The dispute between the Newport teachers and the school administration is headed to what the union describes as an arbitration/mediation process to resolve issues the union says has “wreaked havoc across the district.”
Poised to appear in Superior Court today to continue a hearing on a potential restraining order, the sides have agreed, according to Jennifer Azevedo, deputy director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, to seek binding arbitration instead.
At issue, Azevedo said, is the teachers demand to have a say in what the Newport “schools will look like for next year.”
The Teachers Association of Newport (TAN) had filed the restraining order, a series of grievances and unfair labor practice charges, over the displacement of 45 teachers and layoff of 16 others, more than 20 percent of the teaching workforce.
Those displacements and layoffs were the result of what School Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain characterized as a district reorganization.
Much of it has to do with the sharp rise in multi-language learners in the district from 5 percent of students in Newport a decade ago to nearly 20 percent now, according to the latest version of the Kids Count annual factbook. There are also state standards relative to MLL certified teachers.
TAN had previously characterized the issues as a lack of communication, failure to honor seniority requirements and procedures included in the teachers’ contract, the elimination of jobs they see as critical for students, the lack of professional training opportunities.
“We want the superintendent to have a conversation with the union about the plan,” Azevedo said. The union has maintained that failing to include the union in the conversation is a violation of its contract.
Azevedo said the sides are “still working out the details” of the arbitration/mediation. They have selected Associate Supreme Court Justice Frank Flaherty, former Warwick mayor, as the arbiter. Azevedo was uncertain of Flaherty’s approach, whether it would be strictly arbitration, mediation, or both.
She said they have selected three possible dates for the hearing, July 11, 16 or 30.
While she characterized the proceedings as binding, she said either side could ask the Superior Court to vacate Flaherty’s decision.
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