Getting the ax at Central Falls
, a member of the Bristol-Warren Education Association, looks at the background to the latest in a series of Washington-driven attacks on teachers' unions.
March 8, 2010
Nearly 100 teachers and support staff were fired from Central Falls High School (Paul Hubbard | SW)CENTRAL FALLS, R.I.--population 19,000, living in just over a one-square-mile area--has become the latest battleground in the war on teachers and public education in the U.S.
The smallest municipality in the smallest state made national headlines when Superintendent Fran Gallo announced the firing of all 74 teachers plus 19 other support staff and administrators from Central Falls High School (CFHS) last month.
Members of the Central Falls Teachers Union (CFTU) and their supporters--prominent among them, parents and students--responded with a protest that drew hundreds of people February 23. The rally saw broad solidarity from many other teachers' union locals, notably the East Providence and Cranston teachers, whose unions have been attacked as budget crises exploded in the past year.
Unfortunately, the rally didn't dissuade Gallo--or the Central Falls School District Board of Trustees, which voted 5-2 later that night to uphold the decision to fire the teachers. In an emotional meeting, teachers sat in the audience wearing red, and stood up as their names were called one by one to approve their firing.
This action, known as "school turnaround," allows teachers to reapply for their jobs--but no more than 50 percent of them, and quite possibly less, will be rehired for the next school year.
Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist and federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan have zealously supported Gallo's extreme action. Duncan said, "I applaud Commissioner Gist and Superintendent Gallo for showing courage and doing the right thing for kids."
Even President Obama joined the attack on teachers, saying, "If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then