April 18, 2011

Maura M. Galvao

Director of Member Services

MGalvao@proteun.org

My name is Vency Beato, I am a student at the University of

Rhode Island and I am writing to you today to show my support for

your organization in this time of need. As a graduate of a Providence

school, it bothers me that the Providence School System as well as

Mayor Angel Tavares have decided on terminating all of the jobs of the

teachers. The termination of these jobs is not only ridiculous, but also

unjust. The city of Providence is indeed in a terrible state with the $57

million deficit, but that is not because of the teachers. It is to my

understanding, that a teacher who has worked over three years can

only be terminated if the school system has just cause, and so far none

has been presented.

I am not only writing to you in your support, but in support of all

of the students that the teachers have worked so hard to educate. The

loss of these teachers will affect the students more than I think the city

even knows. Besides the fact that the teachers who are brought back

will have more work as well as no raise because of the schools closing,

the students are going to have to deal with increased class sizes,

where they will not all be able to communicate with the teacher as
much and possibly not get into classes that are necessary.

I propose that the teachers not only take the Providence School

System to court, but also get more students and parents involved.

Litigation will indeed serve as a powerful tool because of the

negotiations made between you the PTU and them saying that they

must have just cause to terminate these teachers, but I feel that

gathering the support of more of the other people being affected will

help you reach an even higher level. It seems that this decision was

simply made to serve the current people in office and their battle

against this deficit, and not with the children in mind. THIS will indeed

bring up many emotions with parents, who have entrusted the future

of their children and their tax dollars to the city of Providence.

I also propose that you somehow negotiate with the school

system about the sub pool. You could put a limit on how many

teachers can in fact be in the “regulars in the sub pool” based on

seniority. If the city is going to say that the reason that they

terminated, rather than laid off all of the teachers is because of the

high wages that these laid off teachers could make, then we must have

a counter response in case this is ever to occur in the future. If all of

the teachers laid off do become regulars in the pool, the city will

indeed be paying a lot of money to these teachers, so having a cap

might work.

Lastly I propose that you move the date of notice of termination

to the end of the school year. I understand that as a Union you have to

supply your clients with the best possible deal, but letting them know

that they will not be working there the following year does more bad

than good. Yes they will be aware and have time to either appeal, or

find another job, but it can affect their teaching. As someone who has

been through grades K-12 through the providence school system I can

say that I have dealt with teachers who did know that they were not

going to be there the next year and they did behave differently.

In closing, I offer my full support to you and the teachers of

Providence. I think that if you try to show how this is affecting our

teachers and our future leaders of the country (the students), that your

effects will grow leaps and bounds.

Sincerely,

Vency A Beato