Lincoln Chafee calls for talks with Central Falls teachers

[tonysam]

Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee wants negotiations instead of mass teacher layoffs at chronically troubled Central Falls High School.

Chafee said Monday the teachers’ union and the school district’s Board of Trustees should reconsider other reform models before resorting to firings.

Chafee, who is running for governor as an independent candidate, offered to mediate the dispute himself. He also suggested a retired judge or college official could do the job.


Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo said she wanted teachers to agree to extra training over the summer, offer after-school tutoring, lengthen the school day and agree to more rigorous evaluations. Gallo plans to fire every teacher, although some may be hired back.

link

At least somebody out there seems to care.

[tonysam]

1. Mentioned on another thread is

this action:

Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist Tuesday approved a proposal to turn around the failing Central Falls High School.

Over the next three months, the Central Falls School Department and community members will work together to improve learning for the students, Gist said.

Schools Supt. Frances Gallo last week submitted a "turnaround" model to reform the high school.

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.

link

It's total bullshit, of course. But as long as teachers are a dime a dozen, administrators can go around and do whatever the hell they want.

The comments following this article are appalling. They think this Ronald Reagan-type shit is okay.

[tonysam]

2. This comment deserves special note

Pianotuna said:

After about 4 minutes of research, it seems that the world's fastest kisser attempted to pull pretty much the same stunt in D.C. where her attempt was thwarted by District lawyers. The same thing will happen here. The No Child Left Behind Law will not trump current contracts or State Tenure laws regarding teachers. The panel that hired her should have checked into her tenure in D.C. a bit more, or maybe they did and figured they could give it a try here in R.I. When are these people going to stop bringing in these carpetbaggers and address the real problems which are social/economic issues rather than solely educational problems. The powers that be are always bringing in throwaways so they can hide and not have to face the problems in our society.
Link | February 23, 2010 2:31 PM

Perhaps they'll hire Michelle Rhee when she finally departs from D.C.

[FBaggins]

3. Chafee is just looking for free airtime (and hoping for a paycheck)

He's running for governor.


It's also useful to note that he "called for" this when it was essentially too late for his proposal to be effective (a day before the decision was ratified)... the firing has already occured.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. The teachers are still working

The firings don't take effect until the end of the year. Plenty of time to negotiate a different punishment and not fire the whole staff.

But Chaffee can't do anything. You're right. He's just interested in winning an election.

[FBaggins]

5. Yes they're still working

Though I can only imagine what that must look like

Yes, the firings don't take place until the end of the year, but I don't think there's any "negotiating" left to be done. That's one of the mistakes the union made from the beginning (assuming that it was a normal negotiation).

Once the determination is made that the "turnaround" model is being applied, the law determines the outcome. I haven't seen any speculation on an ability to change to a different model once the board has voted and the commish approves it.


Update - My mistake... I watched a short local news clip and they implied that the board meets/votes tonight. The teachers are holding a rally outside the school and then marching to the meeting. I don't know to what extend the board is a formality or whether their opinion differs from Gist etc.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I'm wondering if state laws regarding tenure and contracts can override NCLB

I am also waiting to see copycats. I have a feeling this supt in RI has inspired other supts to do the same thing.

[FBaggins]

7. State law override federal law?

That's going to be a tough sell.

It can happen, but the state law I've seen was that they had to be fired by a certain date. It was the contract that had provisions regarding tenure. And federal law certainly trumps a contract.

The other thread has an updated link to a video of the union protest (teamsters on their way).

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Saw that in this comment tonysam posted:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=219&topic_id=19839&mesg_id=19841

No doesn't make sense to me either. But if the federal regs are just regs, and not actually written into the law, then this may be true. :shrug::