CARCIERI AND NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION HOST CONFERENCE ON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND EDUCATION

12-08-2006

Speakers to Include National Leaders in Education Policy

Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices will host on December 11 a conference, “A New Dialogue: Collective Bargaining in Public Education,” to bring together policymakers and teacher organizations from around the country to examine how collective bargaining impacts education.

Among the speakers are Alan Bersin, the California Secretary of Education; Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City; Marcia Reback, the president of the RI Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals; Richard Stutman, the president of the Boston Teachers Union; and Brad Jupp, the Senior Academic Policy Advisor for the Denver Public Schools. There will be a series of panel discussions throughout the day that are open to the media.

“The primary goal of every aspect of our education system – including collective bargaining – is student success,” Governor Carcieri said. “We can never forget that our school systems exist to educate our children. Everything we do should serve that goal.”

“The rapid pace of school reform and increased expectations for student learning require us to re-examine what improves or inhibits our ability to provide children the skills they need to succeed,” Governor Carcieri said. “We cannot afford to allow the collective bargaining process to operate independently of that goal. Instead, we must ensure that teacher contracts are constructed in a way that best serves the students we are educating.”

“I am looking forward to a meaningful discussion among policymakers and teacher organizations about how Rhode Island, and all states, can use the collective bargaining process so that it benefits our students and supports our teachers in realizing our common goals,” Carcieri said.

Approximately ten states and a number of national organizations will be represented at the conference. Participants will discuss the relationship between collective bargaining and student results, teacher quality, and teacher compensation; learn about new and innovative models that are producing results around the country; and examine new approaches to professionalize teaching and school leadership. The goal is to determine how the collective bargaining process can best support the goal of improving student success.

In addition to Governor Carcieri and the NGA, conference sponsors include Brown University’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Urban Education Policy Program, The Education Partnership, and The Rhode Island Foundation.