All Teachers Fired at Underperforming School in Rhode Island

CENTRAL FALLS, Rhode Island — The blue-and-white banner exclaiming "anticipation" on the front of Central Falls High School seems like a cruel joke for an institution so chronically troubled that its leaders decided to fire every teacher by year's end.

No more than half those instructors would be hired back under a federal option that has enraged the state's powerful teachers union, earned criticism from students, and praise from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and some parents.

The mass firings were approved by the school district's board of trustees Tuesday night after talks failed between Superintendent Frances Gallo and the local teachers union over implementing changes, including offering more after-school tutoring and a longer school day. The teachers say they want more pay for the additional work.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587334,00.html?test=latestnews

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I certainly hope that the administration is booted out as well..."as the principal goes, so goes the school"...for schools who are chronically under-performing I think there needs to also have community trainings and mandatory (yeah, right) parent trainings on how to support their student. Schools don't fail in a vacuum.

More than the educators should be held accountable.

Now - having said that....many schools serve extremely difficult populations and those students are very resistant to being educated for their future beyond being street corner pharmacists. How well do you think those students are going to do on week long, fill in the bubble, state tests? Whether they have the knowledge or not, they WON'T perform well.

How is that a reflection of the teachers?

More than the educators should be held accountable.

And Sasha, therein is what I believe to be an "unsolvable problem" unless drastic and harsh changes are introduced. And even if said are introduced it would take 20+ years to "flush out" the old ways and restore the accountability required of the students, parents and school employees.

The problems have been morphing in the schools and the communities for the past 30 years to where said years of nurturing have resulted in most everyone now really not giving a shidt about educating the student populace but are only concerned with matters that directly involve or affect themselves.

So I ask you, Sasha, how does one re-nurture and re-educate both the school employees and the parents so that one can then begin educating and nurturing the very young children so that they will grow and mature with the values and mindset required for acquiring a good education and thus be prepared for becoming good parents and teachers themselves ?

Sam - I certainly wish I knew the answer to your question. But it's the same question asked by the older generation of the younger since the beginning of history.

"What's wrong with the youth of today?"

Every generation thinks the one that follows it is worse than their own. And it's not worse - just different - and humans don't like change.

So - how do we though do this thing called education? Our current system was designed when our country believed in working together and we valued things such as our communities and being accountable to ones neighbors. Now we are so doggone independent that we don't give a rats ass about what anyone thinks about us let alone our neighbors.

We have to find a way to present the education in a way that is important to the values of today. It means more individualized plans - communicating with the "consumers" and helping them reach goals. It is a HUGE paradigm shift from the "one size fits all" and "test them all the same way" ways teachers have been trained.

Colleges needs to incorporate this change into their teacher programs and the education system needs to be able to present this to the public in such a way as for it to be accepted.

Remove mandatory attendance after age 13 and/or successful passing of a basic skills test. If you wish to quit "school" then you go to a vocational training program and you get a job after you get training on some skill or other.

Maybe that would be a start. Give the public what it actually needs.

We have to find a way to present the education in a way that is important to the values of today.

But Sasha, that is the root cause of the current problems.

A big percentage of the parents with school age and younger children lack the "values" you are inferring and they are the ones that must teach their children said "values". And if they don't have said values that you are implying then they can't very well teach them to their children. And any Teachers with said "values" can very well do it for them.

It means more individualized plans - communicating with the "consumers" and helping them reach goals.

HA, and without the aforesaid "values" the students really don't have any "goals" that booklearning is going to help them "reach".

Sasha, I was recently told that it came from a reliable source that "of all the parent(s) with children in school, 40% of them are drug users".

How is that for "today's values"? And I'm sure many students are learning them in school, but not necessarily from/by every Teacher in the classrooms.

And ps: Many of the students know who those Teachers are.

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But anytime that teachers try to teach "values" we get smacked around because then it's "the state" that's taking over the children. Think about sex ed....my 5th grade daughter had "the movie" a couple of weeks ago for the 2nd time. It was first presented in her school at the 4th grade. She said there were several children whose parents opted them out back in 4th grade and then they weren't there again this year for the movie/discussion.

If such a basic informational movie causes parents to freak then if teachers had free rein at the older grades to teach more about educating oneself about sex and all it's issues...we'd be met in the parking lot with tar and feathers.

Who gets to decide which values the school system would teach? I would be extremely uncomfortable if the school system decided to bring in Jesuits for instruction in this area. Others would be disturbed if atheists taught morals.

Until a large enough percentage of a generation decides they want to change the direction their society is going in, all education can do is try to keep up and minimize the damage.

Every Central Falls teacher fired, labor outraged

I wanted to point out some bits of information that is overlooked time and again by those defending the teachers:

Just an hour after the rally, the Central Falls school Board of Trustees, in a brief but intense meeting, voted 5-2 to fire every teacher at the school. In all, 93 names were read aloud in the high school auditorium — 74 classroom teachers, plus reading specialists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the school psychologist, the principal and three assistant principals.

Gallo wanted teachers to agree to a set of six conditions she said were crucial to improving the school. Teachers would have to spend more time with students in and out of the classroom and commit to training sessions after school with other teachers.

But Gallo said she could pay teachers for only some of the extra duties. Union leaders said they wanted teachers to be paid for more of the additional work and at a higher pay rate — $90 per hour rather than the $30 per hour offered by Gallo.

These teachers were demanding $90 per hour to teach at a high school with a 48% drop-out rate. This is inexcusable, yet they had the unmitigated gall to demand $90 an hour to teach the most impoverished group of students in the state.

SHAME on them all.

SamCogar wrote:A big percentage of the parents with school age and younger children lack the "values" you are inferring and they are the ones that must teach their children said "values". And if they don't have said values that you are implying then they can't very well teach them to their children. And any Teachers with said "values" can very well do it for them.

Sasha, I was recently told that it came from a reliable source that "of all the parent(s) with children in school, 40% of them are drug users".

The state's rate of fatal overdoses linked to prescription drugs is more than twice the national average. Direct costs from drug and alcohol abuse cost the state corrections system nearly $333 million a year and the health-care system $116 million a year. Estimates of untreated addicts go as high as 140,000 out of a population of 1.8 million.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201002280312

Sasha, and they are mostly all in the "child bearing" generation.

So, they are spending $449 million per year on drug addiction and it doesn’t even include the MILLIONS expended on Drug Rehabilitation Programs.

Or the wasted MILLION$ in trying to educate their children.

And everyone claims the addiction to cigarette smoking costs more.


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Stephanie wrote:Every Central Falls teacher fired, labor outraged

Gallo wanted teachers to agree to a set of six conditions she said were crucial to improving the school. Teachers would have to spend more time with students in and out of the classroom and commit to training sessions after school with other teachers.

But Gallo said she could pay teachers for only some of the extra duties. Union leaders said they wanted teachers to be paid for more of the additional work and at a higher pay rate — $90 per hour rather than the $30 per hour offered by Gallo.

These teachers were demanding $90 per hour to teach at a high school with a 48% drop-out rate. This is inexcusable, yet they had the unmitigated gall to demand $90 an hour to teach the most impoverished group of students in the state.

SHAME on them all.

I will certainly agree demanding $90/hour is insane and calculated only to stymie reasonable talks. $30/hour is extremely reasonable - especially if the kids are coming to the school for the tutoring and the teachers not having to drive to the homes and deal with all that could be there (I've been a home bound teacher before....there are some bizarre families and homes out there....).

But I don't think they should lose their jobs for not being willing to take on extra duties outside the class day. At this point in my life - my girls are older and wouldn't need me to be home as soon as the school bell rang - so I could do this. However, a few years ago when they were little and/or babies, not a chance would I take on even reimbursed extra duties. And in a few years when I most likely have more responsibility towards my father as his health declines, I would again be in a position of being unable to take on extra duties.

I don't think the entire faculty should have been tarred and feather and fired for what sounds like a ridiculous attempt on the part of the union to ensure compensated work time.

There HAS to have been a better way to decide this situation. Also - this issue didn't just jump down the chimney at them - they've had years of data showing the decline and problems. Why weren't some of the solutions attempted along the way?

Sasha,

They have tried for years to remedy the problems in Central Falls. The union blocks all attempts. When half the students fail to graduate and the faculty is unwilling to take the steps necessary to turn things around, they have to go.

The teachers chose those union leaders. I have no sympathy for them. I reserve my sympathy for the students. They are the victims. Schools don't exist to provide jobs for teachers. They exist to provide youngsters with an education to prepare them for the future.

So now that all these teachers, plus reading specialists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the school psychologist, the principal and three assistant principals have been fired, who is going to "provide these youngsters with an education to prepare them for the future"?

There are plenty of teachers looking for work.

It should be interesting then to see if this "turn around" faculty/administration/etc will have great improvements in numbers next year.

How can anyone expect a great improvement in numbers in a single year? Talk about totally unrealistic expectations.

The problems in Central Falls have been raging for years. Literacy and graduation rates didn't sink this low in a year, and they won't be repaired in a year either.

The only thing about this situation that does seem unfair to me is the fact that by the time these youngsters are reaching high school so many of them are already so far behind. Teachers and administrators K-8 must be held accountable for dismal graduation rates, extremely poor math performance, and tragically low literacy rates as well.

LOL! Steph - I was just getting ready to comment about what is the county doing to assist in the lower grades? I've said for years that waiting until high school to address drop-out rates is like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.

But you beat me to it.

ziggy wrote:So now that all these teachers, plus reading specialists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the school psychologist, the principal and three assistant principals have been fired, who is going to "provide these youngsters with an education to prepare them for the future"?

They have been asking that question for years, Ziggy.

wvsasha wrote:LOL! Steph - I was just getting ready to comment about what is the county doing to assist in the lower grades? I've said for years that waiting until high school to address drop-out rates is like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.

But you beat me to it.

I believe I was addressing that problem in my earlier posts .......... but maybe you just didn't comprehend the significance of it.


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SamCogar wrote:

I believe I was addressing that problem in my earlier posts .......... but maybe you just didn't comprehend the significance of it.

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oh well.....that happens sometimes to us cerebral people.

How can anyone expect a great improvement in numbers in a single year? Talk about totally unrealistic expectations.

Yet Obama is demonized for not fixing the country in a year...

Not that ANYONE can fix our broken machine.

No, Obama is demonized for his arrogance of thinking he can fix the problem in one year and then every time one of is idiotic lack of leadership ideas fail, blaming it on the previous administration.

That and making the problem worse by increasing spending more in his short time in office then GWB did prior to Nancy Pelosi gaining control of the HOR.

He's being demonized for making things FAR WORSE and for all the broken promises. For example, he was going to get us out of Iraq, instead he's escalated in Afghanistan and infiltrated Pakistan. wtg Barry!

He's being demonized for making things FAR WORSE and for all the broken promises. For example, he was going to get us out of Iraq, instead he's escalated in Afghanistan and infiltrated Pakistan. wtg Barry!

As you said, a year is a short time to tell if something is working...

I don't disagree with you or Aaron. I'm merely pointing that out.