PROVIDENCE (AP) – Providence public school teachers, currently in contract negotiations, took a vote of no confidence in the leadership of state Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.
Jeremy Sencer, vice president of the Providence Teachers Union, told The Providence Journal that Infante-Green has engaged in a “continued pattern of ignoring teachers” and has refused to engage in collaborative efforts.
The final straw came Friday when the school system announced that 270 staff, mostly teachers, were receiving consolidation notices, meaning they would have to reapply for their positions or apply for new ones.
“The recent actions of both the superintendent and the commissioner to negotiate in public along with their attempts to continuously leave us out of discussions” led to the vote, Sencer said.
The state took over the city’s public schools in 2019 following an independent report that described the system as one of the worst in the nation.
About 2,500 union members participated in the vote.
Infante-Green and Superintendent Harrison Peters in a joint statement said they would not let the vote distract them from their goal of improving student outcomes.
“This is a classic tactic that’s been used by union leadership during collective bargaining negotiations and we aren’t surprised to see it here in Providence,” they said. “We won’t be distracted. Our focus has been and will always be doing the hard work of transforming our schools so we can meet the needs of every Providence student. The status quo has not worked these past 30 years and we won’t let another decade of PPSD students be left behind.”
