After two hours of contentious discussion, the School Board voted 4 to 3 Thursday night to send out termination notices to each of the city’s 1,926 public school teachers.
More than 700 teachers jammed a high school gymnasium to tell school officials that their hearts were broken, their trust violated and their futures as teachers jeopardized.
“How do we feel? Disrespected,” said Julie Latessa, a special-needs teacher, before the vote. “We are broken. How do you repair the damage you have done today?”
At stake here is the fact that the teachers will be outright fired, rather than laid-off. Under layoff provisions, teachers are returned based on seniority. This may not necessarily the case when dealing with fired teachers. No one knows for sure
At first I thought this was a just a silly power play on the part of the new mayor, Angel Taveras, mostly representative of the type of cluelessness so often found in school districts around the country. Lay everyone off because you don't really know what all else to do, and then call most people back. Now I am not so sure.
I do know that right now I am irked by own support of the mayor's candidacy this last summer. Son of Dominican immigrants. Former Head Start kid. Harvard graduate. Respected attorney.
For the sake of his own political future, the new mayor better fix this one, and fast. Providence has come too far, too fast to risk the future of its students.
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