Providence Officials Give Precautionary Termination Notices To ALL The City's Teachers

Providence, R.I., officials have issued pink slips to every single public school teacher in the city -- all 1,926.

They aren't all going to be fired, the slips are meant to be warnings of what might come with huge budget cuts looming.

Since the law requires that teachers are informed by March 1 if they are going to be fired, officials informed them all -- just in case.

According to The Providence Journal, Superintendent Tom Brady explained,

"Since the full extent of the potential cuts to the school budget have yet to be determined, issuing a dismissal letter to all teachers was necessary to give the mayor, the School Board and the district maximum flexibility to consider every cost savings option, including reductions in staff."

The Providence school district is facing a $40 million deficit for the upcoming school year.

The budget won't be filed until April, so the exact budget cuts won't be known for months. Meanwhile, every teacher's job hangs in the balance.

CNNMoney reports,

The teachers' union said it was "appalled" at the city's decision to "terminate all Providence public school teachers." The union will explore every option to make sure educators' rights are protected.

"This unprecedented action sacrifices the best interest of Providence students and teachers in the name of flexibility," said Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union.

Comments

[Pembrokelib]

07:59 PM on 03/01/2011

Could it be that Deborah Gist, director of education in RI, wants more
national publicity? She received it before when she fired all the teachers in
Central Falls and I am sure that her personal PR agent was thrilled. She and
others have made Providence a laughingstock all over the country. Her insistence on high testing scores for students who speak hardly any English
is absurd and blaming teachers for low scoring students who don't come to
school most of the time makes no sense.

[dakotawoman]

10:27 AM on 02/28/2011

Restricting real education -- the kind that teaches factual history and requires students to think for themselves and not merely memorize carefully selected data for answering the "No Child Left Behind" test questions -- to the elite and privileged also plays into the hand of the corporate mentality that very much wants a super cheap and helpless labor supply that no longer expects a minimum wage, job security, health insurance, safe work places, healthy work schedules. Kinda like what they have overseas. Kinda like what they had in the nineteenth century. Kinda like slavery, without even the minimum responsibility of the slave owner to clothe, shelter and feed their workers. And when those worker who can't keep up then fail and die -- then just shrug shoulders and recite the "personal responsibility" mantra.

[Michael J OConnell]

08:45 PM on 02/27/2011

Threats and actions such as occuring in Providence and Wisconsin are calculated to do two things. First, divide Americans by pitting the 'union' against the rest of us. You know, those union teachers have great benefits, etc. This, of course diverts attention from the problems within our educational system which we have failed to reform in spite of all the talk and programs (w.g. NCLB). The second goal is to eliminate unions. By doing so they relegate the few unionized people left to having to individually negotiate, which removes most of the workers' power. The more cunning effect is to eliminate a collective voting block in the 2012 elections. Look at how many Republican governors are jumping on the 'kill the union' bandwagon. Its like they are all using the same playbook - gee.

[darkmark]

10:35 AM on 02/27/2011

the rich are rising higher and higher while the working/middle class sinks lower and lower. a good percentage of the rich want it that way. it would make their bloated egos even more so and for them that's a constant orgasm. when will we understand it doesn't take much to kick their puny dicks and stomp on their black hearts leaving that rotten filth in our past and move on to a world dominated by reasoned good will to all living things.

[signgrrl]

09:51 PM on 02/27/2011

i think we're getting there. i just hope it's soon enough.

[been2there]

05:52 PM on 02/26/2011

They will preferentially hire the newer, less experienced, less educated, and like it or not, less effective teachers to "save money."

[Jolimont]

01:55 AM on 02/26/2011

The message we're sending to our children with this massive layoff letter (whether they end up fired or not) is that teachers are disposable. We don't need teachers very much because we don't value her/him. Adults and politicians do not value teachers, do not respect teachers, do not listen to teachers. Why should we expect our kids to do differently?!

In China the children bow to their teachers, listen, pay attention, complete extremely difficult assignments, and if they can't make the cut they would never blame the teachers. Teachers there also get paid better than average and stay in the profession for life. No wonder their kids get a better education!

[SwimUpstream]

05:18 PM on 02/25/2011

This has not happened yet. HP is really twisting the headlines today

[ptumember]

02:12 AM on 02/28/2011

um... yes it has... I have received not one termination letter, but 2!!!!

[ptumember]

07:20 PM on 02/28/2011

and now a third... just got another certified letter slip from the PSD with a different code number on it

[redstateblue]

05:10 PM on 02/25/2011

I wonder if the Koch brothers would even miss $40 million. Did no one ever tell them to use their power for good?

[bogey1]

08:29 AM on 02/26/2011

have u ever heard of the phrase "a leopard cannot change his spots" ?

the Koch brothers made their money the old fashioned way - they inherited it
and now think they are financial wizards and want to run America like a feudal country

wait a minute, wasn't that how America got started?
by revolting against a feudal system?

[jdmn17]

03:21 PM on 02/25/2011

Frankly I think we should go back to the good old days. We really don't need to educate all of the people. A good population of ignorant and illiterates are needed to staff the new non minimum wage jobs that will come when minimum wages are abolished.

We can go back to where the only people educated are from families that can afford parochial education. And once we add in a literacy test to voting rights we can simply keep the voting bloc consisting of educated religiously oriented folks. That was they can remain in power.

The simple solution to that, and for balancing the budget is to close all public schools and state colleges and universities. Make them all private. Teachers get fired and have to re-negotiate with non union schools for pay. With lower enrollment there will be many teachers fighting for few jobs meaning the schools can offer the least money to fill fewer slots. Someone doesn't perform, they get canned, there's always more teachers out there to fill the slots. The children that can't afford to go to school can simply join the workforce. I'm sure Congress will be all over dropping age restrictions on working. So we can send our kids off to work at age ten or so and they can contribute their $1.50 per hour salary to help the household expenses. Why should they get a free ride? It's all really simple

[ptumember]

02:29 AM on 02/28/2011

ignorance is bliss
Why should a teacher be fired if students don't perform? Do you even know what goes on in a class? In my Geometry 10th grade class, half my students are special education, and most kids function on a 2nd-4th grade math level. I have to take every student that is enrolled in my class regardless of ability. I cannot even recommend what type of math a student should take. I failed kids in Algebra I last year and they have no idea how to solve equations but are now currently taking Geometry. You need Algebra for this Geometry class. Why should I be fired when administrators say, "Why do students need to know how to reduce fractions or graph when all they have to do is push a button and a calculator does it for them?" It's disgusting.
There would be new teachers every single year in the Providence district if the school department followed your advice.

[Passenger57]

03:10 PM on 02/25/2011

TODAY:
Mass teacher layoffs
TOMORROW:
"My God, why are our children so stupid?"

[bogey1]

08:31 AM on 02/26/2011

all children left behind

republithugs worry so much about a child while it's still not born, but after birth, you're on your own buddy !!

[Passenger57]

12:24 PM on 02/26/2011

LOL!
KID : "But I'm eight years old!"
PUB : "Actually, since we believe life starts at conception, you're eight-and-three-quarters! Get a JOB!"

[Ari Winkleman]

02:36 PM on 02/25/2011

If you read the comments on Projo.com you would realize that the issue is completely based around illegals and anchor babies #sarcasm

[KevinDay9]

02:12 PM on 02/25/2011

So, if I follow the current right vs. left dialog correctly, "saving our grandkids from crippling debt" is the nation's #1 priority, but providing them with an education (ie. the means to earn, innovate and pay-down that debt when their time comes to join the workforce and run the country) is not a priority at all.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

[ER08]

01:02 PM on 02/25/2011

How many adminstrators were pink slipped?

[ptumember]

02:30 AM on 02/28/2011

none, and no teachers were either... Teachers were FIRED!!!!

[AgingLady]

12:06 PM on 02/25/2011

Looks to me as if all children will be left behind.