Statement from Jack

Over the last 5+ years, I’ve heard many of you, our members, express the desire to have the option to elect alternative leadership in our union.  This election, you will.  If elected, I will bring a strong, stable voice to all aspects of our Union’s interests.  Whether it be interactions with you, our members, Cranston Public Schools’ central administration, Cranston Public Schools’ School Committee, City of Cranston City Council, Cranston Mayor, State level elected officials or our State Federation, the Rhode Island Federation of Teacher and Health Professionals and our National Federation, The American Federation of Teachers, I will bring our collective interests, concerns, and principles forward while continually striving for solution-driven unionism.

In my time as your Vice President, I had the opportunity to testify before Senate committees on educational issues, work with central administration on professional and contractual issues, serve on committees that are important to our profession, district, and students, and I also represented our union in the absence of the President.  I believe in investing the hard work necessary to ensure that our union is prepared to tackle important issues of the future with transparency, regular communication, and knowledge.  I intend to begin with transparency as it pertains to our interests and concerns.  Transparency is critical!  It is my intent to keep our membership informed of the happenings around the district through a digital monthly newsletter format that provides you, our members, with updates of new business, status, and resolution.  We will also introduce a digital monthly newsletter from the Vice President building community that highlights the good work our members do as well as turning the spotlight on our contract as a way to help you to interpret contract language.  Also, of course, a few surprises along the way.

It is our intent to increase opportunities for our members to engage in our union through various means such as online forums and periodic town hall style gatherings.  This is instrumental as it provides opportunities for expression and feedback allowing our members to feel confident that they have a voice, that voice is heard, and their concerns and interests are well represented at all levels.  It is important to myself and our Slate of Nominees that you are always greeted with a respectful, empathetic, and caring demeanor that puts all of us at ease so ideas can flow and solutions can be found.  As I stated previously, solution-driven unionism.

With each of us working together, we can move our union forward, always striving for a better future for our members, our profession, and most importantly, the students we educate in our classrooms and assist on our buses each and every day.

In conclusion, I will be excited and proud to serve as your President.  I truly look forward to working with you, our members, to build trust in our union so our organization is viable in its existence, tenacious in our beliefs, energetic in our endeavors, and purposeful in our focus.  Thank you for taking this time out of your busy lives to read our message and support our cause.

We will be updating this website periodically through election day, May 30, 2023, with FAQ’s from you and additional plans for our future.  So be sure to revisit.

Respectfully,

Jack Santangelo and our Slate of Nominees, Vice President, Rhoda Marro (PVMS), Treasurer, Mathew Claeson (CHSW), Recording Secretary, Sharon Marcello (George J. Peters Elementary)