TweetAll educators fired at underperforming RI school
Duncan applauds vote to fire entire RI school
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I.— (Boston Globe) The U.S. Secretary of Education is applauding the vote to fire all the teachers at the high school in Central Falls because it is one of the worst performing schools in the state.
"This is hard work and these are tough decisions, but students only have one chance for an education," Duncan said in Wednesday's edition of The Providence Journal, "and when schools continue to struggle we have a collective obligation to take action."
The Central Falls School Committee on Tuesday evening voted 5-2 to fire every educator at the school, from teachers to guidance counselors to the principal. The vote came the same day that State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist approved the firing plan, which was recommended by Superintendent Frances Gallo, and gave the district 120 days to come up with a detailed plan.
Central Falls Teachers Union President Jane Sessums says she is reviewing several legal options.
Central Falls High School, the only school in this tiny and impoverished city of one square mile just north of Providence, is persistently one of the worst-performing schools in the state. Only about half its students graduate, and only 7 percent of its 11th graders were proficient in math in 2009.
The plan was developed because of a federal effort to makeover failing schools. Those schools can select one of four options to fix themselves, which include requiring a longer school day, turning management over to a charter school, firing the entire teaching staff and rehiring no more than half, or closing the school.
In Rhode Island, Gist identified the state's six worst performing schools and asked the superintendents to develop plans to fix them. The other five schools are in Providence, and plans are not yet final.
Gallo and the teachers had been negotiating for a longer school day and other provisions, but talks broke down over money. She said earlier this month that she had no choice but to fire all the teachers, and rehire no more than half.
Hundreds of people attended a rally at a city park before the school committee meeting, many of them union members.
"This is immoral, illegal, unjust, irresponsible, disgraceful and disrespectful," George Nee, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, told the crowd.
Mark Bostic, a representative from the American Federation of Teachers, said it would stand behind the teachers "as long as it takes to get justice."
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People that fail to perform up to job requirements get fired all the time, why not teachers?
Some apparently may get rehired; hopefully those that get rehired are the ones that actually do the job they are paid to do.
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It's easy for folks to get caught in pervasive attitudes in the workplace. I would bet that many or even most of those fired teachers find employment at another learning institution and perform adequately in a fresh environment after receiving this wake-up call. I doubt this was done capriciously, the working/teaching environment at that school must have been absolutely toxic.
Seems that the teachers had failed to elect their own people to the school board and there was a chance for sanity to prevail. If there was a union group movement to control working conditions, then the consequence was a group consequence. I.E. if they insisted in "all" winning, and they didn't, then as a group they should lose. Frankly, I'm seen so much undeserved control from unions, particularly public employee unions, that I believe their activities should be limited to negotiating only wages and benefits and nothing else.
Side note: the Dem Colorado governor just signed into law a revision to the PERA retirement system for public employees an increase from age 55 to 60 to draw money from the system (up to 75% of their highest pay years!). Honestly, are there skills that diminish between age 60 and 66 that require retirement? Can't students learn from someone over 60?
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It's easy for folks to get caught in pervasive attitudes in the workplace. I would bet that many or even most of those fired teachers find employment at another learning institution and perform adequately in a fresh environment after receiving this wake-up call. I doubt this was done capriciously, the working/teaching environment at that school must have been absolutely toxic.
If so, one has the choice to speak up, do something and take the lead. All else fails a teacher can request transfer or get another job. Playing with the future of kids is not an option!
Easy to say when you aren't caught up in the middle of it, and don't know all the specifics. BTW, the reason all the teachers were fired, is that their union forbade any from working extra hours without pay, which some were apparently willing to do.
That too is an important side to all this. Many "parents" should never have been allowed to have children.
Are you saying that the parents were "undereducated" themselves or are you suggesting that liberals restart the eugenics movment so we can eventually perfect the human race?
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