Democrats urged to spread word of teacher contract

With two days to Election Day, Warwick Democrats gathered for a group picture Sunday afternoon and to hear an appeal of Warwick Teachers Union President Darlene Netcoh to pass out flyers at the polls outlining the “truth about the Warwick School Committee’s Contract Offer.”

“This current administration is destroying education in Warwick as we know it,” Netcoh said of the committee and Superintendent Philip Thornton during her remarks at the headquarters of House District 21 candidate Camille Vella-Wilkinson on Airport Road.

The purpose of the gathering of Democratic candidates, explained city Democratic chairman Rob Farrell, was to get a photograph of the team to be shared on social media in the hours leading up to the election. The meeting also took on the tone of a rally with Vella-Wilkinson, Farrell and state Democratic Committee Chairman Joseph McNamara of Warwick calling on teamwork to get out the vote for Democrats on Tuesday.

Vella-Wilkinson, who won the WTU endorsement when she ran and won for council, urged fellow candidates to take handfuls of the flyers and distribute them at the polls “to educate voters as to what’s going on in Warwick schools.”

The flyer says Thornton has been issuing contract updates “that contain numerous falsehoods about a number of contract provisions,” with the two “most serious” being class size/weighting and co-op classes.

Netcoh said the committee and Thornton have chosen to “ignore provisions in the contract that have been there for 40 years,” resulting in high numbers of special education students in classes to the detriment of special education and regular education students. On the issue of co-op classes, the flyer says special education teachers are not being assigned to classes as set by contract, leaving many social studies, science, and library classes without a special education teacher.

The school administration’s position is that the contract expired in August 2015 and it is meeting the requirements of the law as it applies to students with individual education programs (IEPs).

Netcoh did not talk about Mayor Scott Avedisian’s recent efforts to restart and attend mediation between the parties. Asked about the WTU endorsement for mayor, she said the union did not endorse a candidate for mayor.

There was no drawing of lines between Democrats, or the fact that two non-partisan School Committee candidates – Karen Bachus, who is seeking re-election, and Dean Johnson – were included in the team photo. Jeanine Calkin, who is unchallenged for the Senate District 30 seat after ousting incumbent William Walaska in the primary, considers herself a Progressive Democrat. She said she knew nothing of RI Progressive Democrat leader Samuel Bell’s endorsement of Republican Scott Avedisian over Democrat Richard Corrente. She said she endorses the Democratic slate.

Farrell called for unity, saying, “that’s what makes Rhode Island strong.”

“From Ward 1 to Ward 9 to mayor, we’re going to take it all,” Farrell said.

“We all know as Democrats we’re stronger together,” McNamara said, adding that Warwick would also be stronger.

Shifting his focus to the presidential election, McNamara said he’s seeing “a lot of support and concern about Tuesday.” He said the state party has run out of Hillary Clinton lawn signs but has plenty of wire frames and urged people to make their own signs.

As for the Progressive Democrats endorsement of Avedisian, he said, “I thought it very unusual.” He questioned how Bell was selected, describing him as “a self-appointed leader who lives in a basement in Providence.”

“I don’t know of any organizations that call themselves Democrats that endorse Republicans,” he said.

Vella-Wilkinson’s headquarters will be where local Democrats gather for election results tonight. Across Airport Road at Avedisian headquarters is where Republicans will be gathering to get results.