Gist: Qualified Teachers Are Top Priority

Rhode Island students are performing well below the national average and Woonsocket schools are performing even further below the state average, but Education Commissioner Deborah Gist has an answer to the state's education woes: great teachers and more efficient use of limited resources.

Gist spent the day in Woonsocket Thursday, with visits to Fifth Avenue and Coleman Elementary Schools, followed by a meeting with the Board of Regents and a Community Forum.

More than 70 local educators, parents, and government leaders attended the forum at Hamlet Middle School in which Gist laid out Rhode Island's plan for reforming the education system with a clear focus: recruiting and retaining quality teachers. 

"Our highest priority is that we have an excellent educator in every single classroom across the state, and great school leaders in every single school" Gist said.

"We do not have a system right now that does enough to recruit, retain and support great educators, give them the tools and resources that they need, and give them the feedback they need to improve their practice," she added.  

Last year the state launched "Transforming Education in Rhode Island," a strategic plan which includes implementation of a teacher evaluation system, elimination of seniority based staffing and interventions in consistently low performing schools. Five such under-performing schools in Central Falls and Providence have already been identified and an additional list of five schools is expected to be released shortly, but Gist was unable to comment on whether or not any of Woonsocket's schools might make the list.

Superintendent Robert Gerardi does not believe any of the Woonsocket schools would qualify for such a intervention. "I am confident that our overall NECAP scores have increased each year over the last three years.  In fact, Commissioner Gist was kind enough to mention that because of our test scores, she choose Globe Park to release the NECAP data this year," he said.

Gist opened the floor to questions, and Brooke Cary, a fourth grade Woonsocket student was first to take the mic.

"What are you doing to encourage the school district to differentiate instruction for the state's gifted students?" Cary asked. The answer, Gist explained, goes back to the teachers.

"Great teachers know how to challenge every single child in the classroom and not just teach to one level," Gist said.

For more effective use of the state's limited resources, Gist also introduced a new tool for city leaders: the Uniform Chart of Accounts. The resource will allow administrators to compare how other school districts are spending their money. 

"You can take Woonsocket's budget for schools and then look at the Uniform Chart of Accounts for any district in the state to see how much they're spending. That's the tool that will enable you to ask the right questions about the way that money is being spent," Gist explained.

City Council President John Ward not only attended the meeting, but took the opportunity to address the commissioner directly regarding what he sees as shortcomings in the funding formula.

Ward explained that because Woonsocket diverts a significant portion of its funding to special education, the city is well below that state average in funding for general education. He hopes the Uniform Chart of Accounts will make this discrepancy obvious and ultimately win the city more funds to meet this challenge.

"I believe that after three or four years a dramatic shift will take place because I don't believe the formula is sufficient. I will be preparing some legislation for our representatives to fix what I think is one of the gaps," Ward said.

Gist explained that Woonsocket will be receiving nearly $8 million more as a result of the new funding formula. "It's a pretty significant increase in state aid," she said. This funding, which Gist said she is confident will be fully implemented, is dispersed to the Woonsocket Education Department at a rate of $1 million per year. 

Ward also advocated for statewide negotiation of teacher union contracts. Gist responded that while decisions regarding the ability to handle statewide negotiations would have to come from the General Assembly, the new Basic Education Program has specific protocol for what should be allowed in collective bargaining agreements and mandates that no more decisions about personnel will be based on how many years a teacher has been in the system.

Districts must wait until current contracts expire to end the age-old policy of seniority. Woonsocket's collective bargaining agreement will expire in two years.