Struggling Georgia school firing entire staff

[FBaggins]

ATLANTA — A failing Savannah high school is firing its entire staff in an effort to avoid further sanctions from the state and to make the school eligible for up to $6 million in federal money, officials said Thursday.

The 200 employees at Beach High School — including the principal — will work there through the end of the year but will not be rehired for that school, said Karla Redditte, spokeswoman for the Savannah-Chatham County school district.

The teachers can reapply for their jobs but only half can be rehired under federal education law, she said. Staff can also apply for other jobs in the school district.

"It is a sad day for us," Redditte said by phone as she stood outside the 950-student school in south Georgia.

...snip...

Experts estimate the mass-firing tactic is used to turn around 20 to 30 schools in the U.S. annually.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqpTxIvdVX2NvSKcgRiX6gf0cIBgD9ELU10O0

[FBaggins]

1. Georgia is one of eight states where teachers have...

...no collective bargaining rights.

That's eight as of 2006. I'm not aware of any changes.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2d/80/1f.pdf

[Fire1]

4. It's happening in districts WITH bargaining rights, as well,

thanks to NCLB.

[FBaggins]

6. Don't kid yourself.

Saying "NCLB" makes it seem like we can just blame Bush and stop worrying.

Any discussion of this problem must include NCLB... but must also mention RTTT, Obama, and Duncan.

[virgogal]

2. What a disgrace !

[Tansy_Gold]

3. And do they think the kids are now gonna teach themselves?

Stupid. Just stupid.



Tansy Gold, who didn't know teachers were supposed to have the powers of Rumpelstiltskin

[RKP5637]

5. Often the problem IMO is with the parents, not the teachers. n/t

[FBaggins]

7. The parents, the students, the poverty rate,

the feeder schools, the system, the budget...we could go on and on (and yes, teachers are somewhere on the list in SOME situations)...

...but nobody ever gets elected to anything by pointing a finger at parents or kids. Used to be that it was political suicide to attack teachers as well.

Those days appear to be gone.