurons students are going to adopt those feelings. Some students are depressed, alone, and confused, this negative attitude is not going to help them. Will the drop out rate increase? Will suicide increase? Will school violence increase?
ReplyDeleteI understand that Mayor Taveras is trying to find a way to save money since the debt is Providence is over $40 million. But I don't think firing 1900 teachers and then rehiring based on how much money they make. Some teachers that could be fired because they make more money could actually be one of the best teachers while someone who is newer is rehired and may be the worst teacher. I think they should look at how well the teacher does their job and how they contribute to the students education when deciding on who to rehire instead of on how much they make.
ReplyDeleteI think the action the Providence mayor plans to take is absolutely ridiculous. It not only harms teacher but also students. Some students, like me, cannot learn in a crowded classroom. Also some students will have a hard time getting to the school they will have to go to afterwards. I personally believe that this action will increase drop-out rate and failing rate in students. Also Rhode Island's unemployment will go up tremendously. Overall, this plan is just bad and should not be carried out.
ReplyDelete-Saman
I do not think it is a good idea to fire all these teachers. Students do not get one on one with the teacher as much if they do. I know I would not learn as much if classes are 40+, I learn more if its one on one, and I am sure other students say the same thing. So, they shouldnt fire all these teachers. I swear the school committee are just finding more ways for students to drop out.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is not a good solution. However, seeing as it's not going to change, we can only hope that the other cities don't follow suit. But I think that they should not go on seniority, but rather their teaching competence. Just because a teacher has taught for more years than another does not mean that they're a better teacher.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that is on the mayors mind is money. Not the students education. But really, who cares about the education in a school anyways? If all these teachers are being fired and re-hiring teachers who are new or newer for lower pay what would happen? Oh yea, NO learning would get done. Lets face it, teachers in the first year are not the best so for the 2012-2016 class in high school isnt going to learn anything? I dont think the mayor though this one threw too well.
ReplyDeleteThis is completely ridiculous!! Firing a whole entire staff with or without notice is nonsense. Parents send their kids to school to learn, not to be cramped in a room with over 40 kids and not even understand what they're learning and not to mention he would be hiring teachers based on their payroll, which shows how much he caressss!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a good idea, only because the kids need teachers. However, all of the teachers SHOULD have testing done. Like their superiors watch them for a few days, only to see how they really interact with the kids. I feel that once teachers get older, they lose their touch. Younger teachers, however, still know what it feels like to learn and be challenged. -Chelsea Carney
ReplyDeleteI really do not agree with this, and seriously hope it doesn't work for Providence. I would hate it to happen in Warwick. I talked about this with my parents yesterday, and I think that's exactly what they are doing. I bet they will rehire all the teachers that get paid less, rather than hiring the teachers that do the best job. A class of 40+ students?? NO. It won't work, not at all. 20 or less is the way to go with elementary-high school classrooms. I am even trying to apply to colleges with smaller class sizes as well. A bigger class means I would probably fail. Not having that extra attention, the extra time to ask questions, or not being able to work on things with other classmates, won't work. Students need the time and room for extra attention from teachers. UGH, I just really disagree with what's going on in Providence... and I just get so annoyed thinking about it. This better not work... :(
ReplyDeleteI think this is an extreme action that does not need to be taken. With class sizes of over 40 people there would be kids falling behind left and right. I dont think that the bad economy should result in our education system suffering.
ReplyDeleteAlso if this happened I think the teachers who dont get oaid as good would deffinatly get hired more than the well paid ones and that would mean more inexperienced teachers and less that know how to get the job done right. Another thing to consiter is that with all these teachers getting laid off the econmy would suffer even more becuase there would be more people with no jobs. This whole thing is a bad idea and I dont think it will work and it deffinatly wont bennefit the students.
Melissa Abels
The mayor in providence does not need to take this extreme of an action. He clearly is not thinking about the students at all. I know from personal experience that having classrooms with 25 to 28 students is completley insane. Forget about 40 students! I also think that when hiring back the rest of the teachers during mid march they mayor does need to take senarity into consideration. Not hiring a teacher just because of the fact that they are older and will get paid more isnt a vaild enough reason. If all of the teachers who get hired back are much less experienced the students are not going to benefit as much as they would have if they had a more experienced teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a horrid idea. I'm sure the mayor could think of other ideas of saving money, rather to jeopardize the education of the youth. The kids are the one who need to be educated if the city ever wants to make money! And hiring inexperienced teachers for less money is not going to benefit the students, either, especially if there are inexperienced teachers, plus a 40+ student class. There will be no one-on-one attention for the students, and everyone will fall behind. I don't see this idea following through, considering all of the people who will be against it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, this whole situation is absurd. Although teachers are speaking out and so are the parents of the students, I think no one has a better point of view than who it is effecting directly, such as the students. However, most people don't take the students seriously because we aren't as "wise" as adults. That may be true in some cases, but students who speak from personal experiences when working with the teachers can tell that it's not always the teacher with the most seniority that is doing the best job.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about schools today is they just keep adding to the list of what they want to get done, and not getting rid of what clearly is not successful. Kids are just becoming overwhelmed with what they need to do to get out of highschool and the miscommunication between the students, teachers and school board is increasing. Without communication the teachers can't help the students which then results in poor grades, lack of motivation and increased drop out rates. Which in turn effects the reputation of th teachers as having done a bad job which is entirely not true, it's the school board that should be blamed for this. Miscommunication is the major problem here, what is going to be done to fix it? Laying off teachers for absolutely no logical reasoning whatsoever is definitely not the key.
I definitely agree that Mayor Taveras's "solution" is not a solution at all. First of all, putting all of those people out of a job is unquestionably wrong, especially in today's economy. However, their plan to hire teachers back based solely on how much it will cost the city to employ them is also an important issue. Just because newer teachers are cheaper to employ, this does not ensure that they are experienced enough to provide children with the education that they need. On the other hand, they may be more qualified for the job than some of the veteran teachers themselves. The point is that the city should not risk their children's education just because it is cheaper to employ newer teachers.
ReplyDelete