Dateline: Newport, RI

In an effort to strengthen and transform the state’s troubled education system, last year Governor Carcieri appointed a special task force to come up with ways to raise the state’s low test scores. This week, the task force announced its recommendations: more pre-kindergarten programs; expanded instructional time; alternative schools for struggling students; and zones of innovation. As faithful School for Thought readers already know, there is no reason to think any of these measures will yield much if any improvement. Nor did the task force come up with any recommendations with the potential to yield significant improvement: for example, programs to increase students’ vocabularies and general knowledge, or the use of better teaching methods and materials. Sigh.

The Rhode Island legislature is considering a bill that would make it mandatory for stalemated teacher contract negotiations to go to binding arbitration. As usual, the taxpayers’ associations are opposing the bill, while the teachers’ unions are supporting it. So now one of the teachers’ unions is flooding the local TV stations with cuddly advertisements in favour of binding arbitration. This is something of a David (taxpayers) and Goliath (teachers’ unions) situation. It’s almost impossible for grassroots organizations to prevail against the teachers’ unions, since the unions are tremendously rich and powerful. Smart money is on the passage of the binding arbitration bill.

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