Portsmouth School Committee Files Complaint Against Teachers' Union

The Portsmouth School Committee filed a complaint Tuesday against the teachers' union, National Education Association (NEA) Portsmouth, in Superior Court.

The complaint was filed as part of an ongoing dispute between management and workers over how the workers should be promoted. The school administration has switched to a promotion system based on employee performance. Previously, and per an expired union contract, employees were promoted based on seniority in the district.

The school department's new staffing regulation is . It was adopted on April 12 despite strong oppostion from the union.

According to the complaint filed this week, "Prior to the adoption of the new policy and protocols, the system for promotion and transfer of teachers in Portsmouth was mostly based upon a strict seniority system where hiring, transfers and layoffs were based upon a teacher's hire date rather than teacher effectiveness and student need," according to court documents.

"...The new staffing policy eliminated seniority as the dominant factor in determining teacher promotion and transfers. The new staffing policy established a system in which applicants were now interviewed in an effort to select highly qualified teachers based on student need."

In reaction to the policy, the Portsmouth teachers' union has filed an with the Rhode Island Labor Relations Board. The union has been without a contract since August.

The school department filed the Superior Court complain in an effort to assert its rights to adopt and enforce the new policy. To view more on this complaint, see the .pdf at right.