Newport Teachers Unite in Protest

The ongoing dispute between the Newport teachers union and the school district has spilled over into public protest with teachers assembling outside Rogers High School Wednesday morning.

Wearing shirts in Rogers’ school color of red, teachers marched while carrying signs that said “class size matters,” “respect” and “union proud.”

Specifically, teachers are upset about the lack of a new contract and entering a new school year without one for the second year in a row.

And on Monday, the Teachers Alliance of Newport, the union, filed an unfair labor practice alleging that the School Committee violated labor laws by making the unions’ withdrawal of several grievances conditional for a new contract settlement.

The union rejected the committee’s latest contract offer and said in a statement that “conditioning settlement of a contract on the withdrawal of grievances is an Unfair Labor Practice.”

A key sticking point is class sizes. The union said in a news release over the weekend that the committee, as a cost savings measure, is willing to increase class sizes to the detriment of student learning. More students per class means less instructional time for each student and less time to review each students’ work.

The union also voted no-confidence in Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain last week.

In response, the superintendent said that the administration and School Committee will continue trying to resolve the labor dispute with the best interest of students in mind.

Because of the protest, school officials cancelled professional development meetings that were to be held this morning.

School is scheduled to start in Neport next week.

Photo courtesy: NEARI via Twitter