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RSSCentral Falls High in R.I. Starting Fresh?
Mar 04
Source: boston.com
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CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – Inside the front door to Central Falls High School, across the street from a boarded-up building, an archway is adorned with an unambiguous boast: “Through these halls pass the world’s best faculty and students.’’
It is a motto that rings false for the local school board, which recently voted to fire all of the school’s staff in a stunning move that made Central Falls a lightning rod in the polarizing debate over improving the country’s education system.
Painful consequences for a school that failed to perform well. Is it really everyone’s fault, though? Whose fault is it, really, when a school underperforms? Is it wholly that of the teachers? Is it wholly that of the administration? I feel like people usually point at the administration when schools perform badly, but bad teaching exists and is prevalent as well. I feel like firing an entire staff is a little drastic, though I don’t completely know the situation here. Perhaps it is necessary, though: replacing the entire staff starts the school over. It allows the superintendent to look for people who all share a similar mission and have similar goals and expectations in place for their students. A school with staff that share a common goal goes a long way toward helping students.
Mar 18, 2010 @ 05:44:18
Ultimately, the responsibility of the Superintendent is to the students, not the staff. This is the lowest performing school in the state, in the poorest city in the state, which takes up less square footage than BU (only 1.2 SQUARE miles in Central Falls).
Half of the teachers can re-apply for their jobs, but it’s time for more accountability in the nation. Obama’s “Race to the Top” has spurred radical reform like firing the entire staff. I think it’s time for radical changes.