You probably know by now about the mass firings of 93 educators at the Central Falls High School of Central Falls, Rhode Island. When an agreement between the teachers union and the district superintendent could not be reached regarding longer days and compensation, the educators were all fired. Doesn't that seem like a useful tool for the superintendent. The negotiations were not going her way so off with their heads.
Bear in mind, the dispute and the resultant firings were not a matter of whether or not these were "good" or "bad" teachers, but rather a matter of disagreement in terms of compensation and longer hours between the union and the superintendent.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised the firings:
“I applaud Commissioner Gist and Superintendent [Frances] Gallo for showing courage and doing the right thing for kids,” Duncan said.
I assume he is not including the kids of the 93 teachers and administrators who suddenly lost their jobs. I also assume he thinks the Central Falls students benefit from losing their teachers over compensation matters.
Obama also supported the move, for the children, natch:
If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability," he said. "And that's what happened in Rhode Island last week at a chronically troubled school, when just 7 percent of 11th-graders passed state math tests -- 7 percent.
But it should come as no surprise that Obama and Duncan support the mass firings, afterall they designed and implemented the very policy that led to them:
Duncan is requiring states, for the first time, to identify their lowest 5 percent of schools — those that have chronically poor performance and low graduation rates — and fix them using one of four methods: school closure; takeover by a charter or school-management organization; transformation which requires a longer school day, among other changes; and “turnaround” which requires the entire teaching staff be fired and no more than 50 percent rehired in the fall.
Well, no one could have predicted...:
“No one anticipated this. I’m not sure even the Obama administration anticipated that as a result of their regulations, there would be mass firings,” said Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. “I think this resonates with teachers across the country. Everyone looks at this as establishing a national precedent.”
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Great headline at HuffPo
"First, Let's Fire All the Teachers!" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/first-lets-fire-all-the-t_b_483074.html
OMG, that's a great piece!
Very funny, and spot on.
The liberty of democracy is not safe if people tolerate growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.---FDR
Always remember...
that THIS is what Obama means when he uses the word "accountability."
Voila!
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
Most people in the corporate world have experienced this
management style.
(And it's not in just the corporate world, of course.)
(raises hand)
Darn tootin', jawbone!
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
Michael Whitney at FDL made nice comparison to banksters
who really, really failed, like big time, but...not the same treatment.
Gee, think the teachers and their unions are under the bus much?
St. Ronnie would approve.
open left also had a post about this
I hope this means that the access bloggers are waking up to the fact that Obama is destroying public education. Really, he is a lot like Fenty.
I found it, thanks.
I somehow missed this last month:
US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan claimed that the "best thing that ever happened" to public schools in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.
What a creep.
The liberty of democracy is not safe if people tolerate growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.---FDR
Stealth candidate
n/t
FDL is covering it with a live chat
with the President of the American ederation of Teachers: http://firedoglake.com/2010/03/04/please-welcome-randi-weingarten-president-of-the-american-federation-of-teachers/#respond
The liberty of democracy is not safe if people tolerate growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.---FDR
The problem is obviously the teachers.
I mean, what else could be the problem? No quiet spot at home to do homework? Nah. Large class sizes? More is always better. Atrocious working conditions? Administration that promotes and creates atrocious working conditions? Of course not! Everything they do is for the children! (That's why they send their own to private schools.)
God Almighty. We're doomed.