Did the Nea Have anything to do with, support, pay for, assist or anything else to do with the Flyers that where posted around town about Harris ???

Witholding judgement......... there are 2 sides to every story. I am glad that Mr Cassady shared his perspective with the community.

Thanks for posting. I'd urge everyone to click through and read the attached PDF on contract negotiations, and hope to see people tonight at PHS.

Start by getting kindergarten to full day (which is a typical standard and only one other town in the state has half day kindergarten). If "Our schools are the backbone of our community" lets get this fundamental statement into action by being part of the "norm" that makes up RI kindergartens. We don't have a surplus as the end product, the kids education, is being short changed with half day kindergarten.

Thank you, Mr. Cassady, for sharing this information with us. It is imperative that the residents of this town have all of the facts about the serious issues we are facing. It seems, from the comments left after Mr. Plumb's article, that there is definitely a divide in this town and that divide is not shrinking. I hope I am wrong, but the meeting tonight will do nothing to create compromise nor is it the appropriate place to reach any agreement between the SC and NEA P. The next necessary step is arbitration. The comments being left on Patch are not solving anything and are often rude and unnecessary. How can we expect appropriate behavior from our kids, if we aren't capable of listening to someone else's opinion and agreeing to disagree like adults rather than attack each other? We all live in this town and we should all have a vested interest in the success of our schools if not because of the importance of continuing the excellent education our kids are getting, then because of the direct correlation between school excellence and the value of our homes.

If both sides stick to the facts, treat each other with respect and focus on the goal of quality public education (-which helps our community overall), progress can be made.

Mr. Cassady receives questionable kudos from commenters above. Take the time to do a compare and contrast with Dr. Lusi's presentation. She provides an overview of the current operating environment. She then provides a logical, step by step path to the school committees current position using demonstrable numbers.

Mr. Cassady uses highly charged words such as "disingenuous" to describe those with whom he must negotiate. He highlights outside organizations such as PCC and the Tea Party that have no bearing on negotiations, but carry a negative, emotional impact with those that side with the NEA.

Mr. Cassady is the president of the Portsmouth NEA. He represents the interests of the teachers. Period.

The School Committee represents the town. They are accountable to us as voters and taxpayers to get the value for our hard-earned tax dollars. All of us should recognize as well that many, if not all members of the School Committee, have children currently enrolled in Portsmouth public schools. One can legitimately say these committee members have "skin in the game."

In conclusion, Mr. Cassady is unimpressive relying on demgoguery instead of numbers and facts to enhance his union's position. Sorry. I'm not buyin' what he's sellin'.

Sarah,

Thank you for your response.

First, I never said anything about Mr. Cassady NOT having skin in the game nor was it meant implicitly so to say I was unfair is false. As a teacher, Mr. Cassady may have the interests of the kids at heart, but as the president of the Portsmouth NEA his obligation is to the teachers. Anything else and he's not fulfilling his responsibilities.

It could very well be getting out of hand. Using emotion as Mr. Cassady does above lends credence to your position.

Again, the PCC is not involved with the negotiations and your comment persists a false assertion. As I recall, the PCC came about due to fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the school administration and an effort to hold those responsible accountable. I'm not a member of the PCC nor knowingly acquainted with anyone associated with PCC, but if my assumption is correct, then holding responsible people accountable is a healthy endeavor.

Again, thanks.

Carl

... and as someone who had opportunity to speak to PCC members while obtaining signatures for the recent referendum petition, it was quite evident that high on the PCC agenda is "breaking" the teacher's union.

John,

Well, good for them! I suspect you feel the same way for any endorsements received from the Dem or Rep town committees. Hmm? How 'bout this PS2 bunch with the emotionally charged flier? I guess they're involved up to their eyeballs too, eh?

Disingenuous? Nah. You're gettin' tedious though . . . at best.

Thanks for the contribution.

That evil PCC. imagine the audacity as they try to control spending that increases taxes . Those who are experiencing financial hard ship should hold their heads in shame for apposing pay raises for Teachers.

Lots of complaining but no thank you to any of the town folks for having jobs. Charter schools are on the rise as well as private schools and the teachers are part responsible. Poor parents that have to interact with this wage issue while their kids are getting or trying to get educated Can em all and hire new education graduates.

I believe that police, fire, and town workers all received contracts and pay increases. If our town is in dire straights financially, then how about tightening the belt for all instead of putting it squarely on the shoulders of the teachers?

The town is growing however the school population is not. Therefore the division of pay is not the same. In addition emergency rescue and safety hold more substance in this town than teachers. Terachers are easy to find and replace. Police and fire personnel are difficult to replace.

Interesting.....not logical at all.East side, with all due respect because I am not one for conflict, teachers are easy to replace if you don't care about finding quality educators who have a passion for the job, and are good at it. It might be an interesting experience for you to spend a day in a school watching what teachers do. You may be very surprised and find them a bit less distasteful. After all, educating our youth is actually quite a big responsibility, especially in this day and age with all of the challenges faced by today's students. I think it would be great for people who think teachers are so awful to actually sit down for a cup of coffee and have a one on one mature discussion to ask questions and find out more about a profession that is so hotly contested.

Here is logic. Can the ones that feel they don't get paid, respected , etc. Make a call to salve,RWU, RIC, URI and contact their education department and ask them if they have passionate folks graduating in may that want a job. I believe we'd have more people than jobs to offer.

If the Teachers worked to reduce the red tape in the system there would be more money. The Dept of education needs to be cut back along with hundreds of hours of reports and employees. The make work created by this Bureaucracy takes money out of the class rooms. There are to many people on the pay role who never step in a class room. Reduce the red tape and there will be more money for the teachers who actually work with the kids. If the Union came up with a solution that saved the town money it would be embraced. To just ask for more is not the solution.

John H
I am a retire teacher of 42 years, teaching mathematics in middle school and high school. You have spent years building your educational programs into models other schools want to emulate. This comes because of hard work from teachers who are preparing daily lessons, attending professional days in the summer with no pay and teaching your sons and daughters the excitement of math. I know first hand about the middle school math program. Many of the students leave the middle school to go to the 9th grade to take Algebra ll. Check with other communities and see if that is happening. That is happening because of teacher dedication. This happens because of hours and hours of hard work in and out of school. Teachers spend many hours after school tutoring for no pay and at home nights and weekends to achieve good scores. They also spend time with no commensuration for weekend field trips and other activities. Most people believe that this is part of the job description. The point I am trying to get to is that you are surely going to lose your good teachers. Two have already left and more will follow. Where will these school committee members be when the NECAP scores hit the bottom again.

One last point. How can the School Committee justify raising the high salaries of administrators 5% and giving the teachers 1.2% over 3 years. I am a tax payer and value public education. I will always support the schools because they are our future.

I do have children in the school system and am ashamed that I as a taxpayer are being bound by teacher antics and concerns on teacher pay. At what point does this end? How much money is enough? The teaching profession has historically not been a high paying profession. So those teachers complaining about pay should leave and find a better paying job. Frankly, based on this economy, they should say thank you to the taxpayers and be lucky they have a job. Comments have been made about good teachers, lets be brash and call them out and give them kudos. Also, identified has been experience level - does this really matter? Are we saying colleges/universities and the teaching certifiate process is not sufficient? I don't think so, by having new, young, motivated teachers would be a breath of fresh air for our school system. What I do see is that this is a circle where hand washing and passing the buck is now the new system. If you live in portsmouth and don't like the school system you can go to Pennfield or some other private school. A nice funding opportunity for the private schools. As for half day kindergarten, please tell me there is isn't a secret agreement among the school and local day care facilities. Should their be full day kindergarten the local day care establishments would lose a lot of business. I think our school system is a mess and the community is stating this.

Kamakazee,

You describe actions taken by the School Committee and the Rep Party as antics. What were these actions you describe as antics?

How does your ploy characterization of School Committee actions rile taxpayers? The PS2 attack didn't rile taxpayers? Their action certainly grabbed my attention more than any action taken by Portsmouth NEA or the School Committee and if it makes a hill of beans, teachers shouldn't be too happy since that act left me with a strong negative impression.

Teachers certainly can strike. There is currently a state economic environment with 11% unemployment and about a 20% under-employment. Those remaining with employment in private industry find themselves taking pay hits. That's an ugly environment. Teachers could probably get a good deal of what they're looking for, but at what cost to goodwill that'll linger? Is striking worth it? Ultimately, in such a predicament, we all lose. Most importantly, the children lose.

The School Committee called the meeting on Monday at a point when negotiations reached impasse. At that point a unanimous, bipartisan vote chose to pursue arbitration. It is the next step in a logical process.

The Portsmouth NEA should have a greater appreciation of the operating environment than they've shown to date.

My $.02.

Carl

I agree that this would not be the place to hold a negotiation. However what is interesting is all of the information we have received because of this. Makes me think what else do we not know with other negotiations in town

I am going to say this to eastside and Carl, Mr. Cassidy and all of the other teachers at Portsmouth High School are great teachers, they have earned the pay that they are asking for. They don’t deserve to be criticized by either of you. As a student from Portsmouth High I am appalled that a parent of a student here would say that, if you have noticed our test scores have raised higher than ever, and this is do to good teaching. They deserve the pay and they should get it. Carl, your saying that they can strike like you would like them to, would you not want the youth to get an education? I’ve gone to three high schools in the last 4 years and I have to say this is the best one. In other states teachers get payed more when they do not deserve it but when Portsmouth high school teachers would like to get payed a livable income that they deserve people try to criticize them. I think both of you need to take a look at more than the dollar sign and more at the test grades and compare our dropout rate to other schools. Kids are here most of the time because they want to be, they want to learn, teachers at Portsmouth High school have raised my grades way above what they ever were. I applaud Mr. Cassidy for righting this and strongly urge you to think about what both of you are saying before you post it. You are both attacking people that are educating what will be the future voters and taxpayers of Portsmouth high, thank you for your comments but maybe you should go back to school

I agree with portsmout teen every teacher here needs more pay because they work harder then the rest of the state. If you notice our senior class got first place on last year's NECAP testing and third place on the math section

Portsmouth has a low drop out rate due to the socio-economics and parent involvment. I'd say little to do with teachers (although i'm sure i'll hear about how a teacher was an influence in keeping kids in class). I also beleive, people can and should look at all sides of a problem. A new problem I read about from the comments on this site is that teachers can do no wrong and should get paid more. This is a shame. Teachers work jobs just like most of us and get paid accordingly. The teaching profession is not new and those that get involved realize that (just like regular jobs) there is unpaid overtime, weekend work, and low wages. A benefit is that there is a lot of time off - this is a fact. However, the postings are saying the opposite...strange to me.

Having high average test scores and a school’s dropout rate are two different things. Social-economic factors may well be what are keeping Portsmouth kids in school. But I’d argue that it’s the teachers that have the greatest impact in achieving the high test scores. Thank God because after about 6th grade I am no longer helpful with math.

We the students may hate the work but all the teachers put in their time and efforts to make every kid the best they could be. They help us build our future and we need them. Without them we would end up at a job like McDonalds and I for one do not want to work there for the rest of my life.

It is sad to me that several adults commenting on this matter fail to recognize the importance of teachers in the lives of our children. Perhaps you have forgotten, or never had, teachers that spoke to you or inspired you. We are so fortunate in this community to have teachers who inspire our kids and love what they do. Having come from an inner city high school myself and seeing the benefits my children have that I was not afforded they are blessed to have insightful, persuasive, thought provoking and involved teachers. They are creating the educational foundation for tomorrow and should be as handsomly compensated as we can. To suggest that just because teaching, in a public school system, has never been a highly paid job and in this economy they should be happy to have whatever compensaion they have as a reason for not renogotiating contracts or providing raisies is really not a respectful approach to the people you have hired to care for the education of our children. Would the suggestion be that if they are not happy they should just continue to leave? I would never suggest that every teacher inspires or is greatly involved but there is certainly a majority here and instead of celebrating that we, the adults, argue. Their costs of living have been going up just as everyone elses. Of course I think inspired teachers should be brilliantly compensated for creating an inspired young population- till then, respecting their needs would be great.

I'm interested to hear about what folks have to say about teachers paying for health care. See the question of the week. This is part of the low wages so should they pay? This is when reality of the real worl and fantasy land in the schools hit the taxpayer with facts on family costs.

eastside i said that you should go back to school, so that maybe you would have a chance to understand (first hand ) how much the teachers have to deal with, and they still use their own money to pay for half of the things in classes that we wouldnt have if they couldnt pay for it. Teachers in portsmouth also have to deal with boys town kids which some of them do not want to put in effort at all to understand things. They still try. People do not become teachers to reap the benefits, they become teachers beacuse they "c.a.r.e.s "

Their money is a tax benefit up to a certain amount on income taxes. Also your saying they actually need to teach the boys town individuals? You mean do their job? What about the little Compton students? Are treated as outsiders as well?

now your twisting my words, i never said they were outsiders i am simply saying that they are at boys town becasue they did somthing bad where they went to school...... so our teachers deal with them.

Something bad, is that what you think ? Maybe you should ask some of them why they are there. Maybe there family dies, Maybe there family dumped them on the streets. That ths problem with this town is everyone judges the book by the cover. Not all the Kids who are in Boys town are trouble makers. Give them a chance, Or I bet they are not good enough to hang out with your click

jason, i do talk to them, i have class with them. A majority of them are there for low level crimes that they commited. Im not judging a book by its cover i am judging it by what the contents are and what they say.

From today's PROJO - "Scituate is one of the first school districts to abandon seniority as the sole criteria for filling vacant teaching positions. The new system does away with the traditional job fair, in which teachers are given a number based on their years in the system and openings are filled first by those with the lowest numbers. No longer will a younger and possibly better teacher be “bumped” from an assignment by another teacher based on age and experience alone.

Under the new language, teachers will be awarded points based on a number of factors, including advanced degrees, graduate work, national board certification and longevity. Teachers can earn no more than five points for their length of service. The highest score a teacher can earn is 15 points."

This is how experience alone is not the sole factor in making/being a good teacher. It's a blending of many factors.

In addition, the times are changing one town at a time.

Exactly right! Seniority is not the SOLE criteria. That's exactly what the Portsmouth teachers presented to the school committee (see the pdf letter attached to this article and skip to the part on seniority). The school committee responded by stating that seniority cannot be a factor AT ALL. End of negotiations. Take it or leave it because the BEP says so (which it clearly does not).

I swear... this school committee doesn't know the first thing about how to negotiate anything with anybody.