It’s Amazing…

How is it that the behaviors teachers see in school never happen at home? The refusal to work, the outbursts, the inability to hear or see properly, etc. I don’t know why, but I’m still surprised when I hear parents say, “That doesn’t happen at home.” Well, let’s see.

When you don’t put any demands on the children, there’s no opportunity for refusal. If you don’t enforce the rules and let the kids get away with whatever they want you don’t see the outbursts. Now let’s address the issues of hearing and vision.

Why do some parents (in my experience, those from low socio-economic homes) argue with teachers when we have concerns about how their child sees and hears in school? I work with one student in Kindergarten whose mother refused to believe that her son needed glasses. This is even after the teacher sent a note home and after the child failed the vision screening by the school nurse. Finally (it’s now March, mind you, and he’s been missing out on a good many things all school year), she is taking her boy to get glasses this week.

I have another student (first grade) that was in need of glasses for years and years. His mother got them once when he was in preschool. The child never came to school with them. The mother’s reasoning was that she couldn’t get him to keep them on. The real reason was that she didn’t think he needed them. When he was in Pre-K, we convinced her that he needed them-he wore them on and off (mostly off) through that year and part of Kindergarten.

He’s now in first grade and again we had to fight with the mom to get the glasses on his face. He would lose them or break them or refuse to wear them….bull shit. She didn’t want him to wear them because “he doesn’t have trouble seeing at home.” So we told her, “Fine. Get him new glasses and we’ll keep them at school since he only has trouble here.” She finally came around to that and his glasses stay at school. Needless to say, there was an almost immediate improvement in school work and attention. Now for the ears.

Since this child has been in school (3 years old), he has needed hearing aids. His teachers said so. His speech therapist said so. THE DOCTOR THAT TESTED HIS HEARING SAID SO. But the mother fought everyone for because, “he doesn’t have trouble hearing at home.” Finally, she relented and got the aids. By this time, the child is four and in Pre-school.

Being four years old, and a boy, he’s not very responsible or careful; ergo, the hearing aids broke because he would take them out and play with them. The mom took this as the perfect opportunity to not replace them saying, “If he needed them, he’d keep them in his ears.” OMG-What!? The kid was four! You’re the mom! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

From them on it’s been an uphill battle to get these hearing aids back on his ears. She fought and fought and made every excuse in the book to not follow thorough on anything having to do with them. He failed multiple hearing tests at school; he’s had speech services for years as well as an academic IEP; he continues to do poorly in school and it’s documented that most of the issues stem from his inability to hear. We’ve even gone so far as to threaten reporting her for neglect to the local DSS. This has been a long four years with this problem.

I am ecstatic to report that when he walks in the door today, those hearing aids will be in his ears. He went to the doctor yesterday to get them and he’s quite excited about them, too. Of course, just like with his glasses, they’ll stay in school since he has no problem hearing when he’s at home.

I’m so excited that I could almost cry (and just might when I see them). His life is going to be so much better. He’s going to discover a part of the world he never knew existed. He academics will improve and so will his relationship with his peers. OMG-I feel like a proud mother bird watching her baby grow up and fly away. Big sigh.

Rhode Island Teachers Get the Shaft

CENTRAL FALLS –– The teachers didn’t blink.

Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for not a lot of extra pay, the Central Falls Teachers’ Union refused Friday morning to accept a reform plan for one of the worst-performing high schools in the state.

The superintendent didn’t blink either.

After learning of the union’s position, School Supt. Frances Gallo notified the state that she was switching to an alternative she was hoping to avoid: firing the entire staff at Central Falls High School. In total, about 100 teachers, administrators and assistants will lose their jobs.

Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer.

The high school’s 74 teachers will receive letters during school vacation advising them to attend a Feb. 22 meeting where each will be handed a termination notice that takes effect for the 2010-’11 school year, Gallo said.

Gallo said she was devastated and that she had thought the union would agree to her conditions, even though she did not offer to pay the teachers more for most of the additional responsibilities.

A month ago, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist mandated that the district adopt one of four models to fix the troubled school, which has some of the lowest graduation rates and test scores in the state.

Gallo’s first choice, the “transformation” model, was consistent with her conditions on how to improve the high school. But if the teachers would not agree, the superintendent said she would select her second choice, the “turnaround” model, which requires the removal of the entire staff of the school. The turnaround model allows the district to hire back no more than 50 percent of the old staff.

“I am saddened and shaken at the core by the enormous ramifications of my responsibilities,” Gallo said. “The only solace I have is that I know I provided every opportunity possible, in fully public and transparent ways, the means to avoid this.”

Union officials say they, too, want to improve the high school but are unwilling to sign off on the six conditions, especially without receiving additional pay. In a letter, union officials said they do not think Gallo has the authority to fire the teachers and she must negotiate the terms of the reforms.

In an interview, Jane M. Sessums, union president, said the union intends to fight the terminations, although she was not ready to say how.

Students Friday expressed sadness, frustration and dismay at learning that their teachers would be fired en masse. Most had no idea why their teachers were being let go.

“They are very sweet,” said André Monteiro, 19, a senior. “They help us out and get the job done. They treat us with respect.”

“It’s sad,” said Jessica Lemur, another senior. “They stay when we need help. They love us. I was shocked when I heard the rumors.”

A couple of parents said they were stunned by the announcement and said they blamed students, not teachers, for the high school’s consistently poor performance.

“It’s not fair,” said Angela Perez, who has a daughter at the high school. “They shouldn’t be punished because the students are lazy.”

“The teachers care so much,” said Perez’s daughter, Ivannah Perez, a recent Central Falls graduate. “I’ve seen them stay after school. I’ve seen them struggle. It’s the students. They don’t want to learn.”

Most teachers declined to talk as they left school yesterday. But a couple of teachers paused long enough to share their thoughts.

Sheila Lawless-Burke, an English-as-a-Second Language teacher, said teachers are not opposed to working harder — or longer; they simply want the opportunity to negotiate the details of their contract, not have it imposed from above.

“It’s all about the politics,” she said, “about making Fran Gallo look good. The issue is having the right to negotiate. Once we allow the superintendent to get her foot in the door, where will it stop?”

Gist, who has 10 days to review Gallo’s proposal, said she expects to make a decision early next week.

“We know she is moving forward urgently and we want to support that,” Gist said.

Gallo and Gist say they have the authority to make these changes, based on federal education regulations and on state law that allows the state to intervene in chronically failing schools and districts.

“We’re very confident we are following both state and federal laws very carefully,” Gist said, “and, in fact, it’s the expectation both in state and federal law that we take these steps.”

TIMELINE Showdown over Central Falls HS

March 17, 2007: Frances A. Gallo, veteran educator and former deputy superintendent of Providence schools, is chosen as Central Falls school superintendent.

2008-2009: Test scores remain a problem at Central Falls High School as only 3 percent of 11th graders are proficient in math in 2008 and 7 percent in 2009.

November 2009: Gallo begins talks with teachers on her plans to reform the high school.

Jan. 11, 2010: State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist names the high school as one of the state’s worst schools and in need of closure or complete overhaul. Gallo says she already has a plan ready to implement in the fall. The plan would include a longer school day, more training, more tutoring.

Feb. 1-5, 2010: Gallo and union leaders are unable to reach an agreement on pay issues for the extra work. She says the failure is forcing her to switch to a reform model that calls for firing all teachers at the high school.

Feb. 9, 2010: During a packed meeting, Gallo gives the teachers’ union more time to agree on her original plan.

Feb. 12, 2010 Talks fail; Gallo proceeds with across-the-board firing plan.

jjordan@projo.com

As a teacher, I am appalled by this decision.  How dare she fire an entire staff for errors that began YEARS ago.   These kids didn’t just show up in high school one day.  They attended elementary and middle schools.  Go ahead and fire those teachers, also.  While you’re at it, bring back all of the retired educators and administrators and fire them, too.  Don’t forget the support staff.  They probably had something to do with the failure as well.  But please, whatever you do, don’t blame the students or their parents.  They have nothing to do with this.