Gist says hard school decisions, conflict ahead for Rhode Island

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.projo.com/news/content/waiting_for_superman_premiere_10-21-10_06KFLD_v37.1de3e18.html

WARWICK –– The conflict over how to improve one of the state’s lowest-performing schools, Central Falls High School, drew intense national attention to Rhode Island this year, but Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist warns that Rhode Islanders need to brace themselves for hard decisions ahead to improve more of the state’s struggling schools.

“We all have to do our part and hold steady as we move through this. This is not easy,” Gist told an audience of about 450 teachers, education leaders, politicians and child advocates who attended a free screening of the education documentary “Waiting for Superman” Tuesday night at the Warwick Showcase Cinemas.

<snip>

At the same time, Callahan said, she found the portrayal of teachers’ unions in the film “incomplete and unbalanced.” She also pointed out that the RIFT is working with Gist on perhaps the most controversial reform: rigorous yearly teacher evaluations designed to weed out the worst teachers and provide help for struggling teachers.

<snip>

The event was sponsored by RI-CAN or Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now, a new education advocacy organization. The Rhode Island chapter has received financing from the Walton Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation as well as private donations, said Maryellen Butke, RI-CAN’s executive director. Previously, Butke was a director at the Met School.

“Rhode Island is at a tipping point in terms of education reform,” Butke said. “In 30 years in this state, I’ve never heard as many people talking about education. We have to stay on the cutting edge. We may disagree with one another, but we have to get under a bigger tent and build the political will to move these changes forward.”

Nice to know there is always money for astrograssroots. I guess they decided that that little miss Deborah needed the big guns for back up this year.: RI-CAN http://www.conncan.org/aboutus/ri-can

The Board of Directors and advisors for the parent organization ConnCann also contain several of the Usual Suspects:

http://www.conncan.org/aboutus/board

Our directors & advisors.
Board of Directors

Brian Olson, Chair

*
Co-Founder, Viking Global Investors
*
Chairman, Civic Builders


Andy Boas

*
Principal, Carl Marks Management, LLC
*
Director, Bridgeport Public Education Fun


Sarah Greenhill

*
Former Vice President of Finance, Ultimate Software Group


Will Heins

*
Former Senior VP, Greenwich Capital Markets
*
Former Member, Stamford Board of Representatives


John N. Irwin III

*
Managing Director, Brookside International
*
President, Achelis and Bodman Foundation
*
Treasurer, Wildlife Conservation Society


Michael M. Kassen

*
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Neuberger Berman


Gary Lubben

*
Lubben Capital Management, LLC


Jonathan Sackler, Past Chair

*
Founder and Managing Director, North Bay Associates
*
Director, Purdue Pharma
*
Vice Chairman, Micro Credit Businesses, Inc.


Chris Shumway

* Founder, Shumway Capital and Shumway Capital Foundation


Bruce Ritter

* Founder, Yannix Management LP
* Vice Chair, Norwalk Children’s Foundation


Erika Long

* Vice Chairman, Maverick Capital Foundation
* Former Principal, Maverick Capital, Ltd.


Art Reimers

* Former Partner and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
* Board of Directors, Outward Bound
* Board of Directors, International Justice Mission


Advisory Board

Paul Allaire

* Former Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation
* Former Chairman, Ford Foundation
* Trustee Emeritus of Carnegie-Mellon University


Lorraine M. Aronson

* Former Vice President and CFO, University of Connecticut
* Director, Hartford Education Foundation
* Former Connecticut Deputy Commissioner of Education


Dr. Philip E. Austin

* Former President, University of Connecticut
* Board Member, MetroHartford Regional Economic Alliance
* Member, Governor’s Council on Economic Competitiveness and Technology


Timothy Bannon

* President-Executive Director, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority


Cory Booker

* Mayor, Newark, NJ
* Former Senior Fellow, Rutgers School of Public Policy and Planning
* Member, Board of Directors of the Black Alliance for Educational Options


Christopher P. Bruhl

* President and CEO, The Business Council of Fairfield County (SACIA)
* Director, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Corporation


Dr. William J. Cibes, Jr.

* Former Chancellor, Connecticut State University System
* Former Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Finance Committee, Connecticut General Assembly
* Former Secretary, Office of Policy and Management


Joyce Critelli

* Co-Chairwoman, Children’s Agency of Norwalk
* Trustee, Norwalk Community College
* Trustee, Critelli Family Foundation


Reverend Lindsay E. Curtis

* Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Norwalk
* Chairman, Norwalk Children’s Foundation
* President, NAACP Norwalk Branch


John M. Danielson

* President and CEO, Chartwell Education Group
* Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Education • Director, Center for Education Reform


Jonathan T. Dawson

* Chairman and CEO, Dawson Capital Management
* Co-Founder, New Beginnings Family Academy


Timothy Dutton

* Director, Bridge Academy
* Former President, Connecticut Charter School Network


Dr. Howard Fuller

* Founder and Chairman, Black Alliance for Educational Options
* Former Superintendent, Milwaukee Public Schools
* Board Member, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools


Robert Furek

* Director, MassMutual Financial Group
* Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Hartford Public School System


William Ginsberg

* President and CEO, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
* Director, Regional Leadership Council


Stewart Greenfield

* Founder and Former Chairman, Oak Investment Partners
* Founder and Chairman, Alternative Investment Group, LLC


Janice M. Gruendel, Ph.D., M.Ed.

* Co-Chair, Early Childhood Education Cabinet Member, P-16 Council and CT Youth Vision Team
* Former Deputy Commissioner, Departments of Public Health, Mental Retardation and DCF
* Former Director of Health Service, DOC


Dr. Walter Harrison

* President, University of Hartford
* Director, Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges
* Director, The Hartford Consortium for Higher Education


Darrell Harvey

* Co-CEO, The Ashforth Company
* Former Chairman, The Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut (SACIA)


Marc S. Herzog

* Chancellor, Connecticut Community College System
* Member, National Council of State Directors, American Association of Community Colleges


Duane E. Hill

* Founder and Partner Emeritus, TSG Capital Group
* Former Vice President, J.P. Morgan and Co.
* Chairman, City of Stamford CT Planning Board


Carlton L. Highsmith

* Founder, President and CEO, Specialized Packing Group
* Director, Quinnipiac University
* National Board of Directors, I Have a Dream Foundation


Ron Howard

* Co-Chairman, Imagine Entertainment
* Awarded Best Director, Directors Guild of America, “Apollo 13”
* Awarded an Oscar, Best Director, “A Beautiful Mind”


Catherine Viscardi Johnston

* Partner, Midway Communications, LLC
* Former Executive Vice President, Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
* Co-Founder and Director, Harlem Village Academy and Leadership Village Academy


Jeffrey Klaus

* Regional President, Webster Bank
* Former Market President, Bank of America
* Former Education Committee Chairman, Regional Leadership Council
* Former member, Governor’s Commission on Education Finance


Kevin Knight

* Founder and President, The K Group
* Director, Cities In Schools, Norwalk


George Knox III

* Former Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Philip Morris Companies
* Director and Vice-Chairman, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
* Trustee, African American Experience Foundation


Konrad “Chip” Kruger

* Former Co-President and Co-CEO, Greenwich Capital Markets
* Co-Founder, Five Mile Capital Partners LLC


Dr. Richard C. Levin

* President, Yale University
* Director, Hewlett Foundation
* Chairman, AllLearn, a joint venture of Yale, Oxford, and Stanford universities.


Dr. Julia M. McNamara

* President, Albertus Magnus College
* Chairwoman, Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation
* Director, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven


Len Miller

* Partner, O’Connor Davies Munns and Dobbins LLP
* Founder and Former Chairman, SoundWaters


Dr. Cheryl Norton

* President, Southern Connecticut State University


Anthony P. Rescigno

* President, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce
* Executive Director, Regional Leadership Council
* Member of the Board, New Haven Public Education Fund


Dr. Theodore Sergi

* Former Connecticut State Commissioner of Education
* President and CEO, Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration


Reverend Eric B. Smith

* Pastor, Adoni Spiritual Formation Center of New Haven
* President, New Haven Reparations Coalition
* Member of the Board, Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund


Richard Sugarman

* Founder and President, The Connecticut Forum
* Board Chairman, Connecticut Center for School Change


Allan B. Taylor

* Partner, Day Berry and Howard LLP
* Chairman, Connecticut State Board of Education
* Former Councilman, Hartford City Council


Tom Vander Ark

* Managing Director at Revolution Learning
* Former President, X PRIZE Foundation
* Former Executive Director, Gates Education Initiative
* Former Superintendent, of Schools, Federal Way, Washington State

[msongs]

1. our government has trillions for war crimes, rape, torture, and murder in our name nt

[Starry Messenger]

2. Well yes, that too.

I was thinking of more local issues that the union had to deal with last year in Central Falls, when Ms. Gist and her henchthing Gallo demanded that the teachers put in extra work for free and then fired them when they refused. We talked about it a lot here since it was the first salvo in the education reform wars.

[Angry Dragon]

3. You need to start a picture gallery of pirates

It would a great service

[Starry Messenger]

4. You know, I have been tempted to do this.

I might take you up on that. The tricky bit is finding pictures that have enough headroom to fit the hat. :D

[Catshrink]

5. Let's take each of those ConnCan board members

and give them responsibility for a classroom for say a month. Do you think this will change their tune?

[Starry Messenger]

6. I love this idea.

Their kind always has an out though, they'd make up some excuse why they "couldn't". They function entirely as buffers between the working teachers and the Wall Street hacks who desire to slice us up. If they actually got into the trenches with us, they'd lose their usefulness to the hedge boys. And we all know which role pays better...