More From Central Falls

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/03/more-from-central-falls.html

The author graduated from Central Falls High in Rhode Island in 2003.

Central Falls is one of the poorest cities in the state and the country, with a median income of only $22,000. Of the 800-plus students at Central Falls High, the only high school in the city, 65 percent are Latino, most whom speak English as a second language. Yet somehow, these facts do not get taken into account when looking at test scores.

Standardized testing such as the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) is culturally biased, and does not adequately "assess" a student’s knowledge. Imagine having to take a test in another language that you barely understand. Is it really possible to do well if the student does not even understand the questions?

Many students also lack "initiative" due to the inability to pay for college. If students know they cannot afford college, then why would high school matter to them? The same teacher added in her interview with PSLweb.org: "My major concern is the number of undocumented immigrants at the school. These students and their families are in fear that they will be discovered and deported. Many of them do not finish school because they can’t go to college without papers. This is a common occurrence."

These are the real issues that face Central Falls High School students every day. I know this personally. I graduated from Central Falls in 2003. I experienced first-hand families of friends struggling to make ends meet; students trying to juggle full-time jobs needed to help their parents pay bills and also trying to finish school work on time.

via: http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2/1499632738?page=NewsArticle&id=13738&news_iv_ctrl=1261

More at the links. It's always nice to see recent high school grads supporting their former place of education with experience and facts. Reading that was a morale booster.

[femmocrat]

1. Thank you, Starry Messenger.

It's an outrage that the teachers at Central Falls are being portrayed as lazy and incompetent. They should be rewarded, not punished.

F*ck you, Arne Duncan.

[Starry Messenger]

10. Reading the comments here and at the ProJo news site were getting me down

I feel like Duncan and all are just letting teachers twist in the wind. They kept their heads down and kept fighting on during the worst of the Bush years with NCLB and this is how they are answered? It's sick.

[tonysam]

14. The comments in GD are unbelievable

I'd swear I was on Free Republic; there is so much animosity towards public education.

It's this blind worship of Obama that's the problem; these supporters can't see he is fucking things up so badly for children in this country.

[FBaggins]

16. I don't think it's "blind worship of Obama"

I don't think that teachers understand that this is a clear majority position nationally and that politicians (right and left) are swayed by it. There's no question that the Democratic party is willing to throw the teachers under the bus.

This is because it is common ignorance that poor educational results must mean poor teaching. It's just too easy to sell and too hard to refute (to the general public).

Education has always been (and remains) a strength of the Democratic party... but it's the children that sell well... not the teachers. We have been successful for decades in blunting that dichotomy because the unions were so influential in Democratic politics. I don't know when/how that changed... but it obviously has.

[YvonneCa]

2. These are the same challenges of the students...

...I taught, only I saw them in sixth grade. My students were wonderful and their families were very hard-working. But there were SO MANY issues to overcome. Still, we educators never stopped trying.

[Starry Messenger]

9. Nice to see you YvonneCa

All are great kids, but some of the issues they deal with in life are so overwhelming. They don't just put that all away when they walk through the doors of the school. Every teacher I know knows that and takes it into account. It's a part of the process.

[YvonneCa]

27. Every teacher I know does that, too. That's what bothers me about the...

...turnaround process. It punishes teachers for their hard work and dedication. That's just plain WRONG.

[donco6]

33. Me too.

This could be happening in one of our schools. And it would be just as unfair.

[Lifelong Protester]

3. I appreciate your post and this piece

and I just told Arne he could go to Hades on Facebook.

These heavy handed tactics are an outrage.

[Starry Messenger]

8. He's on Facebook?

I think he might need to see my pirate art. :D I'll look for him.

[tonysam]

30. The Goofball's Facebook page

is right here:

Secretary Arne Duncan

[Hannah Bell]

4. per this, lep (limited english proficiency) students (21% of central falls students get esl services

do significantly worse on those tests:

http://www.greatschools.org/modperl/achievement/ri/29#necap_subgroup

e.g. 2008-2009 scores for reading:

"all students" = 45% at or above proficiency
"lep students" = 4%

[Starry Messenger]

7. I have to admit I'm totally bad at math

(One of the reasons I teach art) Can you break down what that means for me?

[Hannah Bell]

11. as i read it: "% at and above proficient"

First table = reading proficiency

45% of all students are at or above proficiency level
4% of lep students are at or above proficiency level

but (from previous reports) 21% of central falls students receive ESL services.

Not sure if ESL is completely coextensive with LEP, but a large proportion of those below proficiency levels = non-native english speakers.

[frazzled]

5. I am particularly sensitive to non-English speaking students

I spent three years from 1996-99 tutoring kids twice a week who had failed the state basic standards test in reading: almost all of them were non-native speakers (predominantly southeast Asian, but also some Hispanic and other new immigrant speakers). I railed against the tests themselves, because after months and months of meeting individually with students and feeling we were making progress ... the tests turned out to require reading of newspaper passages with terms like "lo-fat Twinkies" and "knotty pine den." I kid you not. They were totally culturally biased, and I worked hard to argue that these students should not be assessed on the basis of this kind of test.

That said, this is NOT what the Central Falls story is about. No one has "blamed" the teachers for the student performance. They were not fired because the test scores were low. Negotiations broke down over pay for new duties and programs to be instituted to try to improve the school--duties that were not in the teachers' current union contracts. The only way to move forward was to let go the entire staff, and hire back 50% of them with new contracts that contain provisions for the new program. It's as simple as that.

I'm tired of hearing this "blaming the teachers" argument. No one blames the teachers (though there must certainly have been a number who were not performing up to par). What could be blamed was an unwillingness to move an inch outside their contracts to help students. This is about labor issues, not about teaching quality.

By the way--all that time I put into tutoring students: it was all completely volunteer and I didn't get paid a thin dime for it. If I were getting paid in the range of $70K (which has been the figure cited for salaries there) and someone asked me to have lunch with a student once a week or spend 90 minutes once a week for sessions, I would have done it for free. Perhaps many of the teachers there would too. But the union wouldn't let them. Again, this is a labor contract issue.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Well, you were a volunteer

Volunteers don't get paid. If you were a professional teacher, you might also volunteer on your own time. I do tons of stuff for free. Because I want to. If someone started saying I had to do it a certain number of hours and they couldn't pay me market value, then they'd need to deal with my union. That's how unions work. Reality isn't changing because of your perceptions of how it should be. :hi: Hope this helps.

[FBaggins]

12. "That's how unions work. "

You're absolutely right.

But one would also hope that your union representative would be smart enough to get you the best deal available... and not hold out for things that were NOT available when the cost of doing so was that you lose your job.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Firing the teachers was an underhanded dirty trick that they did NOT know about beforehand

I don't understand why this is so hard for you to get. One of the options under NCLB is RECONSTITUTION, which is NOT firing. It means replacing the staff. Reconstituted teachers are not fired. NCLB does not say tenure laws are thrown out the window.

So losing their jobs was NOT a cost these teachers anticipated.

The union did what it was supposed to do. It negotiated. The superintendent canceled the negotiations after only 3 sessions. Negotiations typically take months. Our last one was over a year long. You don't walk away from the negotiation process after 3 sessions. That's not good faith bargaining.

The union representatives did nothing wrong. They were doing what they are supposed to do. The superintendent is the bad guy here, not the union.

[FBaggins]

15. Sure they did.

If they didn't, then you can only blame their union representatives.

The school has known for some time that they were in danger of falling off the table... AND they knew that most of the consequences involved mass layoffs. I've seen Central Falls presentations from last year that laid out the options quite clearly.

But let's make it very simple: Once there was a "take it or leave it" offer on the table that made CLEAR that "turnaround" was the alternative... The union had an obligation to go back to the teachers and let them decide. Some idiot thought that she could answer with a "no" and that would just be the start of another round of negotiations where everyone would see that she could be counted on to "stand tough."


One of the options under NCLB is RECONSTITUTION, which is NOT firing.

That's incorrect. Reconstitution doesn't provide job security to ANY teachers. This, too, was made clear to the union representatives. If the teachers didn't know it, it's because the union dropped the ball.

The union did what it was supposed to do. It negotiated.

Without skill or an appreciation of the facts.

Negotiations typically take months.

When both sides have leverage and there is no overriding calendar deadline, that's true. Neither was the case here.

In your words, "I don't understand why this is so hard for you to get." The mistake was made at the national level creating this stupid program in the first place... but that can't be fought at the local school level. Once that reality is accepted, this entire debate changes. I've said over and over again (without a single rebuttal from you or anyone else) that Gallo could have walked in on day one and announced a turnaround. She could have close the school or turned it into a charter (there ARE charter RFPs on the district website). There would have been ZERO ability to complain about good-faith negotiations, or union negotiating rights, or ultimatums. THAT is what other teachers are getting right now. We cannot honestly say that Gallo wanted to get rid of every teacher when she is the only one in her position (in recent reporting) who didn't start off with such an action... even though she had full power to do so.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Geez. You don't understand how unions work at all.

A negotiating team negotiates. No they don't come back to the union members every time the administration makes a new proposal. That is not at all practical. I can't even imagine how that would play out where I work. Would we have to quit teaching so we can be on alert to tell the union how to respond to every proposal from administration?

It's also lame to claim the negotiating team had no skills. I belong to AFT and they do an excellent job training its members who are on the negotiating team. When we had our year long negotiating process last year, AFT sent reps from the national office to help with negotiations. There were national reps in Central Falls as well.

You also need to read up on NCLB. It does not say mass firing is an option. As I said before, reconstitution specifically does NOT negate tenure laws. And reconstitution is NOT firing.

The union is NOT the bad guy here. The superintendent is. She is the one who walked out of the negotiation process. You also need to understand that the union is its members, who are the teachers. So you are criticizing the teachers when you slam the union. Is that really your intent?

[FBaggins]

18. Nope... the union didn't understand how reality works.

A negotiating team negotiates. No they don't come back to the union members every time the administration makes a new proposal.

This was not a "new proposal"... it was the final take-it-or-leave-it offer. You can't say "no" (when the alternative is wholesale firings) without consulting the people who would be impacted.



That is not at all practical

I'm sure that she sleeps well at night knowing that she did what was "practical"

It's also lame to claim the negotiating team had no skills.

Not lame... just observant. Training doesn't equate to usable skills any more than good teaching necessarily results in higher test scores.

There were national reps in Central Falls as well.

I have no seen that (until after it was too late). Can you provide a link?

You also need to understand that the union is its members

Not when it represents them poorly.

I honestly don't think that the answer would have been "no" if it had been put to a vote of the teachers at CF.

And reconstitution is NOT firing

That's simply not the case (in ANY reporting that I've seen - feel free to link to any examples). EVERY example of reconstitution that I've seen has involved the teachers having to reapply for their old jobs - with ZERO guarantee that they would get it.

That was Gallo's starting position. Everyone gets a pink slip and she decides who gets their jobs back. She says that her anticipation was that 80% of them would remain, but she originally made no assurances of that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Your agenda appears to more about bashing the union than understanding the facts

No I can't provide a link about the AFT reps being in Central Falls. I also can't provide a link proving they were here when our district stalled in negotiations 2 years ago. It's their job, it's not news. They have national field reps who are literally on the road all the time helping locals.

There was a vote of the CF teachers. They voted to elect a negotiations team. It is made up of members of the local and its leadership. Some of those members are teachers at CF. Again, you don't appear to understand how unions work. This is not like some team of union employees who swoop in and make decisions that teachers don't support.

[Starry Messenger]

20. I don't think he does understand how unions work

There are a lot of DUers who don't. They are trying to fit this into the framework of how they are treated by their own jobs, which are probably largely corporate or otherwise private sector.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Whenever a member complains about the union,

I tell them "YOU are the union". :)

[FBaggins]

23. I therefore take it that this will be the last time you will complain about Duncan

or the administration, right?

If "no" then I think we can all remain free to criticize poor decisions by those who represent us when they do so poorly.

[Starry Messenger]

24. I had friends in the dot com boom here in CA

who used to boast that they were so specially trained they didn't need a union because they couldn't be replaced. Unions were old-fashioned, not forward looking, not of the computer era, etc. Oops.

[FBaggins]

25. They also weren't "labor" in the traditional sense.

The dot coms were far more likely to have better work environments (nap rooms, game rooms, company cars, flexible everything, etc) and employees were closer to management themselves (often being compensated significantly in company stock).

Oops.

Well... yeah... except that a union can't protect you even a little bit when the entire company (or industry) goes under.

[Starry Messenger]

28. Labor seems to have a different definition for you too.

Interesting. Homo Corporatus really took an evolutionary leap.

[FBaggins]

29. Why?

Don't you think "owner" and "someone who is compensated more from the success of the company than from their own efforts" is associated more closely with "management" than "labor"?

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. LOL I met a dot com guy online who said the same thing

back in the early days of the net and user groups. I wonder where he is now. :)

[FBaggins]

32. How would a union have helped them?

I used to live in one of the largest "dot com" areas and knew dozens of people who worked there. What would a union have gotten them? They already had excellent work environments, flexible hours, stock options that only a "C-level" individual in another industry would get, expensive company cars, the latest equipment to work on, attractive benefits, you name it. They didn't work all weekend because their boss forced them to... they did it because if this deal went through, their 50,000 options would each be worth an extra $.25

The only problem I can think of was that their companies didn't actually make money... and I don't see how a union would have helped them with that.

BTW - please take a look at my #22... I mistakenly replied to myself instead of your reply. Thanks in advance.

[tonysam]

26. Teachers' unions DO deserve criticism, but it's not because they exist

It's because they too often don't stand up for teachers, especially individual teachers.

Again, one actually has to be on the inside of public education to truly understand it.

[FBaggins]

22. Sigh... ok... let's take this one step at a time.

Do you agree that the super had the option of selecting "turnaround" from the begining without negotiating with the union at all.

Not "should" she or "wouldn't be the right thing to do" or "the selection process is irrational and invalid" but did she have the option and there's nothing the teachers could do about it... yes or no?