Letters

Recognizing the difference teachers make

Posted 12/8/15

To the Editor:

When I was a high school student, a long time ago, I had an English teacher who at the time I dreaded, and over the years I have grown to respect and appreciate. Mr. Wasylean was a …

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Letters

Recognizing the difference teachers make

Posted

To the Editor:

When I was a high school student, a long time ago, I had an English teacher who at the time I dreaded, and over the years I have grown to respect and appreciate. Mr. Wasylean was a grammar freak and Shakespeare expert. He had us diagramming sentences and dissecting the works of Shakespeare on a daily basis. Lucky me, I had him two years in a row. I also had a physics teacher who we all felt was crazy, in the way that he presented and had us work through physics problems. At the age of 64 today, I remember these two teachers respectfully, as Mr. Wasylean taught me to write effectively and to understand complex plots, while Dr. Hetzler taught me to think “outside the box” and that problem solving can be approached from many different angles.

My point here is that all of us have been influenced to some extent by a teacher who we had along the way during our formal education process. Even the teachers who we may not have liked so much, taught us that we would meet people in life that we do not necessarily see eye-to-eye with, but we better learn how to get along, if we are going to survive and be successful. While I have the greatest respect for the officers and department members of state and local police and the local fire departments, I will venture to guess that most of you reading this will have had more of a personal relationship over the years, with a teacher as opposed to a public safety official or department member. Yet, why is it that here in Warwick members of the police and fire department are treated fairly and equitably, while the teachers are not. Police and Fire both received multi-year contracts, with no appreciable language changes, and a 3% raise each year. Teachers were handed an opening offer that for the most part dissected and eradicated the existing contract language while offering no percentage raises. Subsequently the School Committee’s paid ($$$$$$$) legal counsel has refused to negotiate and has moved to go to interest arbitration, which in the past has not yielded any progress towards a fair and equitable contractual arrangement.

I will admit, that I do not live in Warwick. I actually live in the community to the west that has had its own financial challenges. However, their school system is significantly ahead of Warwick in terms of technology, special services and other areas. I can only attribute this to leadership, something that has been and continues to be seriously lacking here in Warwick. The role of a school committee is to determine policy, yet here in Warwick we have members of the school committee deeply involved in the day-to-day running of the system, with most members having no educational administrative background or experience. Additionally the adversarial relationship that exists at all levels, (school committee vs. city council & administration etc.) has done nothing to advance the education facilities, programs and process in Warwick.

If you do not have children in Warwick schools, you may be say, “so what”! Well, as property owners, you should be concerned. Property values take a hit when a school system is not attractive to potential younger homebuyers. Right now, with all the uncertainty surrounding school consolidation and closures, coupled with the current teacher vs. administration situation. I can’t imagine a young couple with or without children feeling very good about buying a home in Warwick.

So as a resident and taxpayer in Warwick, I would ask you to please take an interest in the current situation evolving around the Warwick Schools. Get informed, and contact your elected school committee member. The only way the system is going to move forward and improve is if all constituencies involved are working together and are on the same page. This includes parents, teachers, administration, school committee members, residents and taxpayers. A first step in making this happen would be for the school committee to return to the negotiating table with a reasonable fair and equitable contract proposal. Without this first step, the foreseeable future will be a rocky road at best, for all parties concerned.

That English teacher I had in high school 48 years ago, also taught me that you may not like someone, but you can usually find something to respect about them. I’m finding it more difficult each day to respect the decisions being made at the school committee level here in Warwick.

Kenneth Kurkoski

Science Dept. Head

Warwick Veterans Memorial HS

& Gorton JHS

Comments

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  • FedUp

    So many teachers have made a difference in my life...both the good and the bad from my own education but also in the education of my children. Thank you for this great letter!

    Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Report this

  • warwick10

    So, so sad --Warwick schools were once thriving and now failing. There is no sense of community or leadership, causing many families to move or enroll their children at local private schools.

    Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Report this

  • wheelchairman

    Heck even the school committee chairwoman sends her kids to private school. I mean even she doesn't believe in the job the schools commitee is doing. Luckily we have a bright but far light in the new superintendent. Might not seem it but he has a plan that might save us.

    Dean Johnson

    Thursday, December 10, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Mr. Kurkoski makes the common error of linking property values with the quality of the local public schools. If this were the case, some of the cheapest real estate in the northeast would be in Boston, where public schools are avoided by anyone with the means to do so and real estate values continue to soar. House values are a function of the relative affluence of those who buy them. Affluent people tend to be bright, and they tend to have bright kids. If they go to the local public school, those kids produce high test scores. Not surprisingly, virtually all of the 'best' public high schools in New England (and certainly RI) are found in some of the wealthiest communities, and these communities are filled with two-parent, well-educated families. Hence, property values are not a function of the quality of the schools. Rather, quality of the schools is a function of those who can afford the property. Finally, the reality is that Warwick is a buyer's market and young families are, indeed, moving here. However, they have no intention of sending their children to the Warwick public schools.

    Friday, December 11, 2015 Report this