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This is the true story of a poor town and it's school. The name is Central Falls school in Rhode Island. The average income of Central Falls is $22,000.
At Central Falls school, drop-out rates are staggering and many pupils didn't even log enough classroom time to receive a grade. The school's failure rate is 93%.
So last year the school board, left with no other ideas to correct the situation, fired all 88 teachers. But fear not, the Rhode Island Teachers Federation came to their aid and forced the school board to rehire all the teachers. Not only that, but they even got them a raise! Every teacher got an extra $3000 stipend! So in a town where the average income is $22,000, the average teacher is now being paid $76,000.
To be perfectly fair, the teachers did agree to a few concession like eating lunch with the students and adding a few minutes onto class time. So one would think that things might have improved at Central Falls...right?
But their failure rate hasn't improved one iota and remains at 93%.
The teachers aren't taking all this lying down and staged a sick-out protesting against citizen's demands for improved performance.
CNN's Steve Perry reported on this story and has a video journal where you can watch some of the amazing answers the head of the Rhode Island Teachers Federation had. For example this exchange:
Quote:
CNN: So in this town where the average income is $22,000 the average teacher is now making $76,000. What are the community members paying for?
James Parisi: The highest paid teachers are making about $76,000, which frankly I don’t think is enough for the committed professionals that are in that school district.
CNN:You had a 93% fail rate. That’s undeniable.
JP:And you think that’s caused by teacher’s actions?
Your attempt to lay the problems at Central Falls on the teachers' union is disingenuous, at best. I have a little familiarity with that situation. The low average income you cited is a result of that community being comprised of newly arrived immigrants, many of whom are English-illiterate. And many of them are itinerant, not remaining in the community once they've secured better jobs and have mastered some level of English proficiency. Probably the vast majority of students in that district don't speak or hear English outside of school. The $76000 pay figure you cite is for the "highest paid" teachers. Most teachers are probably WAY below that figure. The "top paid" teachers in my district are in that salary range, too, according to the published pay scale. In 17 years, I've never met one.
I've worked with immigrant students who come to my class w/o the ability to speak or understand English. In far too many cases, these kids are almost illiterate in their native language, also. Many haven't been beyond sixth grade, yet they're thrust into HS classrooms when they land here in the US. It's tough getting them up to speed. When it's just a few in your classroom, it's manageable, and they usually make remarkable progress. If, like Central Falls, almost your entire roster is Englsih-illiterate and constantly moving in/out of your district, then the results are going to be pretty much what Central Falls has experienced.
Laying that crazy socio-economic dynamic at the feet of the schools is very "intellectually lazy", shall we say...
Central Falls has always been a city of immigrants, and boasts that it crowds “the whole world” into just over a square mile. Densely packed with triple-deckers, Central Falls calls itself “a city with a bright future,” but the poverty rate has consistently been high and the budget low. In 1991, Central Falls transferred operation of its schools to the state. The city maintains the buildings, but state and federal financing pays for the schools. The system is under the direction of Rhode Island’s education board, which deemed it one of the state’s six worst-performing schools, instructing the superintendent, Frances Gallo, to choose one of four federally mandated models for school turnaround. Dr. Gallo said she chose the model called a “turnaround” plan after the teachers union rejected conditions in another state plan.
But many in the school think the culture of the school is one of its biggest assets. “I leave here at 6, 7 at night, working with kids, coaching, getting lesson plans, doing interactive literacy. That’s what people don’t see,” said Frank DelBonis, who teaches history to English as a Second Language students in a school where 70 percent of students are Hispanic. Other teachers said progress was hampered by the high turnover at the school, where one in three students leaves each year.
Hope Evanoff, a French teacher, said she felt the decision was undermining her career. “It makes you feel like all of your expertise, all that you know, any degree you might have, is worthless,” Ms. Evanoff said. “I’ve never been fired from anything, and to be fired, it’s devastating.” The faculty members have been offered counseling by the district, according to one of the fired teachers. The Central Falls Teachers Union plans to fight the plan, saying it comes in the middle of a three-year contract. Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican and a former math teacher, said he supported the board’s decision, calling it “courageous,” and he criticized the union as being an “obstacle” to change. “We can no longer stand by as our schools underperform,” Mr. Carcieri said in a statement.
Just more Union Busting Tripe, they won't be happy until we are working 80 h9ours a week for less than Minimum Wage with no Health Care, Retirement, Social Security or Medicare so we can compete with Zimbabwe. The one benefit we will have is daycare because the children will be in the fields and factories with us
The details of this story (including the average salary figure) come from CNN which is hardly a bastion of Conservative Union-Busting Neocons.
When asked directly about it, why didn't the reply from the union come back with some of your details if they are true? He had his chance to make that case.
And after getting a pay raise, why stage a sick-out to protest against the citizens wanting them to increase their performance?
Just more Union Busting Tripe, they won't be happy until we are working 80 h9ours a week for less than Minimum Wage with no Health Care, Retirement, Social Security or Medicare so we can compete with Zimbabwe. The one benefit we will have is daycare because the children will be in the fields and factories with us
MATEWAN!!!!
What a crock. You must cut down on the Koolaide, it has really affected your thinking, and not in a good way.
Once the unions, and Obama, are gone, the world will be a much better place...
Save America, bust the unions...!!
So after reading this thread it’s still the same truth, the failure rate is at 93%. For a union hand to only point out how they are getting screwed is typical.
Once again, unions don't concern themselves with the facts of job performance only money, only "ME", ME ME ME! Even here on CD the union hands care more for getting over on everyone else rather than doing their jobs. Poor work ethics = poor work, and it shows by the (failing) education they “say” they teach. The proof is in the pudding folks! It’s time for a little humble pie!
The fact is that it's very unlikely that the state of RI can afford to do what it would take to educate those kids to what most of us would consider an acceptable level. The student body is composed mostly of poverty-striken non English speakers. Probably a high percentage of those kids are not exactly highly motivated to learn or achieve.
Quote:
When asked directly about it, why didn't the reply from the union come back with some of your details if they are true? He had his chance to make that case.
Maybe he's made that case repeatedly in other interviews.
Quote:
And after getting a pay raise, why stage a sick-out to protest against the citizens wanting them to increase their performance?
Yes we should all give half of our pay and pensions to the rich. That is what is happening in the form of Tax Breaks. They have stolen 40% of the economy and appparently that is not enough. That is why we are fighting over the scraps they left us.
What a crock. You must cut down on the Koolaide, it has really affected your thinking, and not in a good way.
Once the unions, and Obama, are gone, the world will be a much better place...
Save America, bust the unions...!!
You obviously know nothing about the history of unions and in all honesty, it is people that write such tripe as this that are the ruination of the middle class. Why is it that right wing sheep do not seem to resent the "collective" power of multi billion dollar corporations buying elections? Huh? Why not? This is not a rhetorical question, but I will not expect a cohesive, cognitive response.
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