States Make Strides in School Choice While D.C. Gets Left Behind
Sarah Torre /
School districts and legislatures in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Virginia are demonstrating a commitment to greater educational opportunities for students and families by challenging the status quo of mediocre and failing public schools.
While many East Coast states spent the weekend focused on snow removal, the town of Central Falls, Rhode Island focused on the removal of almost 100 teachers from one of the state’s worst performing schools. Superintendent Frances Gallo will fire all Central Falls High School teachers after union leaders refused proposed reforms that included increasing the school day by 25 minutes, requiring teachers to eat lunch with students once a week, and mandatory teacher training and planning sessions outside of school hours.
Gallo was prepared to pay $30 an hour for the two weeks of summer training and $30 an hour, pending grant acquisition, for weekly, 90-minute teacher meetings to discuss student academic achievement. The Central Falls Teacher Union, however, rejected the changes, citing a lack of monetary compensation. Central Falls High School, located in a low-income district and perennially plagued by low test scores, currently pays its teachers $72,000- $78,000 annually. Defending her decision to fire all the high school’s teachers, with the option of later rehiring up to half, Gallo also demonstrated a commitment to providing a quality education rather than maintaining the status quo of ineffectual schools: (more…)