The AFT is pulling out all the stops in RI:

 It set up a web site at http://centralfallskidsdeservebetter.com (including a video) and Randi sent this email nationwide last week:

 

Dear X,

Across the AFT, we understand that we all have a role to play in
improving the quality of education in our schools. And the
teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island --a school
you may have heard about in the past few days--are no different:
They know there is more work to do to improve their school, and
they have dedicated themselves to helping their students to
achieve. But they face a terrible situation created by a
superintendent who has chosen mass firing--firing all the
teachers--rather than following a collaborative path to proven
reforms that truly benefit students.

Sign a petition to show that you stand with the Central Falls
High School community, students and teachers. Visit
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/Apq5NB51FQLF/.

We are working closely with the Central Falls Teachers Union and
the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals
to get the Central Falls administration to return to
negotiations and find a resolution to this crisis.

In the meantime, you can make a difference. By signing the
petition at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/Apq5NB51FQLF/, you
show that you are calling on the Central Falls superintendent to
do what is right--work with the teachers instead of scapegoating
them, and seek real reforms that help students achieve.

Thank you.

In unity,

Randi Weingarten
AFT President

 

The AFT is making a serious strategic mistake by making this a life-or-death battle because they're going to lose.  It's hard to understand their thinking: it's one school, it's clearly a failing one, Deborah Gist has followed the letter of the law, and she is awfully hard to demonize (the media has been totally pro-Gist).  Does she think she can intimidate Gist and get her to back down?  If so, she's sadly mistaken…  Maybe this is all Kabuki Theater for an internal audience? 

 

Requiring ALL the staff of failing schools to reapply for their jobs is the holy grail of school reform – it's a crude tool, but it's absolutely necessary because they unions have made the alternative -- trying to fire underperformers one by one – absolutely impossible.