Central Falls High School in Rhode Island has been among the state's lowest-performing schools for seven years. Only 7 percent of students are proficient in math, and fewer than half graduate.
This month, school superintendent Fran Gallo fired the entire staff of Central Falls after teachers' unions refused to acquiesce to reforms that would have lengthened the school day, required teachers to provide tutoring (with pay) and attend summer workshops (with pay). The sticking point was that the superintendent could not find money to pay teachers for a school day lenthened by 30 minutes. The new schedule would have had them working from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. instead of 8 a.m. to 2:25.
They will all be able to reapply, but only 50 percent can be rehired. Brilliant negotiating on the union's part.
Gallo had this to say, shortly before the firings:
"I need them to agree to the six conditions," Gallo said Wednesday. "We have a graduation rate of 48 percent. I have 19-year-olds in classes with 14-year-olds. It's the middle of the school year and 50 percent of the students at the high school are failing all of their classes. We need these changes so we can move from where we are to where we need to be for the health and safety of the whole state. We have to meet these students where they are, bring these students up and lift the bar."
Working in a tough, low-performing school is a tough, often thankless job. There are plenty of great teachers who try it, and despite their talent, can't get great results. But there are also a lot of bad teachers who find their way to low-performing schools, where the "soft bigotry of low expectations" keeps both them and the kids they teach shielded from consequences. For all its faults (and I think there are many), bringing consequences to bear was the pretty decent principle behind No Child Left Behind, which becomes less workable in practice.
The union had a chance to keep teachers at Central Falls, and it refused over a 30-minute extension in the day, which would have the teachers working 9 months a year, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. I don't discount the hard work teachers do (as my mother would hit me upside the head if I did), but 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.? If a union is so recalcitrant that it can't consider a 30-minute extension in the work day in the face of such astounding failure rates, then a huge change needs to be made.
Here's hoping that this change will bring hope to the kids of Central Falls.
To his credit, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supported the Central Falls school board in its decision. If only he were so willing to stand up to unions for kids in Washington, D.C.
For a look at what happens when you can't get rid of teachers, check out John Stossel's piece on New York City's union problems:
The city’s effort includes eight full-time lawyers, known as the Teacher Performance Unit, and eight retired principals and administrators who serve as part-time consultants to help principals build cases against teachers. Joel I. Klein, the schools chancellor, said that the team, whose annual budget is $1 million, had been “successful at a far too modest level.”
So it took 16 lawyers/administrators two years to get rid of 13 teachers. Practices that would immediately bankrupt a private company are considered normal for the public sector. If were continue to grow the public sector, we are indeed on a Road to Serfdom. The teachers’ union claims principal could fire bad teachers if they just followed the steps required. But that’s disingenuous. On my last FBN show I displayed the pages of steps required.
