Union Sues School Committee After State Orders Contract Changes

*Update: The School Committee continued the matter at last night's meeting. More details later today.

Cranston teacher's union officials filed a lawsuit against the Cranston School Committee in Superior Court today, alleging the committee could violate the terms of the union contract by voting in changes to the Basic Education Plan.

The changes include a measure that would put an end to the annual job fair, during which teachers pick assignments based on seniority and certification. State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist ordered the changes. Gist, in correspondence with the school district, threatened Cranston with the loss of state aid and stripping the superintendent's certification, among other penalties, if the changes are not adopted.

In an interview, Cranston Teachers Alliance President Lizbeth Larkin said if the School Committee votes for the changes tonight, its members will have "abrogated" the contract. That's what prompted the union to file the anticipatory breach of contract suit today.

The second-largest collective bargaining unit in Rhode Island and the largest in Cranston, the teacher's union recently gave up about $5.1 million in concessions in 2011 to help the district stabilize after years of financial peril, Larkin said. 

"We gave them back the money, that's why they've been able to run for the last two years," Larkin said. "We've agreed to new teacher evaluations and now that's not good enough for Gist."

Larkin said Gist's letters border on "extortion," and the threat to take money away from school children and yank the superintendent's certification is "appaling."

"I am appalled that the Cranston School Committee would allow Commissioner Gist to bully them into abrogating our contract. The Cranston Teachers’ Alliance has always had the best interest in what is good for teaching and learning." Larkin said in a release. "We renegotiated our contract in 2011 to help the Cranston School Committee with their budget needs and to comply with Commissioner Gist’s interpretation of the Basic Education Plan. Now the School Committee is not holding up their end of the deal."

The lawsuit comes just days before the union and the committee are set to begin talks about a new contact. The current contract expires in August. It was to expire last year, but the deal reached between the union and the district in 2011 extended the contract until 2013.

Larkin said Gists' measures threaten to shatter the cooperative spirit that has been working in Cranston for years. 

"There has been nearly 40 years of labor management collaboration in Cranston and that's why the commissioner is zeroing in on us," Larkin said. "She's not about working together. She's about breaking relationships."

Larkin said the union did agree to measures to keep teachers from attending the job fair. Teachers given an evaluation of "ineffective" would have to go through an improvement and progress plan and would be blocked from the job fair, referred to the jamboree in Cranston.

Stay tuned for updates on this developing story, including reporting from tonight's School Committee meeting that will be posted tomorrow.