Unions oppose Gist rehiring

SPEAKING UP: Sen. James Sheehan, D-Narragansett, speaks at a May 20 meeting of two teacher unions to discuss Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist’s future. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
SPEAKING UP: Sen. James Sheehan, D-Narragansett, speaks at a May 20 meeting of two teacher unions to discuss Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist’s future. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Rhode Island’s longtime efforts to boost the quality of K-12 public education have hit turbulence with teachers unions pushing to replace state Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist as her June 7 contract renewal date approaches.
Gist, who has the support of Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said she is committed to the many changes implemented during her four-year term. They include having student academic assessments weigh heavily on teacher evaluations and ending teacher seniority.
Teacher unions say Gist disregards their input on education issues, bases teacher evaluations on student academic performance that often is beyond teachers’ control, and has a disrespectful, even bullying, attitude toward educators.
“We’ve eliminated seniority, which I know is something many teachers disagree with me about,” Gist said last week in a telephone interview with Providence Business News. “I believe it is extraordinarily important to make sure we have great teachers in every classroom and the best possible teachers for our students. I stand by that decision very strongly.”
The day after a two-hour public meeting at Cranston West High School on May 20 sponsored by the state’s two teachers’ unions and attended by about 700 educators – most of whom were critical of her performance – Gist said she is in schools regularly, meets with teachers and is aware of their concerns.
“I think there’s no doubt, based on both the event last night and the poll that the teachers unions conducted, that there’s a lot of concern out in the field and these are concerns that I take very seriously and am listening to,” said Gist.
A poll conducted among Rhode Island classroom teachers in April found 85 percent think Gist’s contract should not be renewed, 90 percent said teacher morale is fair or poor and 84 percent said Gist’s response has been poor on concerns about using statewide assessments as a requirement for graduation.
“I know we’ve taken on a lot in the state. We’ve started educator evaluations at the same time as the transition to new standards,” Gist said. “While it’s a lot for a system to take on, it’s all very much related and I think, in many ways, needed to happen concurrently. Everything we’re doing is in our strategic plan. We’re very focused on implementing the plan as it was designed and put into place in 2009.” That guiding force, “Transforming Education in Rhode Island: Strategic Plan 2010 – 2015,” includes five priorities, one of them to “ensure educator excellence.”
The goal in that category is “all educators will be effective and committed to accelerating student performance.”
With K-12 public education continually pointed out as a weak link in attracting new business to the state because companies cannot find enough qualified workers, former Gov. Donald L. Carcieri hired Gist in 2009.
She was superintendent of education for Washington, D.C., schools from 2007 to 2009. At the time, one of education reform’s most controversial leaders, Michelle Rhee, was chancellor of schools in the nation’s capital.
At the May 20 meeting, retired Providence teacher Ralph Fortune, who taught special education for 25 years and is a member of the Coalition to Defend Public Education, said Gist “represents a trend in the U.S. to privatize public education, with things like high-stakes testing to make educators look bad. Teacher evaluation has never been tied to student performance. Graduation has never been tied to standardized tests. If students look stupid and teachers look bad, they can let private companies come in and break the union.”
Gist insists she’s not out to break the teachers unions.
“I don’t have a political agenda,” she said. “I have one agenda that’s very specific and that’s to improve educational outcomes for students in Rhode Island.”
Some teachers and students disagree with the mandate that the New England Common Assessment Program, or NECAP, be used as part of graduation requirements.
“I don’t think having the NECAP required for graduation is a correct use of the test,” said Hector Perea, 17-year-old junior at Hope High School in Providence and a member of a student group called Providence Student Union. “There are things on the test that aren’t being taught in school.” Gist said the NECAP “was approved by the board in 2008 before I came to Rhode Island and I don’t think that’s going to change.” Many teachers at the Cranston West High School meeting said they believe the state’s public schools are heading in the wrong direction under Gist.
“All school personnel are so swept up daily with the requirements of the new evaluation system that there is no longer time to plan exciting, creative lessons or forge interdisciplinary partnerships,” said Cranston West High School Chairman of World Languages Alfred Pannone.
“The students’ performance on … assessments does not affect their grade. It only affects the teacher’s evaluation rating,” said Pannone.
The opposition to Gist and her policies is made up of many complex issues, said University of Rhode Island associate professor of human resources Anthony Wheeler.
“Change is difficult no matter what,” said Wheeler. “The specific issue of performance management hits right in the middle of what unions are designed to protect. Talking about the ability to remove people from jobs – that hits squarely on the foundations of what unions do.”
Rhode Island’s culture is one factor in the debate, based on his experience working in other states, said Wheeler.
“In my opinion, bureaucracy is the biggest problem facing the state. It’s extremely difficult to get anything done in [Rhode Island],” he said.
Daniel Wall, who teaches at the Juanita Sanchez High School in Providence, said the state commissioner of education needs to be a leader of teachers and Gist is leading the schools in a direction detrimental to the state.
“Once in a while, a leader should turn around and see if anyone is following,” said Wall. “I don’t think Deborah Gist has ever done that.”
The Board of Education is expected to decide on Gist’s contract on June 6.
Board Chairwoman Eva-Marie Mancuso is among those in Gist’s corner, saying criticism has been more about her style than the substance of her work.
“I am a big supporter [and am] recommending her contract be renewed,” Mancuso said. •

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1 COMMENT

  1. This story unfortunately offers no objective measures of improvement or decline in educational achievement under Gist, either in Rhode Island or in the District of Columbia.

    It also fails to distinguish among regions and neighborhoods of Rhode Island, in which parents of different economic and educational means have a substantially greater effect upon their children’s achievement than teachers.

    Without concrete evidence of substantially greater improvement than decline among both students and their parents, how can readers — or state leaders — make an informed decision regarding Gist’s future?