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Of the billion and half dollars that Rick Corrente talks about the School Committee spending: How much of that money is going toward teacher salaries and benefits? The answer is over 70%. Rick Corrente doesn't want to talk about that aspect of this problem, because it goes against all of the pandering he's been doing to the Warwick Teachers Union. Warwick has some amazing teachers. This isn't their fault. In my honest opinion some of their leadership has really let them down the last decade plus. As long as people like Rick Corrente ignore the real problems, and until people actually address those, we are going to be stuck in this same holding pattern. It is political suicide to call for increasing teacher health care costs, or layoffs. Thats the reality.

The school committee does bare blame in this because they may not have negotiated past contracts (some of them have), but they had a chance negotiating this one. The overall problems have been happening over decades, and will take years to correct, that is if they are corrected at all. As I said I believe there are great teachers in Warwick, but with the budget realities this city is facing, if there were ever a time to hold off on raises it was now. I understand it is a give and take process, and getting a deal done needed to happen to avoid more years of gridlock. I do think its fair to ask questions over what was negotiated. Where do the costs slow down? How many more schools will close? Teachers will be layed off? These are critical questions that should be answered with some kind of long term plan.