The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: Alpha Mare on February 24, 2010, 05:09:22 AM
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CENTRAL FALLS — The full force of organized labor showed up in Central Falls Tuesday, with several hundred union members rallying in support of the city’s teachers and bringing plenty of harsh words for the education officials who were about to fire the entire teaching staff at Central Falls High School.
“This is immoral, illegal, unjust, irresponsible, disgraceful and disrespectful,†said George Nee, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, to shouts and cheers from a crowd of more than 500 at Jenks Park. “What is happening here tonight is the wrong thing … and we’re not going to put up with it.â€
Signaling the national significance of the situation in Central Falls, the American Federation of Teachers sent representative Mark Bostic with a message of support from the union’s 1.4 million members.
“We are behind Central Falls teachers, and we will be here as long as it takes to get justice,†said Bostic.
FBaggins (1000+ posts) Tue Feb-23-10 11:23 PM
Response to Original message
2. One of the two board member who voted against the action sums up the feelings of many
B.K. Nordan is a graduate of the HS in question and is a social studies teacher in RI. He voted against the firings, but his words were biting.
"I don’t believe this is a worker’s rights issue. I believe it’s a children’s rights issue,†Nordan said. “…By every statistical measure I’ve seen, we are not doing a good enough job for our students … The rhetoric that these are poor students, ESL students, you can imagine the home lives … this is exactly why we need you to step up, regardless of the pay, regardless of the time involved. This city needs it more than anybody. I demand of you that you demand more of yourself and those around you.â€
proud2BlibKansan (1000+ posts) Tue Feb-23-10 11:39 PM
Response to Reply #2
6. What he should have said:
We need you to step up and we will see that you are compensated for the additional time involved. We realize this is a team effort and this board recognizes you as a vital part of that team. Our children are worth the additional expenditures.
Noob is confused:
Travis_0004 (67 posts) Wed Feb-24-10 12:05 AM
Response to Original message
7. I don't understand why the teachers are being blamed at all
Hannah DUmbell sets him straight:
Hannah Bell (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-24-10 05:54 AM
Response to Reply #7
11. 60% of the people in the town speak a non-english language at home.
something like half are below the poverty level.
70% are renters.
most are low-income hispanic workers. i've read that transiency in the district is high.
gee, i wonder if any of those things could have something to do with below average test scores in the district?
nah, i'm sure it's all because of the teachers'.
i do think the super should cut her $140K salary in solidarity with the low-income students in her district, though. she only runs seven schools.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist has approved a school district's plan to fire all its teachers. Central Falls Superintendent Fran Gallo has proposed laying off all teachers at Central Falls High School as part of a "turnaround" model for the school.
FBaggins (1000+ posts) Tue Feb-23-10 09:47 PM
Response to Original message
3. It's done
The board voted to approve the decision.
It may be procedural, perhaps even required, but it struck me as overly harsh that they read out the names of each teacher as they fired them.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=219x19837
Comment from article linked in thread:
The songs are getting old. Teachers, when accountability is questioned, instantly start singing the same old tune. We, the uneducated people, don't know what it's like...We, who are not educators, have no right to question or complain...How arrogant to think that the average taxpayer is so misinformed about the issues. How arrogant to imply we do not know the time, energy and work that good teachers put into their profession. Many highly educated professionals are losing their livlihoods from a downturned economy. They are not exempt, but they are evaluated on their productivity and performance, and hopefully will be retained. How arrogant for a whole profession to think that they are above it all. It's time for the teaching profession to come to terms with some basic facts: Not ALL teachers are good teachers, even if they wanted to be teachers all their lives. Taxpayers simply can not afford to employ those who can not produce effective results.
38157491
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The songs are getting old. Teachers, when accountability is questioned, instantly start singing the same old tune. We, the uneducated people, don't know what it's like...We, who are not educators, have no right to question or complain...How arrogant to think that the average taxpayer is so misinformed about the issues. How arrogant to imply we do not know the time, energy and work that good teachers put into their profession. Many highly educated professionals are losing their livlihoods from a downturned economy. They are not exempt, but they are evaluated on their productivity and performance, and hopefully will be retained. How arrogant for a whole profession to think that they are above it all. It's time for the teaching profession to come to terms with some basic facts: Not ALL teachers are good teachers, even if they wanted to be teachers all their lives. Taxpayers simply can not afford to employ those who can not produce effective results.
Exellent post.
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I really hope the district can make this stick. Might help districts around the country that are dealing with similar problems.
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Now if they could do the same thing to all of Lawrence, Massachusetts life would be good.
But that will never happen as the corrupt machine that runs the city has its tentacles in everything.
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I really hope the district can make this stick. Might help districts around the country that are dealing with similar problems.
If it DOESN'T stick, public education in this country has no chance of improving.
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I really hope the district can make this stick. Might help districts around the country that are dealing with similar problems.
I hope teachers across the country learn something from this... maybe even understand the NEA is not on their side. Unless their bad teachers, then it is.
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My friend is teaching in Texas with "Teach for America." Apparently her district has a policy where if test scores are below a certain level for 5 years, they fire all the teachers, and the teachers have to reapply for their job. Well, I guess this is year number five, so my friend is expecting that they will all be fired this summer. Fortunately, she has had an offer from another local school, so she will have options.
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My friend is teaching in Texas with "Teach for America." Apparently her district has a policy where if test scores are below a certain level for 5 years, they fire all the teachers, and the teachers have to reapply for their job. Well, I guess this is year number five, so my friend is expecting that they will all be fired this summer. Fortunately, she has had an offer from another local school, so she will have options.
So they fire the good teachers along with the bad? They must understand that they are more likely to lose the good ones.
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So they fire the good teachers along with the bad? They must understand that they are more likely to lose the good ones.
But, since the fired teachers have to reapply, it gives the district the option of rehiring the good teachers. I'll bet that it is easier to fire them all than to just pick out the bad ones and get rid of them.
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What struck me:
70% rent their home.
60% of the people in the town speak a foriegn language at home.
50% are below the poverty line.
50^ are hispanic.
WTF? Does this town have a no-ICE policy? Where is this town, south of El Paso?
Rhode Island?!?!
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So they fire the good teachers along with the bad? They must understand that they are more likely to lose the good ones.
Most likely the Union has made it easier to fire all the teachers rather than to just fire the bad ones.
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Hannah Bell (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-24-10 05:54 AM
i do think the super should cut her $140K salary in solidarity with the low-income students in her district, though. she only runs seven schools.
That would be a low-ball salary for a super in charge of seven schools in Bumfukistan Idaho, she must really love her work to be doing that in a certified blood-sucking Workers' and Peasants' Peoples' Democratic Paradise like Connecticut.
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That would be a low-ball salary for a super in charge of seven schools in Bumfukistan Idaho, she must really love her work to be doing that in a certified blood-sucking Workers' and Peasants' Peoples' Democratic Paradise like Connecticut.
Hence the reason we don't allow DUmmies - who have a demonstrated inability to hold down the simplest of "dead end" jobs - to set wage/salary ranges for the rest of us. It's just one of a vast, bottomless ocean of subjects about which they are completely unequipped to differentiate excresence from shinola.
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I love a story with a happy ending.
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The teachers are being allowed to re-apply for their jobs. Those that are qualified will get to keep their jobs. The unqualified ones shouldn't be teaching anyway.
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Most likely the Union has made it easier to fire all the teachers rather than to just fire the bad ones.
exactly and that is probably better news for the bad teachers than the good ones. Knowing unions.
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That would be a low-ball salary for a super in charge of seven schools in Bumfukistan Idaho, she must really love her work to be doing that in a certified blood-sucking Workers' and Peasants' Peoples' Democratic Paradise like Connecticut.
Not that it matters, but I think it's Rhode Island, just another one of that jumble of tiny Peoples' Republics up there in the northeast blue hellhole. I'm not sure why they are doing this. The chance they will hire anyone better than the deadheads they're firing is about zero. No one on earth can educate the swarm of illegals with dozens of languages that are dumped into the public school system. Previous generations were successful because they wanted to assimilate into America. the great melting pot. Now we glorify "diversity", which is the most deadly threat the country has ever faced. "Diversity" is far more threatening to our way of life than a bunch of islam ragheads ever will be.
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My bad, you're right. It's the Connecticut Annex, not Connecticut itself. :-)
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The turnaround model requires a new principal, expanded learning time, staff screenings and teacher layoffs. Under the proposal, the district can rehire no more than 50 percent of those fired. The plan also calls for better use of instructional data, community-oriented services and support for students.
Sounds like they have to fire all, and then can rehire any good ones. Avoids discrimination charges?
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Sounds like they have to fire all, and then can rehire any good ones. Avoids discrimination charges?
Thats it exactly - all have to go as per the Obama administration supported rules of School Restructuring under No Child Left Behind. IIRC the four options are federal takeover, conversion to a Charter School, longer school days, or fire them all. The union that represents the teachers said no to everything, and expected triple pay for the longer days ($90 an hour) over the typical $30, so the board went for the final option. Fire everybody from the principal down.
Which reminds me -The one point the primitives keep failing to make is that The Obama administration had to sign off on this action. When does Opeachment begin ?
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Thats it exactly - all have to go as per the Obama administration supported rules of School Restructuring under No Child Left Behind. IIRC the four options are federal takeover, conversion to a Charter School, longer school days, or fire them all. The union that represents the teachers said no to everything, and expected triple pay for the longer days ($90 an hour) over the typical $30, so the board went for the final option. Fire everybody from the principal down.
Which reminds me -The one point the primitives keep failing to make is that The Obama administration had to sign off on this action. When does Opeachment begin ?
And they always choose to forget that Swimmer Kennedy was the other sponsor of NCLB.
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And they always choose to forget that Swimmer Kennedy was the other sponsor of NCLB.
Other sponsor ? - more like it's author. Dead Ted had been trying to sell NCLB for about 30 years before GWB took the bait.
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But, since the fired teachers have to reapply, it gives the district the option of rehiring the good teachers. I'll bet that it is easier to fire them all than to just pick out the bad ones and get rid of them.
It may have to do with tenure issues, also. If they're fired and rehired, it usually makes them start all over on getting tenure.
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Other sponsor ? - more like it's author. Dead Ted had been trying to sell NCLB for about 30 years before GWB took the bait.
And they always conveniently forget that part. I loved GWB for many things, but his acquiescence to rats too often wasn't one of them.
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It may have to do with tenure issues, also. If they're fired and rehired, it usually makes them start all over on getting tenure.
I suspect it will - more importantly though, is it will make the rehired teacher accept a new contract and new conditions, such as the longer workday until the school turns the corner.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I'm glad to see a government agency stand up to the union.
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I don't know why anyone puts up with the crap going on in public schools. Before I started homeschooling I volunteered at school. I was there every day and saw exactly what went on. One of the greatest disservices being done to today's children is the complete lack of US History. It's social studies and multculturalism. Native Americans were good, white people were bad. It was important to know how Indians lived...how cohesive, benevolent (socialist) they were. No one mentioned that grandma would be left on the road to die when she became a burden on the tribe or that the men (warriors and hunters) ate first and got the best portions (with good reason). Women were little more than indentured servants and most welcomed 2nd and 3rd wives because their lives were extremely difficult. And to this day, after all the weeks spent on it, my son has never had a use for the extremely important skill of building a pueblo out of sugar cubes and jello boxes.
I read Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. If a man who was New York's teacher of the year was warning people against public education then there had to be something to the complete frustration my son was feeling. When I finally decided I could do a better job myself, both parents and teachers thought I was betraying "the cause" because if all good families pulled their kids out of school education would suffer. I told them it wasn't worth sacrificing my son to a system that simply wasn't working. Until there's some competition in the teaching profession schools will cater to the lowest common denominator because while I'm sure there are plenty of good teachers, the unions require schools to keep those teachers who are also the lowest common denominators of their profession. Why the good ones don't insist on changes I don't know.
Cindie
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Now if they could do the same thing to all of Lawrence, Massachusetts life would be good.
But that will never happen as the corrupt machine that runs the city has its tentacles in everything.
The Ed Reform Act that was rammed through the state legislature in January provides Districts the option of firing staff in underperforming schools. What happened in RI is about to go viral.
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Now if they could do the same thing to all of Lawrence, Massachusetts life would be good.
But that will never happen as the corrupt machine that runs the city has its tentacles in everything.
Speaking of Lawrence:
SP MURRAY: TEXTING-WHILE-DRIVING BAN, BULLYING BILL ON SENATE DOCKET
Senate President Therese Murray said Wednesday that the Senate is preparing to take up proposals to ban text messaging while driving and to crack down on school bullying. Murray declined to say whether she would support the House version of the so-called safe driving bill, which proposes a ban on cell phone use for all drivers unless they use hands-free devices. Murray also told the News Service the Senate is prepared to act on a bill to rescue Lawrence’s finances once it passes the House. “If we don’t do something, Lawrence will go bankrupt, and no one wants that to happen,†she said. The House has twice postponed consideration of the Lawrence bill. Backers have said Lawrence needs the authority to borrow $35 million to balance its budget this fiscal year and next. The bill also would place a state overseer in Lawrence to advise the city’s leadership, and if officials can’t turn the budget around by early next year, a state control board would be formed to manage the city’s finances. After a closed caucus, the Senate made quick work of its only formal session this week, passing local bills and legislation safeguarding funeral processions in less than ten minutes and adjourning until Thursday, when an informal session is planned.
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I don't know why anyone puts up with the crap going on in public schools. Before I started homeschooling I volunteered at school. I was there every day and saw exactly what went on. One of the greatest disservices being done to today's children is the complete lack of US History. It's social studies and multculturalism. Native Americans were good, white people were bad. It was important to know how Indians lived...how cohesive, benevolent (socialist) they were. No one mentioned that grandma would be left on the road to die when she became a burden on the tribe or that the men (warriors and hunters) ate first and got the best portions (with good reason). Women were little more than indentured servants and most welcomed 2nd and 3rd wives because their lives were extremely difficult. And to this day, after all the weeks spent on it, my son has never had a use for the extremely important skill of building a pueblo out of sugar cubes and jello boxes.
I read Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. If a man who was New York's teacher of the year was warning people against public education then there had to be something to the complete frustration my son was feeling. When I finally decided I could do a better job myself, both parents and teachers thought I was betraying "the cause" because if all good families pulled their kids out of school education would suffer. I told them it wasn't worth sacrificing my son to a system that simply wasn't working. Until there's some competition in the teaching profession schools will cater to the lowest common denominator because while I'm sure there are plenty of good teachers, the unions require schools to keep those teachers who are also the lowest common denominators of their profession. Why the good ones don't insist on changes I don't know.
Cindie
Well said. I'm a little torn on this particular one-I'm always glad to see the teachers union put in its place, but in this case look at what the teachers were dealing with. What happens when the supposedly new and better and teachers are hired, will tell the real story, and I suspect we can already guess what that will be, what with parents who won't learn English and our version of chavs for students.