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(From www.turnto10.com)
Unions fail to back RI’s Race to the Top application
Rhode Island’s application for Race to the Top is due on Tuesday, but it may go in without the blessing of the unions.
A few states have run into this problem. Others have managed to negotiate agreement between the goals of their education departments and the teachers’ unions.
Race to the Top has been the focus of many of education Commissioner Deborah Gist’s proposals for reforming Rhode Island schools.
Every state is competing for a pool of federal money, and Rhode Island could win as much as $100 million.
Gist’s department has written a proposal, but the union has not agreed.
“We’d love to have Rhode Island get the money, No. 1. But No. 2, this was supposed to be done collaboratively with us. It wasn’t,“ said Larry Purtill, president of the National Education Association Rhode Island.
Even though the Race to the Top program has been talked about for months, the union said it didn’t see the proposal until this week. And the union objects to a provision that would grade teachers—and potentially fire them—based on students’ test scores.
Purtill said teachers cannot be responsible for all aspects of a student’s performance.
“It’s going to vary from district to district based on the environment, students’ readiness when they come to school to learn,“ Purtill said. “There’s all kinds of factors.“
Gist continues to work on the plan, saying that “virtually every one of our school districts and all charter schools and state-operated schools have stepped forward to participate in our proposal.“
But getting the unions’ support is still going to be questionable.
“There’s quite a gap between what she believes and what we believe, and the deadline is Tuesday. Keep in mind, this is only round 1, and there is going to be a round 2 and probably a round 3,“ Purtill said. “We’ve offered the commissioner that we’ll be more than glad to sit down and work collaboratively with the Rhode Island Department of Education to make this work.“
Gist was out of town Friday and not available for comment.
The other teacher’s union in Rhode Island, the Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, is also not supportive of the proposal.
In Massachusetts, Fall River’s union voted Thursday night to approve the state’s Race to the Top plan.