High School Superintendant Francis Gallo You are a Hero
Contrast those examples with what just happened in Rhode Island.
This is one of the poorest performing school districts in Rhode Island. They are now considering firing all the teachers because they refused to adapt to longer school days – 25 minutes longer…
No no no no no! No I only work three quarters of a year! Oh no tutoring struggling students? Absolutely not! I have tenure!
Providence Central High School Superintendent Francis Gallo. God bless you Francis Gallo. Late last week she announced she had no option except to fire all 74 of the teachers after the Teacher’s Union refused to accept her improvement plan for the schools. Fire them – if the Unions won’t do it, fire them all. Break the back of the leach that’s on our neck.
In an interview with the Providence Journal Gallo blamed the union’s callous disregard for the situation for the firings claiming every teacher knew full well what would happen if they didn’t agree to the proposal.
Good Job – Francis Gallo You Are A Hero. Look -America is a system based on merit not entitlement. You are not entitled to a job -
jobs are not in the Bill of Rights.
They are responsibilities – they are duties.
Glenn Beck Show, Friday, 02-19-2010 minute 38
1 comment
Your all wrong here. This town’s (Central Falls) education was taken over by the State of RI over 15 years ago because of the poverty in this one square mile. The state has poured tons of money into the system as well as bringing teachers in from colleges and universities in the state for assistance. If anyone should be fired it should be the RI and Federal Department of Education because they have made a mess of it. In the last five years there has been a change of administration at the high school five times. The teachers have taken workshop after workshop, during the summer – after school etc. They have to take 9 credits of grad courses during the summer or after school during the year within every 5 years for the rest of their lives paid for not by the district but by themselves. If they don’t take grad courses they must take 45 credits of workshops etc every five years.
Let’s get to the facts – 90% of the student population is a miniority, poor and many illegal, they are a transient population – in the first three months, out the next and back in the last three etc. The teachers work with them, tutor them and some even go to their houses and invite them to theirs. This does not have to be in the contract and also this superintendent wants the teachers to eat lunch with their students (the 20 min lunch that they have), which is used many times to call parents, run off materials for their classes and individually tutor some students. I don’t think Gallo ever taught in a high school neither did our new commisioner and it shows. Reading scores have gone up 21 percent at CF and the staff is working hard but don’t put the blame on the teachers for the ills of our society and lack of guts in enforcing federal and state laws.
Let’s look at the stats. A student who leaves one school for another in RI is considered a drop out from the first school and it does not matter if they return. That’s why the drop out rate is 50%.
You teach your class to get ready for testing and work with them all year and the month before the test five new students move in and guess what the teacher’s class scores reflect these students and they bring down the total score. Is that fair? Legally this is going to stand up in a court case – I don’t think so!
Families take off for vacation when the testing is being done and they get a o on the tests.
The math portion of the test which RI gives with other New England states is one of the hardest in the nation and is based on Alegebra 2 and most of these students don’t take Alegebra 2 until after the testing. Let’s see what the test results would be if they took some of the southern states testing and even CA because those tests have been watered down. This state wanted these kids to fail so that our Governor and Commisioner can break the unions and turn every school over to charters. The charters get more money to run them for just 4,000 students then the public schools get to educate over 160,000 students. Also, I have never heard that our Governor who taught math for about one semester was considered a good teacher!
These kids come in unprepared for class – half the school is flunking 5 subjects so don’t say the teachers are not demanding. Students are not on time, don’t do their homework, no parental involvement. Many teachers chose to teach at Central Falls High School because they thought they could make a difference and now look what happens to them! Shame on you Glenn Beck (I agree with most of what you say) but not on this.
Tenure does not mean teachers can not be fired for doing their job. Teachers are fired in RI all the time. Tenure is protection from administrators who come in every year with hardly any teaching experience. If you disagree with them they assign duties and assignments trying to give you the worst classes, lunch duty for an hour and a half, and every other duty possible. It also protects a job when the school councils children and other political bigwigs relatives are graduating from college so that they can’t let you go to give their children these jobs. This happens all the time! Also, teaching is not an easy job and many parents don’t like that the teachers won’t cow tow to them to pass their child. In RI, only principals can change a grade and it is being done to appease these parents. Also, parents many times group up to get rid of teachers and most of this has been done as a witch hunt. Maybe you don’t like your teacher even within ones own family there may be a teacher that you loved for your oldest child but did not like for the youngest.
Our new commisioner is pushing to fire everyone and close our public schools and turn them into charters. She also has fired or laid off all the teachers at the RI School for the Deaf this week saying they are not “highly qualified” yet she is bringing in Teach for America teachers who are only trained for 5 weeks to take over positions. Our regents and commisioner are given them special certifications – why not special considerations for hard working teachers who have taught for many years at the School for the Deaf. This does not make sense! You want change let the teaching staff run a school and you will see change!
Everyone should teach for a month and then let them complain. Already 50% of new teachers leave the profession within five years and it will be higher after this disaster in RI.
Obama’s education chief Duncan never taught and he was not the head of the Chicago Schools education part. He was the head of the financial decisions and one of his “best” decisions was closing the neighborhood school to a military school and that is why that poor boy honor student had to be sent to another neighborhood this year and was murdered outside the school. Those in Chicago say this was Duncan’s mistake and only one of his poor decisions.
Mr Beck you are always having those group discussions – bring RI teachers in for a discussion and you will get a very lively dialog that does not always reach the press or papers. Everyone was a student so everyone thinks they can teach and understand the problems with those terrible unionized teachers! The problem is with DC, the state department of education and administrators who no longer have much experience in the classroom. Teachers work long hours in school and at home and give up their time to make themselves better and their students the best that they can be! Let’s stop the bashing!
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