The Providence Journal states that by the conclusion of the winter quarter, every 1,926 Providence public school educators can be out of a job. It’s a matter of a $ 40 million budget deficit, and the Providence School Board is dealing with it in full panic mode. The school board will make its final decision by March 1. Source of article – All Providence public school teachers to be fired at quarter end by MoneyBlogNewz.
Mass firings in Providence
Last year, Central Falls High School in the Providence area dismissed 88 teachers because students were not meeting standardized test score needs. Right now, the Providence School Board's move is unknown. The scale is the question. The 2011-2012 spending budgets have a $40 million shortfall. Superintendent of Providence Schools Tom Brady said the movie is a "precautionary action" in an e-mail.
"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," said Brady.
Teachers unions not all happy
The teachers' union leadership wasn't happy even though the Providence School Board may not be firing every Providence teachers.
"This is beyond insane," said Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith. "Let's create the most chaos and the highest level of anxiety in a district where teachers are already under unbelievable stress. Now I know how the United States State Department felt on Dec. 7 , 1941," the day of the Pearl Harbor bombings.
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras told local press the unsettled state of city finances, coupled with the March 1 deadline, led to the decision to issue the statement that all Providence teachers would be fired. The move helped give "maximum flexibility." The Providence city government and school district needed this.
Losing educators means huge classrooms for the educators left
Firing public school educators in Providence doesn't make any sense. This is something Smith made clear.
"You have so many students," he said. "You need so many teachers. You have a student-teacher ratio of 26 to 1. Do the math."
Articles cited
CNN
articles.cnn.com/2010-02-24/us/rhode.island.teachers_1_teachers-union-troubled-school-reading-specialists?_s=PM:US
Providence Journal
projo.com/news/content/providence_teacher_layoffs_02-23-11_MCML6R3_v17.1a1cc6d.html
‘Exciting times in Rhode Island public education’
youtube.com/watch?v=wOCJ2Jnu4KY
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