A Jumble of Strong Feelings After Vote on a Troubled School

A Jumble of Strong Feelings After Vote on a Troubled School

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — Like many other teenagers in this troubled city, Sheila Gomes said she found a surrogate family outside her home at Central Falls High School.

But with the school board’s decision on Tuesday to dismiss the entire faculty as part of a turnaround plan for the chronically underperforming school, some say they are losing one of the few constants in the state’s poorest city, where 41 percent of children live in poverty and 63 percent of the high school’s students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

“My teachers, they’re there for me. They push me forward,” said Ms. Gomes, a 17-year-old senior whose father is largely absent and whose mother works long hours at a factory. “My parents, they tried to, but they don’t know how. I don’t think they fully know me as a person to help me.”

This former mill town of about 19,000, where unemployment is 13.8 percent, is now embroiled in a battle over school reform similar to those that have taken place in troubled districts in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, where officials have tried to fix failing schools by starting over with new staff members. Seventy-four teachers and 19 staff members in Central Falls will lose their jobs.

“The status quo needs to change,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an interview. “This is not the kind of stability I want. I’m looking for improvement.”

Teachers acknowledge that change is needed — the school’s graduation rate is 48 percent, and only 7 percent of students are proficient in mathematics by 11th grade — but they say they are struggling against difficult odds.

“We’re carrying this immense burden here,” said George McLaughlin, 60, a guidance counselor at the school. “We have a bag of bricks on our back that you don’t get at places where it’s taken for granted that everyone will succeed.”

Central Falls has always been a city of immigrants, and boasts that it crowds “the whole world” into just over a square mile. Densely packed with triple-deckers, Central Falls calls itself “a city with a bright future,” but the poverty rate has consistently been high and the budget low.
In 1991, Central Falls transferred operation of its schools to the state. The city maintains the buildings, but state and federal financing pays for the schools.

The system is under the direction of Rhode Island’s education board, which deemed it one of the state’s six worst-performing schools, instructing the superintendent, Frances Gallo, to choose one of four federally mandated models for school turnaround. Dr. Gallo said she chose the model called a “turnaround” plan after the teachers union rejected conditions in another state plan.
While teachers and students at the close-knit school said they considered one another family, Dr. Gallo said the current model was not working.
“If it’s such a family, then how do you account for losing more than half your family each year?” Dr. Gallo said, referring to the dropout rate. “We are about to change the culture of Central Falls.”

But many in the school think the culture of the school is one of its biggest assets.
“I leave here at 6, 7 at night, working with kids, coaching, getting lesson plans, doing interactive literacy. That’s what people don’t see,” said Frank DelBonis, who teaches history to English as a Second Language students in a school where 70 percent of students are Hispanic.
Other teachers said progress was hampered by the high turnover at the school, where one in three students leaves each year.

“They’re a transient community. It’s more than test grades,” said Kathy Casalino, a math teacher. “We give them a family. We show them how to live.”
Theresa Agonia, 18, a freshman at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., is one of dozens of former students who are returning to the school to protest the move. She attended a rally before the board meeting Tuesday night.
“I feel like they’re saying my education, my certificate, was worth nothing,” said Ms. Agonia, who graduated in 2009. “I worked for my diploma, as everyone else did. To be just a statistic is hurtful.”

Hope Evanoff, a French teacher, said she felt the decision was undermining her career.
“It makes you feel like all of your expertise, all that you know, any degree you might have, is worthless,” Ms. Evanoff said. “I’ve never been fired from anything, and to be fired, it’s devastating.”
The faculty members have been offered counseling by the district, according to one of the fired teachers.
The Central Falls Teachers Union plans to fight the plan, saying it comes in the middle of a three-year contract.

Dr. Gallo said the district was “looking for partners” like Teach for America to provide teachers for the school, which has also been receiving “résumés from all over the nation” as news of the plan spread.
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican and a former math teacher, said he supported the board’s decision, calling it “courageous,” and he criticized the union as being an “obstacle” to change.
“We can no longer stand by as our schools underperform,” Mr. Carcieri said in a statement.
But Ms. Agonia and others said they would keep fighting.


“These teachers mean a lot to me,” she said. “They didn’t turn their back on me, and I won’t turn my back on them.”

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Protests and Promises of Improvements at Schools

Protests and Promises of Improvements at Schools

Josephine Norwood, a Bronzeville mother of three Chicago public school students, has rebounded from two rounds of school closings that displaced her children from their schools. As she watched the Board of Education approve another set of schools for closing or turnaround last week, Mrs. Norwood had a simple question: Can Chicago Public Schools officials promise that the new schools will be better?

“If this process could guarantee the child the best and they would benefit from the school closing, then maybe it is a positive thing,” Mrs. Norwood said. But she spoke out last week, along with many others, about the need for more transparency and proof that the disruptions are warranted.

As the public schools system entered its annual process of selecting schools for closing or turnarounds, parents, teachers and community groups leveled criticism at school officials for the lack of communication with the communities involved and questioned data from the central office that does not match the reality in the schools. Some also pleaded for the district to delay any action until the corrective measures taken at the lowest-performing schools — the wholesale turnover of administrators and teachers — could be better evaluated and a comprehensive plan for school facilities could be developed by a new task force.

In the end, few seemed satisfied. Parents, reform organizations and others expressed concerns that the school district has embarked on yet another failed reform effort. But school officials remained committed to the district’s turnaround strategy.

Ron Huberman, the public schools chief executive, acknowledged that the process was imperfect, but remained committed to it. He said the alternative — tolerating schools that clearly have failed both the system and the children in it — was not acceptable either.

“Turnaround is not for average performing schools or for poor performing schools; turnaround is really about failing schools,” Mr. Huberman told the Chicago News Cooperative in an interview Thursday. In a turnaround, the students stay in place, but the teachers and the principal are replaced to radically alter the school’s culture of teaching and learning.

Mr. Huberman added that some schools recommended for turnaround had just 2 percent to 3 percent of their students meeting state standards. Ten of the district’s 12 turnaround schools show gains that are “much more promising results than I believe we could have achieved through any other methodology,” he said.

The debate is drawing attention because a national program to restructure the worst-performing schools encourages states to use the same strategies that Arne Duncan, the federal education secretary, introduced as chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools.
“Duncan is using Chicago as an example of how this can be done successfully, and people are looking to Chicago to see whether, in fact, it is successful,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy in Washington.

This was the first round of closings and turnover proposals that Mr. Duncan’s successor, Mr. Huberman, owned from beginning to end. He was appointed after the process began last year.
Mr. Huberman made a change to require that every child displaced in a closing be assigned to a higher performing school — something that did not always happen in the past.

The action came in response to an October study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research showing that most students affected by closings were transferred into schools that also were academically weak. Mr. Huberman promised that a transferred student’s new school would rank 20 percent higher than the old one on a list of performance criteria, and promised extra resources to help the students’ transition.

The district works with the nonprofit Academy for Urban School Leadership to manage some turnarounds. (Martin Koldyke, founder of the academy, also serves on an advisory board of the Chicago News Cooperative.)

The involvement of an outside agency has been criticized by union teachers and some parents and aldermen, who say the district is outsourcing education.

Mr. Huberman said Thursday that he wanted to bring in more outside organizations to manage turnarounds. “We want the turnaround space to be a competitive landscape,” he said.

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Social Graces: What to Expect From Your High Schooler

High school is the home stretch for parents. Your child is starting to take on all the things you tried to teach him over the years. While you're still his primary support system, your job now is less about raising him and more about stocking him up with the tools he'll need to cross that line into adulthood. One of the tools your child will have to start packing consistently is manners. Education and manners guru Cindy Post Senning said manners education should follow along with a child's development, and high school is no exception. So, what manners should be second nature to your high schooler? Post offers advice based on these five core manners topics:


Teach Values: The value of education takes on a whole new meaning for your teen now that he is poised to use what he learned “in the real world.” While intellectually teens can understand why education is important to their future, they tend to function in the present tense. Post gives these parenting tips to help kids get the most out of their school experience:

• Focus on effort, not grades

• Respect and support your teen's goals, and show them how school studies relate to those goals

• Watch out for signs of excessive pressure: choosing study over friends, getting unreasonably upset over a low grade, or loosing interest in academics.

Groom R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Respectful disagreement is an art form which takes self-control, top-notch listening skills, focus, consideration for the feelings of others, and the common sense to know when to quit. It's a tall order, and it starts with you. Post says modeling behavior for your teen is vital to developing manners. When you show them respect, even in the heat of an argument, they'll be more inclined to give you, and others, the same.

Work on Communication: Now that your child is starting to apply for summer jobs, college, special programs, etc.. writing thank you notes is an increasingly important habit to get into—it affirms a good impression, shows initiative, and is just good manners! Specific types of notes include follow-up notes for interviews, thank-you notes for gifts when the giver is not present, thank-you notes for special favors such as recommendations, notes on behalf of school and social organizations, and notes of appreciation for services, such as college placement. Post says one of the most important aspects of note-writing to instill in your child is timeliness—send them out as soon as possible after the event.

Encourage Table Manners: Now that your teen's social life is gaining sophistication, remind them of the finer points of being a good guest. Arrive on time, especially when dinner is involved. Post says that “Around six” means at six or a few minutes later. Say “hello” to parents and chaperons. Introduce yourself to guests you don't know. Be careful of property; this means wiping muddy shoes, using that coaster, and helping cleanup if something gets broken. Ask permission to use the host's telephone. Be conscious of noise levels. Finally, leave on time.

Get Out-and-About: At age 16, your child is legally and developmentally capable of holding down a job, albeit part-time and probably not that glamorous. Post says beware of your child's work schedule during the school year, citing a study that shows more than thirteen hours of work a week can adversely affect a teen's education and social relationships. When your child gets a job, be sure to remind them of the fundamentals: attendance and punctuality, good grooming and cleanliness, appropriate attire, positive attitude, and adherence to rules.

Post says just because you can't coddle your child like you used to, your presence is still essential in the form of good modeling: be the person you want your child to be. The results might surprise you.

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