Rhode Island Fired Teachers to be Rehired

[Still Sensible]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/16/union-rhode-island-school-reaches-deal-to-rehire-teachers/?hpt=T2

[senseandsensibility]

1. Good news, but why is the story so brief?

I would like some more details....

[Still Sensible]

2. CNN probably just picked a first bulletin

off the wire. I expect there will be fuller stories soon from multiple sources...

[Starry Messenger]

3. Interesting timing.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/CENTRAL_FALLS_TEACHERS_SUE_04-29-10_2CI9L62_v14.3bb5523.html

Central Falls, RI, teachers union sues superintendent to block firings

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 29, 2010

In February, the district sent all the teachers a form letter saying they were being dismissed because Gallo had selected a federally sanctioned “turnaround” model to try to improve the high school, which ranks toward the bottom among Rhode Island school districts in graduation rates and test scores.

This model requires the entire staff of a school to be fired, allowing no more than 50 percent to be rehired under new leadership.

But the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in allowing states to allocate federal funds to local schools for improvement, bars any action that would compromise the existing protections of teachers, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also asserts that the defendants “maliciously and in bad faith terminated the employment” of the teachers in retaliation for their exercise of First Amendment rights to protest Gallo’s attempt to unilaterally impose six conditions for continued employment under terms of a different “transformation” school-improvement model.

Even though Gallo has moved forward with the turnaround model, she has continued to participate in mediation intended to produce a negotiated settlement with the union around the transformation model, which keeps existing staff but requires longer work days, more professional development and more tutoring of students.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQe6oVWR8RCYpv36bVIUomkB09NgD9FO6V4G0

RI school district agrees to rehire fired teachers

By ERIC TUCKER (AP) – 49 minutes ago

Details of the agreement were to be released following a ratification vote by Central Falls teachers at a meeting Monday. The union and district had been working with a mediator since March.

"Both the school district and the union agree that while this has been a difficult process for everyone involved, the negotiations resulted in a newfound appreciation for shared responsibility, and a solid commitment to bring lasting solutions that will improve teaching and learning at Central Falls High School," said a joint statement from the union and the district.

Under the deal, teachers will need to recommit to their jobs and interview with the new principal. Other changes aimed at increasing student achievement include: a new evaluation system designed to inform teaching and learning, and targeted and embedded professional development.

Central Falls Superintendent Fran Gallo said in a release said the "common-sense reforms will help more of our students succeed."

"From the start, my principal concern was not who would be working at the high school but whether the new school leadership team would have the flexibility it needed to improve student achievement," Gallo said. "Today's agreement provides this flexibility."

I'll be interested to see the details of the agreement. And now the sound of *crickets* from DUers who insisted that all the teachers refused to do extra work for the school...

[ncteechur]

6. It was the district and Gallo that proposed the extra time, etc. in an effort to not fire the

teachers. Those talks broke down because they couldn't get an agreement from the teachers. It was always the plan to rehire up to half of them back but they have to reapply for their positions. And their lawsuit is a non-starter.

[Starry Messenger]

4. Last week the district was fighting the lawsuit.

Hmm. :D

http://www.projo.com/news/courts/content/TEACHERS_IN_COURT_05-08-10_N8IDI6P_v13.32e6802.html

Central Falls district asks judge to throw out lawsuit brought by teachers union

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 8, 2010

The school district said Gallo followed state-approved procedures for addressing one of the most “persistently lowest-achieving” schools in Rhode Island as defined by federal law. Until January, the high school had been classified as “in need of improvement” for seven years.

The union alleges that the mass firing denied teachers their due-process rights under provisions of the U.S. Constitution, state and federal law and the collective-bargaining agreement between the union and the school district.

But the School Department says it is prepared to give teachers their due-process hearings if they are not rehired. Gallo is currently entertaining applications from those who want to return in the fall, according to Robinson. He said he disagreed with the union’s assertions that individual performance is the only reason a teacher may be let go. Robinson’s arguments said fiscal constraints and “program elimination” are equally valid grounds for dismissal.

With federally mandated school reform in mind, the department also said the collective bargaining agreement it has with teachers does not allow it to override the responsibility of the school administration to carry out state and federal laws and regulations, citing a stipulation approved by former Education Commissioner Peter McWalters in 2008.

http://www.wrni.org/content/lawsuit-filed-over-central-falls-teacher-firings

Lawsuit filed over Central Falls teacher firings
April 29, 2010 - 6:26am

The entire high school faculty was fired earlier this year as part of a plan to improve academics at the school. District officials have invited teachers to reapply for their jobs.

Marcia Reback from the state Federation of Teachers objects to the process, which requires teachers to provide a lesson plan and conduct a five minute sample class.

"These people have been fine teachers and they have to do a five minute lesson before a panel of people who don't know them," Reback says. "It takes five minutes to introduce a lesson to a class."

Teachers had hoped to save their jobs through mediation, which is ongoing. The federal lawsuit alleges that teachers cannot be fired without evidence of poor job performance.

[Tailormyst]

5. I heard this on the radio on my way home today

So happy for the teachers and students in CF.

[Starry Messenger]

7. I'm hoping they are getting compensation for the concessions.

There are some interesting implications in this case. Getting 100% rehired without reapplication is a victory over the draconian use by Deborah Gist of the "Turnaround Model" in RTTT (which limits rehires to 50% and demands reapplication), but if the teachers are performing the new duties for the original low-price tag put on them it is not a victory for labor.