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Fired teachers defend their positions


By Jennifer D. Jordan

CENTRAL FALLS — More than a dozen teachers who were fired a month ago spoke Tuesday night about the upheaval in leadership and curriculum the struggling Central Falls High School has experienced for many years.

Five principals in seven years. Schedule changes. The elimination of department heads. And new programs about how to teach low-income, special education and English language learners how to read and do math — some of which worked and some of which failed miserably, the teachers told the city's school Board of Trustees.

These factors, the teachers said, have more to do with the school's poor performance than the effectiveness of the 93 teachers, support staff and administrators who were terminated on Feb. 23 as part of a dramatic reform effort.

"I'm being called ineffective. And I'm wearing a T-shirt tonight that says FIRED across the front of it, after 28 years of giving everything I could to the district," said Kathleen Luther, a math teacher and the high school's athletic director. Luther recited a long list of math programs the district has used over the past several years, including an approach that required students to depend on calculators rather than learn basic math skills. Luther said that is part of the reason why only 7 percent of the school's 11th graders scored proficient on the state’s math test.

"It's amazing we've been able to do what we have done in the past few years," Luther said. "But you folks made a decision that we are the problem. Do you know what it's like to hear your school is a failing school? We know there is always room for improvement. But we are here and we do it."

About 75 people, mostly teachers, union leaders and a few students, attended the Board of Trustees meeting. It was the first time the board met since the trustees voted 5 to 2 to fire the entire faculty of the high school, effective at the end of the school year.

According to the reform model adopted by the trustees, no more than 50 percent can be hired back for the 2010-2011 school year.

The firings have placed the high school in the national spotlight. Rhode Island moved aggressively on new federal requirements that states identify the lowest 5 percent of persistently struggling schools and adopt one of four methods to improve them. Turnaround, the method recommended by School Supt. Frances Gallo and approved by the trustees and Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, requires the removal of the entire teaching staff and multiple changes, such as a longer school day, a new leadership team and greater flexibility with staffing and curriculum.

The audience was smaller and calmer than the night the teachers were fired. On Tuesday, several teachers once again wore red, one of the high school's colors. Many spoke out about what they see as the real obstacles blocking improvements at the school, which has some of the lowest test scores and graduation rates in the state.

Jorge A. Torres, another math teacher, told the trustees that the start of the 2008-2009 school year was so chaotic, school administrators completely forgot to hire a math teacher for students learning English.

"It took them a month to hire an ESL math teacher," Torres said. "That year, we were all over the place ... We are trying our best on our own. Even with all this, the math scores have gone up for the past three years. I know it doesn't sound like much, going from 4 percent [proficient] to 7 percent. But we are willing to work. We need your support."

Cheryl Aucoin, a reading specialist, described similar problems with the literacy program.

For 12 years, Aucoin said, she has watched reading programs come and go. Some of the most successful ones were cut when the district ran into financial difficulty or when a new administrative team decided they wanted to try something new, she said.

"We talk about being a data-driven high school," Aucoin said. "But many of these programs were not in place long enough to cull data needed to calculate their success or the lack thereof."

— Jennifer D. Jordan
Providence Journal
2010-03-24
http://www.projo.com/education/content/central_falls_meeting.1_03-24-10_DPHSMAF_v14.3b316d7.html#

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