Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Making decisions together' -- What a concept!

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Making decisions together' -- What a concept!

'Making decisions together' -- What a concept!

by Mike Klonsky

Edweek headline reads: Making Decisions Together: The Rebirth of Central Falls High School.

Yes that's right, making decisions together in Central Falls where State Ed Commissioner Deborah Gist had, only months earlier, with Arne Duncan applauding wildly in the background, forced the firing of every single teacher and staff member in the school. It was their way of sending a message that teachers no longer had collective bargaining rights and that states would have to toll the No Child Left Behind Race-To-The-Top bell or go bankrupt.

Of course that didn't wash and won't. A national labor push-back plus student and community protests forced Gist to concede and the teachers were all rehired.