Teachers from around Rhode Island, including Cathy Long of Cranston, center, were among those rallying in support of Central Falls High School faculty members before the vote Tuesday night.
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Update:
President Obama endorsed the idea of firing the Rhode Island teachers and the teachers unions are outraged; according to the New York Times.
“If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn’t show signs of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability,” Mr. Obama said. “And that’s what happened in Rhode Island last week.”
National union officials were shocked.
“Teachers were taken aback — and profoundly disappointed,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Teachers will watch carefully whether Washington, the states and local districts will be partners that help us do our job or whether they’ll be scapegoating and demonizing.”
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Central Falls High School is one of the poorest performing Schools in Rhode Island. The school district is planning to fire all of its teachers after they refused to accept working longer school days in which they would help tutor struggling students. The School District wasn’t offering any additional pay for the additional hours.
The Central Falls High School Superintendent is Frances Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” of the situation for the firings.
Here is an outline of the situation:
- The High School has 800 students and 74 teachers.
- 96 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch programs.
- 65 percent of the student body is of Hispanic origin.
- The School’s class failure rate is 50 percent.
- The Graduation Rate is less than 50 percent.
- The median income of families in the School District is $22,000 per year.
- The average salary of the teachers at this school is over $70,000 per year.
According to Troglopundit the superintendent’s plan includes:
- Adding 25 minutes to the school day,
- Providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school,
- Eating lunch with students once a week,
- Submitting to more rigorous evaluations,
- Attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and
- Participating in two weeks of training in the summer.
This issue is still simmering and the outcome is still uncertain. The most comprehensive general information is at the Providence Journal, and also at ABC.
There are heated discussions about this issue, generally from the right on the Websites, Business Insider and HotAir.
Here is a 26 minute debate between the Superintendent and the Union Representative from WPRI in Providence:
I’m sure there are some really good and dedicated teachers at that school. Its unfortunate that they appear to be caught up in bad union representation over expecting more pay for additional time to help failing students. My wife is a teacher (non-unionized)and puts in way more than a 40 hour week. ALL the extra hours are donated to the higher goal of educating our youth.
God bless her and the dedicated educators like her!
savage
Savage,
Respect for your wife. Teachers have been a side issue in our newspapers for an incredibly long time and a passive aggressive approach to the issues has been the standing until now. I’m glad that your wife has stood strong on her principles and I hope that now the totality of the situation can be addressed. Even in State funded institutions ‘socialist’ principles must be balanced with cost benefit analysis. By your wife standing strong and being dedicated I think that, I would hope that, people can see the difference between a dedicated teacher and a person who just wants their summers off. Nobody becomes a teacher for the ability to strike it rich and I respect that to no end. However, I can remember the teachers who took the time and made sure they communicated with me on a personal level and I do believe that that extra push did nurture me to grow before I ever knew the benefits of a good education. So thanks you Mrs. Savage, thank you the teachers who worked hard in Road Island, but everyone else remember that just because the State pays for it doesn’t mean that you are not accountable to make sure your tax dollars are being used to their fullest effect.