There's been a sleeper of a little story brewing lately about a school district in Rhode Island (or as its residents say, "Roe Dylin") in which a bunch of teachers have been fired because of horrific student performance. Well, not just horrific student performance. They've also been fired because of their intransigence in agreeing to actually do anything about the situation. It seems President "Card Check" Obama has weighed in on the subject in support of the firings, and Randi Weingarten of the teachers' union is none too pleased!
I'm pleased that the President supports clearing away the educational underbrush, I'm pleased the administration of Central Falls High School has fired the teachers who would not act, and I'm pleased to see Randi Weingarten squeal. There's really no down-side to this story, well, except that fact that a school full of students is being failed by a system that believes money equals concern, and that more money equals more concern. Sounds to me like Central Falls High School would be a prime candidate for a voucher program....
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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13 comments:
What was it the head of the NEA said a few years ago? Something like, when students start paying union dues then I'll represent students. A rare moment of candor that pretty much says it all.
This story just does not hold water. Every single one of the 80 something teachers at this school was incompetent? I find that hard to believe. Didn't the school district have mechanisms in place to remove those teachers who had been proven to underperform through some sort of evaluation process, or fire the principal and replace him/her with one that would evaluate the teachers.
No CW, this sounds awfully similar to the President supporting the law change which removed private schools from the reach of minority students in DC. This looks to be another example of equality in education until I have to make a tough decision.
If your ship failed for two years of your command to qualify for a Battle E and had failed for the three years under the previous command, would you fire all of your officers and chiefs, every single one of them and replace them with "Teach for America" I mean the SWO's in the DESRON headquarters ashore and expect an immediate qualification during your next evaluation period?
There is just more to this story that is being reported. Either that or the President is reaching WAY out of his lane...again.
What's up with the NAVY lingo?
@Anonymous, you don't get it. This is not a case, as you put it, of failing to win the Battle E. That award goes to the BEST in class, and not everyone can earn it.
Continuing your analogy, this ship has utterly failed to be able to light off its engines for years. The radars are broken, the signal flags are soiled, and the running rust has penetrated the hull. It is not even able to make a deadstick move downstream to the next pier with six tugs and two pilots, because the chiefs keep telling the crew to sit on their hands and do nothing.
Getting away from the analogy and into the facts - this district has a SEVEN PERCENT pass rate for basic high school math proficiency, with no improvement in years. The superintendent proposed an option that would have added 25 MINUTES to the school day, and the teachers refused. Their union demanded NINETY DOLLARS AN HOUR for the additional time - a $6,750 raise for the additional 75 hours of work over the course of a 180 day school year! The cited article points out that the district is "one of the poorest districts in Rhode Island," but fails to mention that the teachers in the district are already making THREE TIMES the median family income in the city.
@CW, it's Ruhdylin, not Roe Dylin. You have to push it together a little harder to get it right.
@Ken
I get it, you just don't like my analogy. My point is simple. If the school was as bad as stated and the teachers are as bad as the Superintendent stated, why were the teachers not fired in accordance with the tools in place that exist to fire underachieving teachers. The 25 minute school day extension was just smoke and mirrors designed to give a pretext to fire the teachers.
If you want to fire somebody, utilize the tools that exist and fire them. Do not invent a pretext to fire the entire staff. Was there really not a single teacher in the school that was a competent educator. If i fact they were all that bad, why was the Principal not fired first and replaced with someone who could get the job done?
No, this was grandstanding and the President has jumped in prematurely.
Anon,
A couple of things:
1. I think you have a wildly optimistic view of the ease of firing teachers. Here's a link to a glimpse into the hell one takes on when one takes on teachers unions...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/education/24teachers.html
2. I'm baffled by your comparison of this situation to the DC voucher situation. In one, the President is acting to continue to trap kids in failing schools. In the other, he is applauding a move to try and free kids from a failing school. Quite different from my perspective.
3. Would I fire all of my officers if they failed to execute my plan? If they refused to execute my plan? You got that right. The union resisted a common sense management move (and there were others, too), a move that it management was within its rights to call for. Just as management has the right to fire them all.
All true CW. In New York City the school system has what are called "rubber rooms". These are places, all over the city, where teachers go to pass the time while drawing a paycheck and benefits package. They cannot be terminated. They are teachers who, for instance, sent 14 year old Suzie and email complimenting her on her step up in bra size from last year. They are the mentally deranged, the violent and the dangerous (there's even a few Joy Behar types I hear).
And why does this happen you ask? The teachers unions thanks very much.
Ken Adams
Point of correction. Battle E is not for the best in the class. It is for the "best" ship under each ISIC, so sometimes, in an ESG, one might be competing against oneself or only one other ship. If that ship is bad at admin, your ship might win with no problem at all. This digresses heavily from this post, but I'd hate to give Battle Es that good a name.
The only thing harder to fire than a member of the teachers' union is a federal worker. Combining the NEA and the Department of Education (that's right Arne, this one's for you) is it really that difficult to see why education has fallen in nearly every measure?
Inability to fire = no accountability
No accountability = reduced responsibility
If responsibility for teaching our children is diminished, then their education is diminished.
Hey people these are teachers who are responsible for approximately 150 kids, each of whom they see for less than 2 hours per week. This is a poor school system, so draw your own conclusion about the motivation each kid has for improving test scores or doing homework.
The problem here is lack of parenting, lack of family, lack of discipline, lack of responsibility, lack of motivation & absolutely unrealistic expectations for what teachers can achieve given the lack of parental support & administrative support that they face... especially in poor districts.
These aren't miracle workers - if you think teachers have it easy and are overpaid, try it. I would love to see how our Naval leaders would convert unwilling and unmotivated recruits (without using UCMJ or administrative punishment), in essentially 90 - 120 hours spread over the course of 9 months. Now do it in a classroom environment, to unruly 15 - 18 yr olds in batches of 30. Any of you leaders think you are capable of dramatic success on a large scale without parental support and accountability?
The problem that needs to be solved is not about teacher quality. The far greater problem is a fundamental lack of parental responsibility and student accountability. Blaming poor student perfornace on teacher quality is a cop out. If the damn kids came to school (sober), stayed awake, took some notes, did their homework, prepared/studied for tests, stayed out of trouble, took a minor ownership in their own success, then the teachers would be able to do their jobs.
Anon--take a deep breath....count to ten....calm down.....there now.
Now go back and read the original post. And then read the responses.
Then come back and tell me just where it is that you read anyone asserting that these teachers had it easy. And tell me where you read that anyone wrote that they advocated firing these teachers because of student performance. And then tell me where it is that you read that posters had in some way absolved parents of responsibility.
You are reading a conservative website. Conservatives are generally speaking, anti-union. Had these teachers been fired because the administration said, "the kids aren't doing well, it must be your fault", I have a feeling you'd be on solid ground with many thinkers here. BUT THAT'S NOT WHY THEY WERE FIRED. They were fired as a result of UNION ORIENTED intransigence. They were fired because they wouldn't play ball with the administration. I don't care if you think the extra 25 minutes wouldn't have worked, or that it was "smoke and mirrors". IT WAS WHAT WAS ASKED and the teachers union thumbed its nose at it.
You will find great support for an assertion of parental responsibility being at the heart of this issue among the readers of this blog. You will find great sympathy and admiration for the challenge faced by teachers IN EVEN THE BEST OF CONDITIONS. You WILL NOT find sympathy here for laziness and evasion of hard work (well, except in my personal life).
In my wife's middle school, the principal has told 3 teachers they are not getting a contract next year. A fourth, retirement eligible was told that might be a good option. Granted, VA is a right to work state with unionization but you can get rid of poor teachers. FTR, my wife was a NTA member for 3 years when she started then opted out.
For this school in RI, if the facts surrounding the school population are true, it will be very hard to make it successful. Too many transients eat the whole day up when you have to figure out where they are at scholastically and accomodate them. Add language issues and it's a nightmare scenario. You can be a great teacher and not make much headway in this situation.
The sad part is the union played chicken with the adminstration and didn't count on them doing what they said they would do.
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