BREAKING NEWS: Taveras Defends His Decision to Fire Teachers

BREAKING NEWS: Taveras Defends His Decision to Fire Teachers

In a Sunday night massive e-mail blast to Providence residents, Mayor Angel Taveras defended his decision to fire 2,000 teachers and took a firm swipe at his predecessors.

In a City News E-blast, the newly seated Mayor did not back off his decision and for the first time criticized the previous administration - Mayor David Cicilline. In the open letter-style e-mail, Taveras wrote:

For too long, politicians have avoided making the tough decisions. When I took the oath of office on January 3, I made a commitment to be honest with you about the problems we face. I also promised that I would not shy away from making tough decisions to put our City back on firm financial footing. Our actions this week reflect this commitment. 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Message to Teachers

The e-mail came after a week of controversy and responses to the firings. Minutes after the first email to Providence residents, Mayor Taveras released an open letter to teachers. The Mayor wrote to teachers, "Issuing notices of dismissals to all teachers was a decision of last resort. My administration has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Providence to address the fiscal crisis we face AND a moral responsibility to our children to make sure we manage cuts to school funding in a way that best serves our students and the community.

Timeline

On Tuesday, Taveras' administration announced the firing of all 2,000 union teachers.

Wednesday, GoLocalProv reported that Providence would be closing schools in the 2011-2012 academic year.

Thursday, the School Board votes 4-3 to fire all Providence teachers.

Thursday, Providence teachers union boss Steve Smith blasts Taveras, "Maybe he’s (Taveras) chatting with the governor of Wisconsin and he thinks that’s the way to go,” Smith told GoLocalProv. “At least the governor of Wisconsin is being up front. He wants to eliminate collective bargaining rights. He’s not firing anybody. He’s threatening to lay people off, not fire them. There’s a difference.”

Saturday, GoLocalProv Reporter Stephen Beale appears nationally on Fox & Friends in an interview on the controversy.

Sunday evening - Taveras issues two e-mails - one to residents and one to the teachers.

Read the full text of the e-mail to residents: