Rhode Island District Threatens to Fire All 74 of High School's Teachers

[DragonStryk72]

Rhode Island District Threatens to Fire All 74 of High School's Teachers
Teachers' Union Rejected Plan That Required More Hours Teaching Failing Students
By EMILY FRIEDMAN
Feb. 18, 2010

One of the poorest performing high schools in Rhode Island is planning to fire all of its teachers after they refused to adapt to longer school days and tutoring to help the struggling students.

Central Falls High School Superintendent Frances Gallo announced late last week that she would have no choice but to fire all 74 of the school's teachers after the Central Falls Teachers' Union refused to accept her improvement plan for the school.

In an interview with the Providence Journal, Gallo blamed the union's "callous disregard" of the situation for the firings, adding that the teachers "knew full well what would happen" if they didn't agree to her proposal. The plan was spurred by the Education Commissioner Deborah Gist's mandate last month for the high school, as well six other schools in the state, to revamp their institutions.

Okay, so the teachers are saying they won't do the extra 25 minutes a day unless they get a pay raise, even though Rhode Island teachers are already some of the highest paid in the country, to the tune of $54,000 a year on average.

Now, if this were the top teachers I could probably get behind it, you want the best, you give the best, but that's not the case here. This school isn't graduating half of its student base, they are the worst school in the state, and the teachers are a part of that epic fail. Meanwhile, the Teacher's Union is going to get half the teachers fired outright, just to make a useless point.

The students themselves are even in favor of the extra time, and when have you ever heard that one before?

[chloe]

Okay, so the teachers are saying they won't do the extra 25 minutes a day unless they get a pay raise, even though Rhode Island teachers are already some of the highest paid in the country, to the tune of $54,000 a year on average.

Now, if this were the top teachers I could probably get behind it, you want the best, you give the best, but that's not the case here. This school isn't graduating half of its student base, they are the worst school in the state, and the teachers are a part of that epic fail. Meanwhile, the Teacher's Union is going to get half the teachers fired outright, just to make a useless point.

The students themselves are even in favor of the extra time, and when have you ever heard that one before?

that stinks

[Jeff]

Okay, so the teachers are saying they won't do the extra 25 minutes a day unless they get a pay raise, even though Rhode Island teachers are already some of the highest paid in the country, to the tune of $54,000 a year on average.

Now, if this were the top teachers I could probably get behind it, you want the best, you give the best, but that's not the case here. This school isn't graduating half of its student base, they are the worst school in the state, and the teachers are a part of that epic fail. Meanwhile, the Teacher's Union is going to get half the teachers fired outright, just to make a useless point.

The students themselves are even in favor of the extra time, and when have you ever heard that one before?

Instead of firing them over 25 mins they should be thinking why 1/2 the students aren't graduating, I don't believe in doing anything for free, the American way is give them a inch and they will want a mile , but the real question here is why if the teachers can't get but 1/2 the kids to graduate do they have a job in the first place ?

[PostmodernProphet]

they should be thinking why 1/2 the students aren't graduating

there's a good chance that getting rid of the teachers and replacing them with someone else would have a positive impact on that problem as well....

[Insein]

There is also the issue that perhaps the curriculum being used by the admin is insufficient. There are also factors that perhaps this demographic area is not as smart as the other areas in the state. There are alot of factors that go into students getting good grades. Its not just the teacher's abilities.

My wife is a teacher. She is a pretty good teacher IMO. Some years she has students that just don't get it and have bad overall standardized tests. The next she has a group that pass all the tests. Nothing in her teaching style made the one group better or worse than the previous one.

There are bad teachers. Teachers that don't want to do anything and just get paid to be there. But some times those teachers have students that get better grades than the ones that are trying their hardest. Is their teaching style making a difference? Hell no. My wife worked with the "Teacher of the Year" in her one school. All she did was give the kids happy meals to pass their tests. So buying McDonalds is a good teaching strategy to get the kids to pass?

Quite often the curriculum, the administration and the local demographics have a lot more determination than a teacher's teaching style in a student's prosperity.

[Kathianne]

There is also the issue that perhaps the curriculum being used by the admin is insufficient. There are also factors that perhaps this demographic area is not as smart as the other areas in the state. There are alot of factors that go into students getting good grades. Its not just the teacher's abilities.

My wife is a teacher. She is a pretty good teacher IMO. Some years she has students that just don't get it and have bad overall standardized tests. The next she has a group that pass all the tests. Nothing in her teaching style made the one group better or worse than the previous one.

There are bad teachers. Teachers that don't want to do anything and just get paid to be there. But some times those teachers have students that get better grades than the ones that are trying their hardest. Is their teaching style making a difference? Hell no. My wife worked with the "Teacher of the Year" in her one school. All she did was give the kids happy meals to pass their tests. So buying McDonalds is a good teaching strategy to get the kids to pass?

Quite often the curriculum, the administration and the local demographics have a lot more determination than a teacher's teaching style in a student's prosperity.

In this case, having read the coverage of the controversy, I agree with the superintendent. With that said, Insein makes valid points. Curriculum has much to do with how the students perform. So do the teachers, especially for those that have very poor/chaotic home lives. Happy meals have nothing to do with teaching, but a smile and encouraging word does. So do high expectations and starting the curriculum with where the student is at, then taking it to where you need to go.

[PostmodernProphet]

There are also factors that perhaps this demographic area is not as smart as the other areas in the state.

well, I HAVE noticed that the worst schools generally seem to be in areas that consistent vote Democrat......

[PostmodernProphet]

. My wife worked with the "Teacher of the Year" in her one school. All she did was give the kids happy meals to pass their tests. So buying McDonalds is a good teaching strategy to get the kids to pass?



you see?...the answer has been right in front of us the whole time....instead of spending an extra $10k per student we needed McDonald's coupons......motivation rears it's ugly head.....

[DragonStryk72]

In this case, having read the coverage of the controversy, I agree with the superintendent. With that said, Insein makes valid points. Curriculum has much to do with how the students perform. So do the teachers, especially for those that have very poor/chaotic home lives. Happy meals have nothing to do with teaching, but a smile and encouraging word does. So do high expectations and starting the curriculum with where the student is at, then taking it to where you need to go.


Right, but these students also want the extra 25 minutes, time that would be devoted to tutoring in the deficient areas, so that they can get their grades up and graduate. It is rare in the extreme that the students of a school would back any proposal to add time to their daily stay, but they are doing, which means they have to know the problem is bad. It also shows that they are willing to put in the effort.

[Abbey Marie]

They need to fire the parents of the 50% who aren't graduating. That's where you will find the real root of the problem.

[Kathianne]

Right, but these students also want the extra 25 minutes, time that would be devoted to tutoring in the deficient areas, so that they can get their grades up and graduate. It is rare in the extreme that the students of a school would back any proposal to add time to their daily stay, but they are doing, which means they have to know the problem is bad. It also shows that they are willing to put in the effort.

That is but one of the reasons I said I agreed with the superintendent, no 'but' needed.

[Kathianne]

They need to fire the parents of the 50% who aren't graduating. That's where you will find the real root of the problem.

I don't think you would get an argument from anywhere on that one. Problem has to do with reality. Their parents in probably 90% or higher have not been supporting the kid for a long time, if ever.

This is an area where the average salary is under $22k per year.

In high school, for the kids currently involved is college in their future? Contrary to Mr. Obama's SOTUS speech, unlikely. They have a history of failure at school. What can be done? With the current students raise their reading levels, help them with work skills-like being on time and there! That would go some ways at working on those that come after.

The change has to start at the front end too, not just in high school.

[Insein]

Alot of the time, by the time they are in high school, its almost hopeless. They have been moved along without meeting the required levels for so long that they cant read at a 5th grade level in high school. How can you help them and still teach kids that are at the level? Its a no win situation for teachers that are willing to help.

[Kathianne]

Alot of the time, by the time they are in high school, its almost hopeless. They have been moved along without meeting the required levels for so long that they cant read at a 5th grade level in high school. How can you help them and still teach kids that are at the level? Its a no win situation for teachers that are willing to help.

I agree. 25 minutes isn't going to make a huge difference, other than to the kids that are motivated to be motivated. There are always a few, that are getting lost. I can't imagine teachers that will not willingly make themselves available to students before and after the required times. Some kids need nothing more than to know someone is interested in their attempts and successes.

As for high schoolers that have reading levels of 4-5th grade, they really need to be evaluated for LD's and be given 1/1 or 2/1 tutoring times daily. They need to get those levels up so they have a chance at graduating. Really needs to be done in 7th/8th grade at the latest to be effective.

Truth is that high school curriculum really is the toughest 4 years academically of all, including university. While there isn't new knowledge per se, there is an assumption that students have been exposed and have comprehended the underlying information of the subjects they are expected to master. The curriculum starts at point G, M, or T and goes from there. Without the previous information acquired, it's like starting out to drive a car without brakes or steering.

I see the deficits in middle school, having to teach American history. One would assume the kids have had colonial history, have a sense of regions, geography, and age of exploration. They don't. The problem in our school has been grades 2, 4, and 5. Since I know what they don't know, I spend the first 2 months getting them to understand that information, so that we can go from there. I've changed my 6th grade curriculum to include Age of Exploration.

If I didn't play that sort of 'catch up', instead just barreled along with the text, they wouldn't have what they need to understand how and why the revolution and constitution came to be.

High schools cannot be expected to make up the variety of deficits all their feeder schools may have.

[Binky]

Instead of firing them over 25 mins they should be thinking why 1/2 the students aren't graduating, I don't believe in doing anything for free, the American way is give them a inch and they will want a mile , but the real question here is why if the teachers can't get but 1/2 the kids to graduate do they have a job in the first place ?

Obviously, their poor records of productivity in getting the students educated and passed on have been ignored for an x amount of time. My question is.....why has the educational system turned a blind eye to this and not gotten rid of these teachers sooner? also, since they are in a union, how can they just up and fire them? Letting children get passed to another grade, knowing that child is not ready is something that has been going on for decades. The teachers get tired of dealing with the child and pass he or she along for someone else to have to deal with him or her. Not a kosher thing to do, but certainly something that goes on continually.

[Insein]

The moving kids along when they are not at the level has a lot to do with administration as well. Sure teachers don't like certain students but the admin can override it if they fail. The problem is in a lot of inner city schools (such as Philadelphia where my wife has worked) the admin moves them along because it looks bad if they have kids fail. She has wanted to fail kids before but couldnt because of numerous reasons. The most assinine of which is when a student didn't have the proper "warning of failure" paperwork (not sure the actual name) filled out back in september. This made it so that they couldn't fail in June. So even though this student had literally a 20/100 overall grade, he passed with a 60/100. Moves on to 7th grade without having to do a damn thing for the year. Do that enough times and the kids don't give a crap. They know it doesnt matter what they do, they'll be moved on eventually. Plus they know the worse they act, the faster they graduate since teachers and admin don't want to deal with the bad kids.

Our whole system is broken, completely. That needs a major overhaul more than healthcare. Problem is, liberals like how this system is because they created it.

[Binky]

The moving kids along when they are not at the level has a lot to do with administration as well. Sure teachers don't like certain students but the admin can override it if they fail. The problem is in a lot of inner city schools (such as Philadelphia where my wife has worked) the admin moves them along because it looks bad if they have kids fail. She has wanted to fail kids before but couldnt because of numerous reasons. The most assinine of which is when a student didn't have the proper "warning of failure" paperwork (not sure the actual name) filled out back in september. This made it so that they couldn't fail in June. So even though this student had literally a 20/100 overall grade, he passed with a 60/100. Moves on to 7th grade without having to do a damn thing for the year. Do that enough times and the kids don't give a crap. They know it doesnt matter what they do, they'll be moved on eventually. Plus they know the worse they act, the faster they graduate since teachers and admin don't want to deal with the bad kids.

Our whole system is broken, completely. That needs a major overhaul more than healthcare. Problem is, liberals like how this system is because they created it.



Well, it's a rotten system for sure and the ones that get hurt by it are the students that are not pushed to learn but rather, are shoved on and on until they are out the doors entirely, or just up and quit when old enough. Then they are left to live in the real world without the education it takes to get them into the better lives they all deserve to have. It's a lazy system designed to cater to lazy people that don't want to deal with the problem.

[Mr. P]

Private school is the only answer here. IMO.

IF the Gov would just issue vouchers to help with the cost the Government schools would compete or just go away along with the incompetent teachers and administrations.

The biggest opposition to vouchers? THE NEA..the teachers UNION!

Gotta love them Unions, right Slow Joe?

They destroyed the car manufacturers, the steel mills and now we see the results in our education system.

[sgtdmski]

When No Child Left Behind was first proposed the biggest opposition came from the Teacher's Union. Why? Because NCLB held teacher's accountable.

It is funny, if your loved one goes to the doctor to be healed, and the doctor errs and your love one dies, you can sue the doctor. So tell me, how come if we send our children to school and the teachers' fail to educate them, how come we cannot sue the teachers???

I look forward to the firing of the teachers, more locales should begin doing the same. The reason private schools succeed is because of the very fact they hold teacher's accountable.

For too long we conservatives have been losing the debate on school vouchers because we have been using the wrong argument. Today when I discuss them I state flatly I do not care about saving the schools, I could care less if the school fails or succeeds. I care about the children.

It is that simple, either you are for the children, and support vouchers, or you are against the kids and do not support vouchers. Education is all about the kids, and not the adults, the schools, or the system.

dmk

[HogTrash]

Fire them and hire all conservative teachers so the children can receive the education they deserve and the tax payers are funding.

All the liberals seem to be concerned about is teaching the children leftwing propaganda and songs that glorify Barack Hussein Obama.

Like all marxists, liberals are lazy useless lowlifes wishing only to skate through life in a cushy government job and sing praise to the left.