Campaign aims for ‘effective’<br> teacher in every classroom

PROVIDENCE – The Providence Educational Excellence Coalition, a community group started in 2004 by the Rhode Island Children’s Crusade for Higher Education, has launched a campaign to ensure that the public has a voice in the ongoing teacher contract talks.
Negotiations are conducted in private between city and union officials, but the campaign, “Futures in the Balance: A Community Campaign for Effective Teachers in Every Classroom,” seeks to “initiate dialogues within the community” about the issues at stake, especially with regard to teacher evaluations, placement and hiring and the allocation of time in schools – all with an eye on improving student achievement.
“For far too long, our children have been the innocent victims of a system that provides them with no say, hinders good teachers and protects poor teachers,” said Mary Silva Harrison, a PEEC member and the president of the Children’s Crusade. “We’d like to see a process where those decisions that directly affect what goes on in the classroom are open to public discussion among all the stakeholders, especially those who are most affected: students and parents.”