What is amazing to me is the WP has ANYTHING published that might actually support teachers and public education.
The Central Falls firings aren't "sad" or "desperate"; they are illegal and will do nothing to help "reform" education. Education is NOT a business--it is a public service.
From the conclusion of the piece:
Firing all the educators may sound bold to some, but it sounds sad and desperate to me.
There is no evidence that wholesale changes at schools make a difference at schools, though it has been tried repeatedly in districts around the country -- even in Duncan's Chicago public schools, which he ran for years before leading the Education Department.
Duncan tried a lot of things during his more than seven years as Chicago schools chief: shutting down schools, hiring experts in turning around schools and firing a lot of people. The results? To put it nicely, there was no Chicago miracle. Some schools improved, others didn't.
That's because grand gestures don't work to improve schools. It would be nice if they did, but time and time again, we've learned they don't. Making schools work is a very difficult job. There is no one thing to blame; there is no single remedy that works for every school or district.
Let Duncan call those school officials courageous. It sounds foolish to me. And the people who will suffer most? As usual, the kids.
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