Michael Marra's column in the Providence Journal got fulsome praise on local right-wing talk radio yesterday.
No liberal would be self-satisfied with gasps of approval from those fans of Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Their agenda is invariably anti-union and anti-working class.
Does Marra teach the eternal wisdom of the market in his economic courses ? Does he defend with gusto the history of U.S. imperialism ?
When hundreds of Providence public school teachers were fired in 2011 was that in the interests of the kids ? Were they all ripping off the proverbial harried tax payer ?
I suspect other equally articulate and " passionate "-but less reactionary- public school teachers in Portsmouth are simply being muzzled-or are too frightened to comment here.
The Attack on Seniority: Cruella Strikes Again
[ The Providence Journal reports today that Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deb Gist is back at it, announcing a major attack on teachers’ seniority rights. She declares that any district that uses seniority in placements, layoffs and promotions will face retribution from RIDE.
The arrogance of this tyrant knows no bounds. Since Gist arrived in Rhode Island almost four years ago, teachers here have lived under a reign of terror. Gist’s modus operandi has been to announce a new policy, stunningly reactionary in nature, and then to act as though RIDE policy has more weight actual law. Certainly district contracts are minor impediments to her; state labor law is to be blatantly disregarded; and really any mildly democratic process for determining educational practice in this state is inferior to her magisterial will. It’s particularly stunning to me that she has announced this renewed attack on seniority even as the Portsmouth lawsuit on teacher seniority is still pending. Clearly, even the legal system has no validity in Gist’s eyes.
What is so bizarre about this woman is the extent to which she gives the air of being blissfully unaware of the interests she’s working for, downright scandalized by the suggestion that she’s undermining public education for the sake of corporate profit. But look at her background: a graduate of the Broad Academy, a recipient of funds from right-wing organizations, this woman is no joke. She is the deliberate tool of the corporate education “reformers...]
The arrogance of this tyrant knows no bounds. Since Gist arrived in Rhode Island almost four years ago, teachers here have lived under a reign of terror. Gist’s modus operandi has been to announce a new policy, stunningly reactionary in nature, and then to act as though RIDE policy has more weight actual law. Certainly district contracts are minor impediments to her; state labor law is to be blatantly disregarded; and really any mildly democratic process for determining educational practice in this state is inferior to her magisterial will. It’s particularly stunning to me that she has announced this renewed attack on seniority even as the Portsmouth lawsuit on teacher seniority is still pending. Clearly, even the legal system has no validity in Gist’s eyes.
What is so bizarre about this woman is the extent to which she gives the air of being blissfully unaware of the interests she’s working for, downright scandalized by the suggestion that she’s undermining public education for the sake of corporate profit. But look at her background: a graduate of the Broad Academy, a recipient of funds from right-wing organizations, this woman is no joke. She is the deliberate tool of the corporate education “reformers...]
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