Troubled R.I. school hits bumps on road to education reform

“The teachers have taken advantage of their sickness days. Almost every day they’re absent, so students don’t get a lot of education,” said Jose Ortiz, as his daughter, Kyara, a Central Falls student, translated from Spanish. “The students don’t pay attention in class because the teachers don’t help them.”

Gallo said the teachers’ absences have detracted from the positive developments at Central Falls High School, including new Saturday school, a new math program–and the fact that roughly 20 teachers have not missed a day of work.

Heavily Hispanic Central Falls is Rhode Island’s smallest and poorest city, with a population of nearly 19,000. One-quarter of families live in poverty and 65 percent speak a language other than English at home. The city is under the control of a state-appointed receiver, who says its problems are so dire that Central Falls should consider merging with neighboring Pawtucket.

“It wasn’t easy to be fired based on failing test scores in English and math when they already know that the kids aren’t at that level when they give them the tests,” said JoAnn Boss, a Spanish teacher who was on long-term medical leave this fall.

For more on education reform:

U.S. public wants an easier way to fire bad teachers

730 U.S. schools trying to reinvent themselves

States that lost school money face reform dilemmas

With divided Congress, school reform faces a tough road ahead

Opinion: This ‘Superman’ doesn’t fly

Gist said the school can improve if it continues following its reform plan, which lays out goals for raising academic proficiency, increasing the graduation rate and improving student discipline.

But she and other officials acknowledged that other drastic measures, such as closing the school, or again replacing the teachers, may need to be considered if things don’t improve fast.

“There’s good reason to hope that it can get better,” said Robert Flanders, chairman of the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. “Because it can’t get any worse.”

Links:

Central Falls High School

AFT

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