U.S. Secretary of Education Lauds Decision to Fire Entire School Staff

Without teacher unions you'd still be teaching creationism instead of evolution. Unions and tenure are the results of politically motivated subjugation of teachers. It protects your teachers from being forced to teach a politically motivated curriculum. Like creationism...Free thought is always in jeopardy especially in our school systems. Control children’s minds and you own the future...what happened in PA was only a couple of years ago, there are many groups and individuals who would be more than happy to take advantage of cowed educators.

Public education is NOT a job like any in the private sector. So you know not of what you speak. Children are not widgets you can measure with a yardstick. You can't SCALE production of children’s minds the way you might an ice cream factory.

When you get a bad order of blueberries for your ice cream you send it back....what do you do with a bad batch of children who come to you from the community without the basic skill set required to begin the school day...The best you can with the resources provided to you from a community often unwilling to help and quick to point blame at those who are trying.

It’s not a job I would want, who would. My hats off to teachers everywhere for putting up with all of us as children and adults.

Zane and Butch your comments are exaggerated and inaccurate. While this seems to be a bit extreme, the article indicates that this was not the school boards 1st option. If you are part of the problem, then yes you need to make sacrifices. The article clearly states that they were asked to extend the school day 25 minutes, not 12 hours extra per week. Clearly, the parents are not engaged in the majority of these childens' education and that should also be addressed. I see several comments in support of the Union and the rights of the teacher; those comments forget about the kids and only seem to blame the administration and/or parents. It is clear that this community (administrator, teachers, union, parents) havs failed these kids.

Of course it's a hard job, but having to work extra with no pay, we all have to. Talk to the person who was told your salary has been cut by 20%, it's that or the company goes under. It's supposed to be a passion not a "JOB", how could you not want to do your all to make the school a better place. Any other profession, poor perfomance and you lose your job. It's time for the teachers union to get in the real world.

Gee, I wonder who would like to enter a under performing school district to "make a difference", knowing that if the parents don't
encourage there kids too do there homework,they could be out of a job after years of hard work. Maybe privatizing the schools with $12.00 an hour teachers could help. Silly Conservatives.

Once again teachers are expected to answer for the ills of society. I am a teacher and I am so tired of being expected to do more and more to make up for what is not being provided to children by other sectors of our society and culture. I work very hard for what I do and my heart breaks for the staff in Rhode Island. We are not all perfect, and some are lousy, but for the most part we are trying to do the best we can with what we've got. I do not blame the R.I. staff or union for not agreeing to take on an additional work load without pay. For those of you writing about how we get paid too much for what we do, start talking to teachers and get the real picture. I put in a minimum of eight-ten "volunteer" hours a week beyond my contracted duty time just to make sure I am doing a good job and meeting the needs of my students, who are coming to school with increasingly more complex problems than ever before. During all those summer months that so many perceive as "just vacation" I have also spent taking classes and training in order to improve my skills. I have spent many hours over the summer preparing materials for my classroom. It is not all down time. What a misconception! I have spent thousands of dollars of my own money over the years to provide supplies and "extras" for my students to make learning more effective and motivating. I have spent countless hours trying to help the students in my class who get little, if any, support with homework from their parents. I have to counsel the students who come from dysfunctional families and are emotionally too broken to meet their potentials for learning. I have sought out food for children who come to school without having eaten a breakfast. I have spent many, many hours at school on weekends just trying to keep my nose above water.

I went into teaching because I have a passion for TEACHING CHILDREN, not for the money. Stack our salaries against other careers requiring a bachelor's degree or masters and see how we compare. I LOVE my students but am sick of being expected to do more and more and not get compensated for it. I don't think any one would appreciate having more put on their plate at work, nothing being removed, and no compensation. And for the record, due to rising health care costs I will be making less next year and working more.

Only an idiot would make this kind of comment. The problem is we worry about paying sport stars and celebs millions, while people who educate our children , our FUTURE are railroaded. But its the Unions fault, They want the teachers to do more and not even pay them. Why? because we are more worried about bailing out banks and throwing money at a failed Drug war. Hey everyone Tiger is on TV, WHO Fing CARES. People need to wake up, it will be you and your job next, and its a hell of alot easier to screw YOU when you don't have the union in place to help back you. MORON

Here Here Union are the problem. You may have only a few bad apples but went there is a union involved you can't really get rid of them. So get rid of them all.

To Debbie Couch, babysitters have no overhead and quite typically go into the child's home. If the child is brought to you, there are different regulations and requirements needed that cost money for the safety of the child. Babysitting and teaching are completely separate issues on any level. Hopefully you are not a teacher. Babysitting at $1.00 an hour seems right where you should be if you remain in children's lives. Teachers should earn fair salaries, and like all people on salaries they have to answer to the boss. Reality on both sides. Teachers deserve ... students deserve...taxpayers supporting the children in the community deserve, etc. etc.

They were way overpaid for failing performance. And the extra time shouldn't be paid. they get 3 monthes off and and done at 300 in the afternoon. i wish i could make over double the avg income in the town and work 6 hours a day. hopefully the rest of the schools around the country take note and realize their unions aren't invincable

When reading this article, I found out that not only is this school in a very poor area, most of the kids are ESL. Here's my suggestion: YOU ARE IN AMERICA - LEARN THE FREAKING LANGUAGE. Also, since they are ESL as well as poor, and 52% quit school anyway, perhaps the problem is not in the teachers' ability to teach the students, but more likely in the students' willingness to learn. As another poster stated, it appears doubtful they have parents who encourage them either. What a silly thing to do - fire all the teachers. Then again, maybe it's more like "setting them free" and they will be able to secure jobs in better districts. Here's an idea: keep the school closed and just don't provide these kids with free public education - then those who want to learn will find a way, and those who don't wouldn't have graduated anyway.

as a former teacher, i truly believe that if you dont produce you should be held responsible. if you continue to produce illiterate children, you have failed them and should be replaced. after 3 years teachers get tenure, which basically means as long as you do not committ a felony with a student you cant be fired, this leads to no motivation for teachers to excel. pay them well, but make them earn it!

AGREED!

This is the most ridiculous action I have ever seen. As parent I have never relied on the school to motivate my children to perform in school. That was my job.. the school was there to provide the environment. Have you ever seen a poor performing school in an area where parents put a premium on education and make sure their kids do their school work? The reason kids perform poorly is because they don't do any work and they are not motivated to do any BY THEIR FAMILIES. Stop blaming the schools for a problem that exists in society. I would love to see all the people are convinced that the problem in education is the teachers teach a high school class ... and show teachers the way it should be done ... try it for a few weeks ... then maybe you can comment ...otherwise you are speaking out ignorance

Wow. that is amazing. your views are so warped you must have plenty of money.

If you think it is the teachers fault for the low school scores
then simple go to school with the highest school scores (probably a rich, suburban school) and send their entire faculty to Central and send Central's entire faculty to the high scoring school and wait one year and Central should to the high scoring school and the rich, suburban school should be the lowest.

P.S. This whole idea was tried 7 years ago in Miami at Miami Edison High School. And with a completely new faculty, longer days, longer years, etc., and the High School is still getting an "F" according to Florida's school grading system.

MORAL - it is not the teachers' fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Everyone... Can anyone of us be fired for just about any reason? Of course we can. Can a teacher be fired if his/her teaching abilities are not very good... NO. This is the problem. If you have teachers that aren't getting the job done, FIRE THEM! Bad police, bad firemen, bad tachers... all should be fired just like the rest of us. But, when a bad teacher has a union defending him/her, the chances are slim to none of that teacher being fired. So, the students learn nothing.

Teacher's have spent so much time telling each other how great each of them are, they've become legends in their own minds. So what if they have to work a little outside their paid scheduled times. Millions of us do it every day. It's called a salary. You want to be paid for every minute, put on a blue collar and take a job that requires a time clock. Quit your whining.

Most people have never worked in a school and have no idea of the demands and little time to do new mandates in the same amount of time.

It is interesting to note how many of the people commenting seem to miss the central tenet here.....schools exist to serve the children, not the teachers, administrators or the unions....

At the end of the day the only measurement here that counts is whether or not he school is fulfilling it's intended purpose - educating children. If the school is not, then firing all the teachers is a perfectly acceptable step to trying to correct the problem.

If you are hired to perform a specific function and you fail to meet that expectation - how can you expect to keep your job?

Yes the school is in a bad area, yes the kids come from underprivileged families - but that will not change - if the current teaching staff is unwilling or incapable of reaching these students, then they should be replaced - serving the needs of the students has to be the defining standard here, it is after all the entire purpose of the school to begin with.