Teachers are not the problem

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I.--As many as 900 teachers, their supporters and other union members protested against school board plans to "turn around" Central Falls High School, firing all of the teachers.

Protesters crowded into an adjacent park before the school board meeting on February 23, in which Superintendent Francis Gallo gave every teacher in the school a termination notice.

In January, State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist identified Central Falls High School as among the worst 5 percent in the state, and according to the federal education program No Child Left Behind, targeted the school for aggressive reforms.

Gallo demanded expanded work assignments for teachers without pay. The Central Falls Teachers Union opposed breaking their contract to take a pay cut and attempted to negotiate alternatives. But Gallo wouldn't budge and, with the support of the school board, fired every teacher.

The superintendent also has the full support of the state and federal agencies. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered his blessing the previous night, saying, "I applaud Commissioner Gist and Superintendent Gallo for showing courage and doing the right thing for kids."

Is firing every single teacher and turning the high school upside down really the best thing for the kids? Is that the solution to the difficulties facing a student body that has 96 percent of its students living in poverty, the highest transient student population in the state, with the highest percentage of students who don't speak English and the highest percentage of special-needs students?

The school administration has gone through five principals in four years. Now with all of these immense challenges, the school board has decided that it's the teachers' fault.

"Wrong," was the response by hundreds of protesters at the rally on February 23. The crowd included Teamsters, firefighters and numerous teachers from across the state of Rhode Island.

Teachers from other schools could easily relate to the siege on Central Falls, since they had similar stories of their own. Last year witnessed numerous battles across the state, largely in suburban districts where contracts were summarily discarded and rewritten.

This year, the attack on the teachers has moved to urban districts like Central Falls, and Providence is slated to close multiple schools. These so-called education reforms are based on the notion that teachers, especially experienced teachers, are the problem.

In reality, teachers working together with students and parents are the only ones that will be able to develop an education system that meets the needs of the community.