The Visor

Rhode Island school to fire all 100 teachers

March 11, 2010

Editorial Board

Attention to all Hoban faculty and staff: please do not take a lesson from the teachers at Central Falls High School in the small town of Central Falls, Rhode Island. In a radical decision by the high school’s superintendant last week, the entire faculty at the high school was fired as of June 1, 2010.

Central Falls High went from having almost 100 employees to exactly zero employees after a drawn out and passionate school board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The superintendant was directed by the state of Rhode Island commissioner of education to choose one of four possible “turnaround” plans for the school. Unfortunately for the faculty there, the superintendant chose to fire every single employee and attempt to start fresh for next year.

On the surface, this drastic measure may seem too extreme. Although it is possible that not every teacher at Central Falls was satisfactory, the school must now fill nearly 100 positions in less than six months. Even the Cleveland Indians never resorted to trading away everyone on the team.

Central Falls is a typical high school in many ways. The school offers grades 10 through 12 but still has an enrollment of 800 students, which is nearly as many as Hoban. Central Falls has a football team, basketball and baseball teams and several clubs. So, why strip the entire faculty of a job in one swoop?

The superintendant did not act out of ignorance. Central Falls had been classified as a “chronically underperforming” high school in the state of Rhode Island since 2003. The high school’s track record was dismal – only 48% of the graduates went on to attend a four-year college or university. In comparison, Hoban’s statistics in that category range from around 97% to 98%. On the other hand, the faculty at Central Falls had been picketing and marching for their jobs for weeks before the fatal board meeting. It just seems as if their performance in the classroom spoke louder than the slogans on their signs.

Of course, the superintendant can’t simply expect that firing all of the teachers will solve the problem. The school is also required to submit to a few other conditions. For one, 25 minutes will be added to each school day. Also, it is mandatory that teachers eat lunch with the students once a week to develop better communication skills with them. The teachers must then attend a weekly after school in-service to evaluate their curriculum.

At the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, the superintendant of the high school sent the community a message reading: “We need you if we are going to reach our potential: all children and adults achieving at high levels.” After Central Falls failed to reach that potential for a seemingly seventh straight year, it is justified that no measure of correction is too extreme.

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