Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog: RI school superintendents told to abolish teacher seniority

The only word for what Deborah Gist has done in Rhode Island is STUNNING -- this is one of the most exciting things I've EVER seen! No surprise that she used to work with Michelle Rhee in DC. Kudos to Angus Davis, whose tireless work in RI was instrumental in Gist's appointment. After watching her on TV (a 4-min segment at: http://www2.turnto10.com/jar/news/local/education/article/unions_angered_by_teacher_seniority_rule/25392/), a friend emailed me:

OH MY GOD, I LOVE her!

She makes it completely clear that it's all about the kids – and she just exudes intellectual and moral credibility. And she has Arne Duncan’s very matter of fact, aw shucks, it's just common sense appeal.

She just put something in motion that’s not going away.

A lot of other people talk a great game but they have no balls. This woman has balls, and she just outclassed every Democratic official in America.

Here's the story from the Providence Journal. The unions are in shock:

Dropping a bombshell on the teachers’ unions, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist ordered school superintendents to abolish the practice of assigning teachers based on how many years they have in the school system.

Gist, who sent a letter to superintendents on Tuesday, is upending tradition and taking on two powerful unions, the National Education Association Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFT), who together represent 12,000 public school teachers.

On Friday, the unions said they were blindsided by Gist’s announcement, adding that the commissioner made no attempt to confer with labor before going public with the decision.

“We’re going to court,” said Marcia Reback, president of the Federation of Teachers. “I’m startled that there was no conversation with the unions about this. I’m startled there were no public hearings, and I’m startled at the content. This narrows the scope of collective bargaining.”

Gist says she has the authority to do away with seniority under the new Basic Education Plan, which the Rhode Island Board of Regents approved in June and which takes effect July 1.

“In my view,” Gist said in a news statement, “no system that bases teacher assignments solely on seniority can comply with this regulation.”

“Our response is that we have authority to set educational policy and to establish rules and regulations that are in the best interest of students,” said Regents Chairman Robert G. Flanders Jr. “To the extent that there are contract provisions that are at odds with the Basic Education Plan, it’s our view that those provisions would be unlawful. If a challenge were to be brought, we would expect to prevail.”

According to the new regulations, districts must select and train only the most highly effective staff, and teacher assignments must be based on student need. The Basic Education Plan requires that each district “shall maintain control of its ability to recruit, hire, manage, evaluate and assign its personnel.”

Districts have until July 1 to negotiate the new policy, and Gist told superintendents that “any contract law that conflicts with existing state law may be unenforceable.

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School superintendents told to abolish teacher seniority