Rhode Island Teachers’ union files labor charges over Central Falls firings

[madfloridian]

I was stunned to learn that President Obama approved of the fact that a Rhode Island high school in one of the poorest areas of the country simply fired all its teachers.

A long-troubled Rhode Island high school that fired all its educators last week is an example of the need for accountability over student performance, President Barack Obama said Monday during an address in Washington.

Obama cited a decision last week to fire 93 teachers, administrators and other support staff by the end of the year at Central Falls High School as an example of school reform. No more than half of those teachers could be hired back under federal rules.

The president said replacing an entire school staff should be a "last resort."

He is apparently deliberately misunderstanding the issue or is listening to corporate voices who want to profit off public education.

It angers me. I am glad to see a teachers' union trying to fight back.

The Central Falls Teachers’ Union filed the complaint Monday with the state Labor Relations Board, saying the firings are unfair.

The Central Falls Teachers’ Union filed the complaint Monday with the state Labor Relations Board, saying the firings are unfair. It accuses the school district of failing to bargain and not providing the teachers with information they requested on programming, professional development and other topics.

“We need to preserve the rights of the teachers at the high school,“ said Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, which includes the Central Falls union. “We’re very concerned about the jobs of the teachers.“

The Central Falls school board voted last week to fire 93 teachers and other staff by year’s end from the city’s high school, one of the worst-performing in the state. No more than half of the staff could be hired back under federal rules. The union is also appealing the firings.

It is called union busting, it is the deliberate dismantling of public education. Instead of fixing the problems, they have been taking money away and yet demanding more.

Some feel that under the Obama administration this is the new trend.

Mass firings in RI may signal new trend. Fire all the teachers.

But Tuesday's move by Central Falls, R.I., Superintendent Frances Gallo to remove all 74 teachers, administrators and counselors at the district's only high school may be the first tangible result of an aggressive push by the Obama administration to get tough on school accountability — and may signal a more fraught relationship between teachers unions and Democratic leaders.

KANSAS CITY: May close half its schools

"This may be one school in one town, but it represents a much bigger phenomenon," says Andy Smarick of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C., education think tank. "Thanks to years of work battling the achievement gap and the elevation of reform-minded education leaders, we may finally be getting serious about the nation's lowest-performing schools."

President Obama was elected in 2008 with the support of teachers groups nationwide, but since then, he and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have taken up the cause of fixing the USA's most struggling schools. Duncan will soon release a list of 5,000 identified as most in need of reform.

On Tuesday, Duncan praised the district for "doing the right thing for kids."

Trouble is not any other factors are being taken into consideration. Not the kids, not the parents, not the surroundings of poverty, just the "bad" teachers.

[corpseratemedia]

1. more dismantling of the public commons

...that will fail.



I think and hope that the teachers will eventually win.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I have a feeling, this one is going to snowball.

This isn't the early 80s with Reagan and the air traffic controllers.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I hope it ends up in the Supreme Court

[Uncle Joe]

6. I don't have any faith in this Supreme Court to make the right decision unless it's by accident.

I believe this will ultimately snowball outside of the courts with renewed union activity; possibly strikes across the board, not to mention a major political hit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. An interesting little tidbit about Kansas City:

The supt told the community back in October that schools needed to be closed and he put a task force together to come up with a list. That list was released to the public 2 weeks ago. Then he held a series of 5 public forums where he allowed the community to make comments. He said he would take all feedback into consideration before making his final recommendations for which schools to close.

His final list was released last night. He made a few changes, changed his mind about a handful of schools and reduced the list from 30 schools to 27.

But the interesting tidbit was at the very bottom of his list he added a list of 5 schools he is recommending be RECONSTITUTED. Never mentioned reconstituting any school during the entire process - since October - and then at the last minute he decides to reconstitute 5 schools.

For those who don't understand the terminology, reconstituting means moving the entire staff out of a school and placing them in other schools in the district. It does not mean firing.

Anyhow, we find it interesting that he added that at the last minute. And most of the schools on his reconstituted list are 'turnaround schools' which means they are participating in a special intensive 2 year improvement plan. This is only the first year of the plan.

Reminds me of Central Falls, where they were told just a year ago they were making progress and now the supt is firing the entire staff.

Never giving any plan enough time to make a difference for our kids is one of the really stupid things school districts do as they struggle to 'reform' schools. Sure is getting old.

[amborin]

4. therewith, whatever is left of labor union support, which

is dwindling daily