Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, made a visit to Providence Saturday, highlighting the impending contract negotiations between the state and the Providence Teachers Union. Weingarten spoke to a crowded cafeteria in a Providence high school, during an event hosted by the local union.
Providence teachers go back to the bargaining table soon as a key component of the state takeover. Weingarten said that could be a positive.
“We’re trying to flip the switch on the culture that’s been a culture of friction, a culture of finger pointing and to actually try to together dream about what things should look like,” Weingarten said. 
Renegotiating the teachers’ contract in Providence will be the first major challenge of the state-led effort to reform the schools. State education commissioner Angelica Infante-Green has said changing the contract will be the single most important of the turnaround. The commissioner has
Teams made up of community members as well as state education officials have been working on a series of recommendations to shape the so-called turnaround plan. The teachers contract could determine whether proposed changes within the classroom, like extending the school day, can become reality.
This is not Weingarten’s first appearance in Rhode Island. She spoke in Providence after the 2011 mass-firing of the city’s teachers.
Weingarten said she would remain in touch with Providence Teachers Union President Maribeth Calabro, and mentioned she has been in direct contact with Commissioner Infante-Green.
Leaders from the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, as well as Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea were in attendance for Weingarten’s address.
