Fire Them All

I read and hear every where about how that Rhode Island school deserved what it got.  Those teachers and that union needed to learn a lesson.  It's so disheartening when you see people who just accept "news" at face value instead of learning all the details.  Here's an excerpt from a blog that most people won't see.  I found it to be very interesting.

What Went Down in Georgia

By Susan Graham
 
On Sunday, The Washington Post posed the question, "Our kids need great teachers. Who makes the grade?" Well, it might help if there were a data based rubric of what makes a great teacher, but Marc Fisher walked away from his experience observing potential with the Center for Inspired Teaching acknowledging that

Maybe there is such a thing as an "inspired teacher" -- someone who listens well and takes students at face value, someone with high standards and perseverance who is also warm, vulnerable and loving. Sounds like a character who exists only in fiction -- and that's part of the problem with the school reform movement.

That's a little vague, but maybe it will help some of the overworked school system HR directors. They've got their hands full this fall because it seems that we've discovered a new fix for broken schools. Just load up a bunch of silver bullets and fire the whole staff (including the cafeteria lady and the custodian). Surely everyone has heard that on February 25th in Central Falls, Rhode Island, all the teachers at Central Falls High School were fired. The story was blasted across the evening news. The New York Times covered the story.The blogosphere buzzed.

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