Time servers and devoted teachers

Providence’s Classical High School

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

The endless standoff between the Providence Teachers Union and would-be reformers in state government reminds me again of why I don’t like public-employee unions. They become political organizations and rigid economic- interest groups, rife with conflicts of interest involving elected officials (to whom they can give or withhold campaign cash).  That isn’t to say that teachers shouldn’t have rigorous Civil Service-style protections.

For some reason, the latest standoff reminds me of when I sat right behind two Providence teachers on a train coming back from New York 30 years ago. All that the duo, who looked about 40 years old,  talked about were their pensions. Of course, there are many devoted teachers in the Providence public schools (which my kids attended) but also too many time servers like my fellow passengers that day.