Providence Pink Slips

More exciting times for Providence teachers, who received dismissal notices this week…

Like many states and districts, Providence is facing the kind of budget woes that will likely lead to staff reductions for the 2011-12 school year.  Without yet knowing how deep these cuts will have to be (and therefore what kinds of cuts would make the most sense), the district gave notice to all PPSD teachers. They did this, and hastily, because they had to—state law requires that teachers who are subject to nonrenewal be notified in writing on or before March 1st. Were the across-the-board pink slips akin to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, as union president Steve Smith suggested? Of course not. Smith’s Pearl Harbor comment was as inane as Klein’s recent suggestion that TFA’s efforts bear any likeness to Egypt’s revolution. But if you’re Smith, who just stood side by side with Superintendent Brady at the USDOE’s Denver meeting to celebrate the potential of union-district collaboration (unlikely allies, indeed), not knowing this was coming has got to feel like a slap and, given your position, understandably warrants some screaming and standing up for teachers. To notify all teachers that, come June, they don’t have jobs anymore? That’s so Central Falls! Imagine if you are a teacher, or maybe you are (interested to know, btw, how many people that read this blog are teachers) and you just got a notice of dismissal in the mail. Are you feeling glad that at least everyone got one, that the district didn’t arbitrarily pick some to sacrifice and save the rest, and confident that you’ve proven yourself enough to have your same job next year? Are you feeling optimistic that the city’s Blue Ribbon budget task force will come up with creative solutions that will do right by Providence students and teachers? Or are you just angry? I’m willing to bet that, with pink slip in hand, it’s a lot more of a stretch to see both sides and to say, yes, we all must make concessions, even in strong union states like Rhode Island.