Rhode
Island Teachers Refuse 25 Minutes More a Day
So
Central Falls School Superintendant Fires Them All.
Feb. 15, 2010, 9:00 AM
Business Insider
Score one for common sense. The students will
now get better teachers, and at a great savings to local tax payers to boot.
A school superintendent in
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to
work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and
help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these
apparently onerous demands.
The teachers at the high
school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of
$22,000. This exemplifies a
nationwide trend in which public
sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with
better benefits).
The school superintendent has responded to the union's
stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.
A sign of things to come?
Mish Shedlock has
the details at
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis:
Here is an interesting email from "Jason"
regarding high schools in
Hi Mish,
As I'm sure you're aware,
Teacher salaries at the high school average $72-78k. Apparently 50% of the
students at the school are failing all of their classes, and the graduation
rate is also under 50%. In an effort to turn the school around, the
superintendent requested some changes be made whereby the school day would be
slightly extended, teachers would perform some extra tutoring, etc.
The union balked and refused the terms, so now she is firing the entire
teaching staff of the high school and replacing them. This is yet another
example of unions digging their own graves by refusing to negotiate or accept
reasonable terms. Sentiment is on the side of the superintendent, at least
among the folks I have discussed the issue with.
Jason
With that
backdrop, please consider Central Falls to fire every high school teacher.
The
teachers didn’t blink.
Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for
not a lot of extra pay, the
The superintendent didn’t blink either.
After learning of the union’s position, School Supt. Frances Gallo notified the
state that she was switching to an alternative she was hoping to avoid: firing
the entire staff at
Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union
leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions
Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25
minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and
after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more
rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with
other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer.