Before I opened the Journal this morning, I made a prediction. Bob Kerr’s column would be a sympathetic feature story on the teachers of Central Falls, perhaps focusing on a single teacher whose heart is in the right place.
I was right. Of course, those familiar with the predictability of Kerr know my prediction wasn’t a difficult one.
George McLaughlin seems like a good guy, a veteran with lots of experience working with kids. And I’m sure his wife, who is also a teacher, is a fine person as well.
The union, with its back to the wall, needs to put its teachers in a sympathetic position. So the media blitz has begun. A new, professionally designed website has been created, with plenty of photos of kind-looking teachers. A rally, on behalf of teachers, is planned Tuesday. And someone got on the phone to Kerr, whom the unions undoubtedly knew would be an ally at the Journal. Kerr’s column even features the website URL and provides publicity for the Tuesday rally.
As the unions regularly do, they’ve made the issue about teachers. They know it should be about students, so they call the rally for teachers a “Save our Students” event. And the website outlining the teachers’ union’s position is called “Central Falls Students Deserve Better”. Despite the word “students”, the union’s goal is to save the teachers’ jobs.
I am not anti-teacher, as some would claim. I am a teacher. But I am intolerant of those teachers, and the union leaders, who make excuses for why so many kids in Central Falls aren’t learning. Teachers must have the flexibility to deal with the difficulties that hinder the communities in which they teach. Teaching kids in high poverty areas is particularly challenging. This is also true in schools with large numbers of immigrants, or students whose first language isn’t English. Urban schools have their own challenges as well. Wrap all this into a single school like Central Falls High, and the mountain peak may simply seem well out of reach.
Those who believe the challenge is too great shouldn’t be teaching at Central Falls High.
Our schools do not exist to provide jobs for adults. Schools have the uniquely important responsibility of educating our future. We, as teachers, must do whatever it takes to ensure success. Those unwilling should receive a smile, a handshake, and a polite thank you as they exit the building.
I’m sorry Mr. McLaughlin, it is not about “meanness” or pointing fingers (although it doesn’t help that your union will agree to the changes if more money is offered). It’s about fixing what is broken. It’s about doing what it takes to provide the very best education to kids that need it the most, those in the community you love.
If less than half of CF students are graduating, is it possible to say this is happening?
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Although I don’t agree with you on many issues I can tell from your writtings you are a dedicated teacher. Although I teach in a rural town before this positionI taught for 20 years in a urban school. It sounds like you have no idea of the lives these kids live. Survival, is their number 1 objective, not test scores. Many of them have no parents, are living on their own, and are worried where there next meal is coming from, or who are they going to have to fight off from a rival gang during the night. During the summer I return to that system and run a job sight for that system. It is a reality check. You can debatem if you wish and I am sure you will present what seems to be some valid points, but until you have lived it, ou have know idea of the world the Central Falls teachers live in. They are our Thanksgiving Day rival in football and the stories there coaches have shared with us are similar to the ones I bring with me from my urban experiences. Most (and I used most because I know every school has their share that doesn’t pull the same load) work harder, and face more difficult challenges than the teachers in other communities and they deserve compensation for their efforts. Cities in Massachusetts have fiscal problems and they pay their staff for an extended day schedule.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Thanks for offering your thoughts Mr. Davis. While I too work in a suburban school district, I have experience in urban environments as well. I do understand just how needy some kids are. I admit that I do not have much experience at the secondary level however, so perhaps this is where I have much to learn.
To ensure that you understand my point of view, let me clarify. I do not believe standardized test scores are an accurate way to measure a school, a district, or even an individual student. If poor test scores were the only evidence, I might think Dr. Gallo was overreacting. But with more than half failing all subjects, and a graduation rate less than half, there are clearly some significant issues at this school.
I do not solely blame teachers for the problems, but its impossible to argue that they deserve none of the blame. My argument is that teachers must be willing to change the way they teach, to put in more time if necessary, and to participate in the kinds of professional development that will allow them to better reach the needy and diverse population of the city. And with the financial crisis that exists in RI, it’s outrageous to ask for more money.
The teaching jobs do not belong to the educators that currently fill them. If they cannot provide what is necessary to ensure the kids of CFHS succeed, or if they believe the poverty, parents, or immigration make it too difficult, these teachers should step aside and make room for those you believe they can.
I have sympathy for these teachers Mr. Davis. But I have greater sympathy for the students. And I believe dramatic actions must be taken to ensure these kids succeed.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Mike
Your points are well taken. Let it be noted again that although I disagree with you I can tell you are not of such strict ideology that you can not see the middle ground. I have lived in a world where the union’s had little power, In that world, those who donated the most to mayoral election campaigns got the administration jobs and they, in return, were directed to who to hire and fire. The “best interest of the student” was not the determining factor in that world either. Teaching unions exist for a very important reason. Our education system is a subsystem of the political world which is influenced by many factors that can compromise the integrity of the governing powers. Now I know there are a lot of people who question whose best interest the unions represent but I fail to see how dismantling them, in the long run, is in the best interest of the student. Remember, the Ocean State is not stereotyped “the most crooked little state in the Union” for nothing. The checks and balances that unions provide, often exist to save the integrity of the process especially in a system, where political alliances can determine who is most qualified for employment.
Here is a couple of angles…..In many Massachusetts cities they have gone to an extended day. The teacher’s salary is pro rated. I do not know if it is $90 per hour but the difference in pay is definitely more than $30. If you are extending the work day, than the extra time should be compensated with the same hourly rate as the teacher earns during the day! That is how it works in other communities, and that is how it works in other jobs. Maybe it is not happening now because of the economy, but my friends in the private sector, get “double time” or “time and a half” for an extended day.
Keeping this in mind, there are different ways that Central Falls could have approached it. If my district approached me and said we are looking to start and afterschool program and they would pay $30 and hour I’d probably welcome the opportunity. After all, I coach after school for what amounts to “minimum wage.”
Look at it through the analogy of teaching students. It you dictate to a class what they are going to do you’ll meet resistance and you’ll have a difficult road. If you can develop a strategy to make them want to do the work, your job, despite the extra time you must invest, becomes a lot easier. I do not know enough about either side of the argument to say the union, or the superintendent should bare the total blame. But I have seen similar situations, resolved in a way that satisfies both sides and improves the quality of the student’s educational experience. I know you feel the union is being unreasonable, but I do not see evidence, that the opposing powers have been any more open to finding a agreeable solution.