Letter to the Editor: Portsmouth School Committee Leading State in Seniority Issue
Portsmouth Republicans defend teacher placement as a bipartisan issue.
Change you can believe in. That was the mantra of the Democratic campaign led by Barack Obama in 2008.
Integral in this change effort was an effort to replace the antiquated seniority system as a mechanism for advancing the competitiveness of our educational system.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan believes that the seniority and tenure rules are a system designed to put the needs of adults ahead of children.
Leading the efforts to bring Portsmouth’s educational system to a higher level of competitiveness is our own newly-elected Republican led School Committee chaired by Cynthia Perrotti. Working together with colleagues from the Democratic Party, our local school committee is leading the state by standing firm on the national effort to eliminate seniority as the dominate factor in teacher hiring, promotion, transfer, and layoff.
The latest effort takes our political leaders on the offense where they move to force a decision by the Providence Superior Court rather than standing back and awaiting a decision that may not materialize without action.
There is strong opposition to this grassroots effort. Opponents of changes to the modernized teacher placement system challenge these efforts believing that the status quo needs to be maintained, and the only way to help our children compete in the global economy resides in higher taxes and throwing more money at the problem.
They spend a significant amount of time and resources researching ways to convince taxpayers that the status quo needs to be maintained. In fact, the State NEA teachers’ union is so concerned about this modernization in the transition from seniority-based to merit-based teacher placement that they have filed an Unfair Labor Practice lawsuit against the Portsmouth School Committee and are using their financial resources and influence to fight against change.
The Portsmouth Republican Town Committee supports the actions of the Portsmouth School Committee and encourages our political leaders to continue this fight for the future successes of our children.
Our children should not be deprived of the benefits of having the most highly effective teachers assigned to the classroom.
We also support the school department’s management rights to place teachers based on the best interests of the students. We believe that this is a significant step in improving our educational system to one that prepares our children to compete in this global society. Keep up the good work.
Jeffrey Plumb
Chairman, Portsmouth Republican Town Committee
Robert Alexander
10:44 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr Plumb the education expert! This is rich from the guy who level funded our schools last year, and risking all that has been built against a ten year State Aid reduction of $2million dollars. First, Mr. Plumb should do his math, the School Committee is a democratic majority, not a republican majority. And, the action of the School Committee is a request for declaratory judgement from the Courts as a defense against a potential Labor Board action against the schools. Mr. Plumb would like to take credit for something neither the republican party nor any individual member of the school committee can take credit for. In fact, in light of the decorum issue of the town council, I think all residents should applaud our bipartisan school committee for their decorum. Maybe Mr. Plumb should simply leave politics aside and let our school committee manage these complex issues themselves. What does everyone else think?
Average Joe
11:13 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
I am just thrilled that the school committee, with a democratic majority, voted 6-0 to eliminate seniority-based teacher placement with a merit-based system.
Jeff Plumb
11:01 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr. Alexander, To be clear, I never said that the Republicans had the majority of the school committee. I said it is led by Republicans. The President and Vice President are both Republicans and that is what I was referring to. I also mentioned they worked alongside the Democrats on the School Committee. Here we go again, let's deflect the issue on the individual writing the article. This isn't about me, it is about what you think regarding the issue of seniority.
So Grateful
11:32 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Turn your focus to another Dr. His name is Dr. Seuss and he wrote some wonderful educational books. Continue your summer reading with two of his best books. They are "Oh the Places You'll Go" and "Yertle the Turtle".
Doesn't Elmhurst, IL District 205 have a web master? Is that in the budget? The district site really should be updated now that Dr. Krizic will soon be gone. Oh, wait, she may want to leave us all with her words of wisdom and insight and let's not forget her expertise and "suggestions" and we may still benefit from her destructive, oops, constructive criticism. I look forward to her parting comments or maybe, just maybe, she is speechless.
me
4:18 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
STOP!! Enough, unless Dr. Krizic hurt you or your family, enough is enough! Just give the woman a chance to prove herself. Keep your negative comments over in Elmhurst, IL!!
me
4:19 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
This has nothing to do with her!
Mucho Mass
2:39 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
CUE TWILIGHT ZONE MUSIC: (ROD SERLING VOICE) "You have just entered the SPIN ZONE. Jeff Plumb, ex-town councilman, nowPortsmouthRepublican Committee Chair, real-estate salesman, AND political cognoscenti is attempting yet again to spin another storyline to make Jon Harris, school committee puppeteer, look like a patriotic educational sage that is fighting to save our children from an underperforming, misguided school system."
(VOICE OF REASON): 'Hey wait. Our schools are staffed by Highly Qualified Teachers, our student performance is tops in the state, while our spending is near the bottom.
(SARCASTIC VOICE): "Boy we really needed to change things here because the old system of seniority just wasn't working."
(COMICAL VOICE): I swear that is Harris' handwriting in the above letter.
Jeff Plumb
7:03 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mucho Mass,
Thank you for the short bio of who I am and what I do. I should hire you to do my marketing.
I agree with you. We have a good school system with some great teachers in Portsmouth. However I believe moving towards a perfomance based system will make a good system, better. I don't see you supplying any solutions to make our system better. Again you are concentrating on the messenger and ignorning the message. That must mean you are happy with maintaining what we have when the world around us is moving forward. I can assure you that these are my words that express my opinion based on the facts. Mucho, you are dating yourself quoting the Twilight zone.
stoney larue
9:27 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr Plumb could you please describe the performance basedvsystem that a you and Deep Pockets Harris have envisioned. Under yourvsystem how will you factor in those teachers who work with the toughest cases and what do you think a top rank teacher should be paid?
nun
5:20 am on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
I welcome this change. It is LONG overdue. Thank you to anyone (including the republican party) who is working for the change.
nun
5:22 am on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
And thank you Jeff Plumb. You have been spot on with the teachers union issues for a while now. I appreciate your efforts to educate the general public.
jbs
12:25 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
As a resident of Portsmouth I am ok with this, however we need to be very careful. I know we are not Providence but what went on with those teachers is disgraceful. In Providence teachers had three minute interviews and then went on to the next person quite like speed dating. Then they used a software program to match up the candidate and school. If you are going to this method then do it right. This information was in the Projo.
Mucho Mass
3:00 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
People of Portsmouth, be very clear that Mr. Plumb is the Republican Chair, and is compelled to provide empty rhetoric that turns people off to politics. He is trying to SPIN the story to cover a costly and tactical mistake. This is politics at it's best. Build up the Republicans and SPIN the story. Jeff you are merely "a BRICK THROWER" rather than a "BRICK BUILDER". Rather than outlining and BUILDING a merit/performance-based system, "ala business model", you choose to throw BRICKS and demolish what has worked here for years. You are only adding to the contentious divide that is hurting the kids, the schools, and the people of this town. Please listen to reason and stop causing more problems.
Jeff Plumb
6:18 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Mucho,
You are way off and again refuse to debate the issue. My intention is to shed light on issues happenning in Portsmouth. I happen to agree with the direction the SC is taking on this issue. I think a senority based system is not the way to go. All things being equal, a teacher with more years should not automatically get the promotion. The best teacher should. You said please stop and listen to reason ...well when I read something you have to say that is reasonable I will stop and listen. However so far it's personal with you which is hard for me when you hide behind a screen name.
Middle of the road
5:01 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
After reading this article I threw up in my mouth a bit...
Jeff Plumb
6:18 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
If I were you I would go brush my teeth.
stoney larue
6:51 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Jeff where was the personal attack in mass muchos post. I didnt see anything . All that aside what will your system look like and what will be top salary for a good teacher?lastly where was it at that you earned all your educational acumen from?
Lisa
4:10 pm on Thursday, June 30, 2011
If the system were designed by 1 man, it would likely fail. I don't expect Mr. Plumb to solve all the problems, but he is raising a valuable discussion point. The issue raised is whether a seniority based system is the most effective system regarding placement and promotion of teachers. Are there alternatives such as merit based which will ultimately lead to a better education for the children in the school system? Maybe...
I personally tire of all the negative unproductive comments in these discussion blogs.
Patriot
5:02 pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Plumb had as much to do with writing this piece as I had in the development of the space shuttle. Please, he is simply the sacrificial lamb for the party.
Distant Cousin
5:43 pm on Wednesday, November 9, 2011
News tonight, November 9. The Providence Journal is reporting that the Superior Court has ruled in favor of the union on the seniority policy, holding that the "Portsmouth School Committee can't make staffing decisions without first negotiating those issues with the teachers' union." The School Committee lawyer says they will appeal to the Supreme Court. How do I spell Kacheeng, you know, like the sound of a cash register? So now, instead of buying books or paying teachers, we helping to build Attorney Robinson's vacation home. Good job "leading," indeed. Too bad the taxpayers will have to pay for that leadership.