By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
A new independent survey shows that most Rhode Island teachers do not see eye to eye with the state’s Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, and they don’t want her back next year.
According to a new survey, a whopping 85 percent of Rhode Island public school teachers polled said Governor Lincoln Chafee should not renew Gist’s contract when it expires in June.
The survey was conducted by Fleming and Associates from April 22 to 24 via phone, and polled 402 randomly-selected Rhode Island public school teachers.
According to the survey, 44 percent of teachers said Gist has been “ineffective” and 85-percent said they do not think they are better off today than they were four years ago.
A majority of teachers (61 percent) said they would not have become teachers if they knew what they know today, and a whopping 82 percent said they feel less respected as a professional than they did four years ago.
The survey was released just hours before Gist was scheduled to make her “State of Education Address” at the State House Tuesday afternoon. Already, the Providence Student Union had announced they planned to combat her speech with their own “State of the Student” address just a half hour beforehand.
The big debate between Gist and the Providence Student Union, among others, has been the use of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) exam to determine graduation. The survey also touched on this issue, revealing that 72 percent of teachers polled do not believe the NECAP should be a graduation requirement.
The poll also questioned teachers about the Race to the Top initiative: 60 percent of respondents said it has been a waste of money; 57 percent said their school has not benefitted from the Race to the Top program.
“For too long Commissioner Gist has spoken of her support among classroom teachers. We decided to put that notion to an independent test,” said Frank Flynn, President of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals in a statement. “This survey found that she is not supported by classroom teachers. In fact, there is overwhelming evidence that her leadership is almost universally rejected.”
To add to that notion, most respondents said Gist’s communication with teachers was poor, while another 42 percent said Gist values the professional expertise of Rhode Island teachers “not at all.” Nearly 70 percent of teachers surveyed said teacher morale is “poor” under Gist’s leadership.
The study was commissioned by the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFT) as well as the National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI).
UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon, Deborah Gist released this statement to WPRO:
As I noted last night in my State of Education address to the General Assembly, it is important that all of us focus on the big issues and on our common goals as we work together to transform education in Rhode Island. Receiving feedback from and engaging in dialogue with teachers is an important part of our work at the R.I. Department of Education, and I regularly meet with and communicate with labor leaders and educators at many professional meetings, school visits, workshops, committee meetings, and informal occasions – as well as through, e-mail, phone calls, letters, and social media. I plan to review the information in the survey of Rhode Island public-school teachers that the National Education Association of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals jointly sponsored, and I will use this information to improve communications with and outreach to our teachers and school leaders. I welcome specific suggestions from educators as to how we can build a better mutual understanding and working relationship.
As Commissioner of Education, I am well aware that I must at times advance policies and initiatives that require our professional educators to change current practices – and that these changes can prove to be challenging and uncomfortable, at least initially. While gathering feedback and engaging our educators is key to ensuring quality decisions, I cannot and do not base my decisions on polls, surveys, and popular opinion. Rather, I base every decision on make on what is in the best interest of our students.
