Randi Weingarten will be in Providence on Saturday to discuss the role of teachers in the state takeover engineered by neoliberal Governor Gina Raimondo. The governor is openly hostile to teachers and unions and a major supporter of privately managed charter schools. She hired Angelica Infante-Green as State Commissioner, although Green (ex-TFA) was never a principal or superintendent. She is a member of Jeb Bush’s rightwing Chiefs for Change.
Randi said:
Unfortunately, the current Commissioner just continues to do the same things that Joe Klein or Michelle Rhee would do. Rather than work with teachers, they’ve set up other ‘process’ committees that will come out and say all the things are wrong, and what teachers should do in collective bargaining to fix it,” said Weingarten. “It’s not as though we haven’t seen this movie before — you have to roll up your sleeves and work together and you have to lift the morale. You don’t create a situation were every utterance the boss says divides people more and more…”
Weingarten said that she believed Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza had allowed the schools to fall into disrepair — but that takeover by Rhode Island education commissioner Angélica Infante-Green was not necessarily the answer.
“Here you had a situation where you had city control and the mayor was not giving the school the resources they need — just look at the shape they were in. He was not going to play that role, so this was viewed as no worse than already divesting democratic control,” said Weingarten. “Raimondo made a case that she wanted to make things better, but what you’re seeing already, and this is why I’m so proud of my local union, is that you have to change the normal typical tired conversation when a school system is not as good as you wish it would be…”
There are are a couple of other people who were really good who they were considering for superintendent and they didn’t pick them,” said Weingarten of Providence. “The Hopkins report said we have a problem where people feel alienated and discouraged — Hopkins also didn’t spend a lot of time in schools that were working. Since that time our union has come up with recommendations of what to do and meet people halfway.”
“We put out the recommendations that were never taken up. We did some of them ourselves. If this is urgent, and things must be solved right now — and we came up with recommendations in September, and then they do none of them — it gives pause to the urgency,” she said. “We tried to do a bunch of different things to respond to the Hopkins report and we’ve had a couple of big professional development seminars and what we’re hearing from the other side is just give up your contract.”
“So what is all of this, I’ve been through this with Rhee and Klein, and it seems like the same playbook — say things are as bad as you can instead of trying,” said Weingarten. “And in vilifying people you create demoralization — you create a vehicle by which parents say, why am I even here?”
“If you think a change agent is someone who thinks they can do things to teachers not with them, they might be a disruptor, but that’s not a change agent,” said Weingarten. “Schooling is about what happens [with] the connective tissue between teachers, school staff and kids. Kids have to trust teachers — and the community has to as well — and when you have someone who tries to come in from on high and chooses to vilify and not deal with issues, that’s not going to help make things better in schools.”
“How do you create a school where community and parents trust their teachers when the superintendent says they’re not to be trusted? It may get someone headlines — but it’s not the way,” she said.
To my knowledge, there has never been a successful state takeover. Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority collapsed. Tennessee’s Educational Achievement Authority was a $100 million disaster.
The only districts that are targets for state takeovers are those with a black and brown majority. State officials think that eliminating democracy will fix the schools but it doesn’t and never has. It is a civics lesson to citizens and students of color that they are not capable of self-government.
Domingo Morel wrote a book called “Takeover” where he compntended that takeovers were about race and power, not education. Black and brown parents lose their political power and are subject to a colonial regime.
State takeovers are an act of hostility that breeds more distrust. Effective change rarely occurs from the top. Change is a complex process that requires stakeholders to “buy into plans.” Those implementing change should be engaged in the process. Their contribution is essential to the process. Practitioners have insights that those at the top lack.
One of the main reasons that “reform” has failed is that it never was a legitimate movement. It was largely applied disaster capitalism. The big crisis was fake and so were all those “bad” teachers. A movement based on lies is no movement at all. Can we do better in public education? Of course, but changes like funding inequity and integration are beyond teachers’ pay grade. The answers are not in more, harder tests and more hostility toward public schools and teachers.
Teaching is hard work. Establishing an atmosphere of trust is the first step in getting teachers to improve their practice. Threats and high stakes testing do the opposite. It is time to boot out the disruptors and give teachers the respect and support they deserve.
The politicians, marketers, and business folks don’t know squat. They mis-apply and cause damage … big time.
Retired Teacher is right, “The answers are not in more, harder tests and more hostility toward public schools and teachers.”
Infante-Green quickly moved up the ranks in the Bloomberg administration in NYC and then went on to destroy direct English Instruction for all ESL students in New York State. In her own mind, she is far superior to anyone with a different perspective. As far as I can see in my research, she has never spent any significant time as a real teacher. Like her mentors Bloomberg and Broad, she is an autocratic phony when it comes to providing a real education to our students.
Most of the disruptors that move up the ranks are ambitious climbers that want to sit on top and the mountain and dictate. Anyone whose goal is to privatize public education has no place leading it.
cx: sit on top of the mountain
“In her own mind she is far superior to anyone with a different perspective.” THAT description lands directly on the mark for every school invader/reformer I’ve known.
Typical Weingarten, all talk and no action. The UFT opposed the successful strikes that occurred as far as I know and only supported some after the fact. Randi Weingarten has zero credibility in my view. I was a high school teacher during the Bloomberg/Klein years. Randi Weingarten gave Bloomberg virtually everything he wanted.
Thankfully the Supreme Court eliminated the automatic and mandatory agency fees for non-union members. The UFT will have to be much more proactive in supporting its teachers if it expects to receive dues with the newer teachers going forward into the future.
Yes, this is a nice gesture…at least !0 years too late!
Where was she & the AFT & NEA leadership when all this began?
(Actually, more than 10 years ago, of course…more like almost 50–ALEC, est. 1971.)
Too little too late…
Thank you retiredbutmissthekids for your accuracy of math.
Yes, it is 50 years ago from 1970, when I was full of ignorant and ego due to being rich, young, foolish, and smart ass like those corporate who climb up to be billionaire from middle class immigrant parents originally = rob and trade everything including their own soul, dignity and the lives of their upcoming younger generations.
Yes, as per expression of Michael Brocoum –
“1) The UFT will have to be much more proactive in supporting its teachers if it expects to receive dues with the newer teachers going forward into the future.
2) Randi Weingarten has zero credibility in my view”
However, IMHO, It is LATE but always BETTER RECTIFY SITUATION THAN NOTHING.
Hopefully, being a lawyer, UFT President, Mrs. Weingarten still has a little time left to redeem her mistake in the past to show her union support to Public education as per Dr. Ravitch’s guideline.
I always admire your straightforward personality,
May King
Glad to see her personal endorsement of Elizabeth. Hope to see yours
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