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Based on this 2009 report from the RI Commissioner's office re Central Falls High schoolhttp://www.aft.org/pdfs/press/CFHScommissreport2009.pdf
documenting achievement improvements being made at that school, President Obama was incorrect in his remarks about the educators who worked there. He should correct his statements and apologize to those teachers.
It turns out that Obama's comments about this school were wrong:
"So if a school is struggling, we have to work with the principal and the teachers to find a solution. We've got to give them a chance to make meaningful improvements. But if a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability.
And that's what happened in Rhode Island last week at a chronically troubled school, when just 7 percent of 11th graders passed state math tests -- 7 percent. When a school board wasn't able to deliver change by other means, they voted to lay off the faculty and the staff. As my Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, says, our kids get only one chance at an education, and we need to get it right."
This is what the ATF said in their response to Obama's comments:
"President Obama's comments today condoning the mass firing of the Central Falls High School teachers do not reflect the reality on the ground and completely ignore the teachers' significant commitment to working with others to transform this school. We know it is tempting for people in Washington to score political points by scapegoating teachers, but it does nothing to give our students and teachers the tools they need to succeed.
What's even sadder is that the firings and the President's comments come in spite of a state report written last April that focused on the high school's reading and writing proficiency, which have gone up 22 percent and 14 percent respectively over the past two years. Nowhere in the report is there any criticism of teachers' efforts, skills or dedication to their job or their students. The report does, however, point to problems with constantly changing programs and the instability of school leadership. The report reinforces the fact that, today, teachers are being blamed unfairly for the schools' problems."
http://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2010/030110.cfm
(Emphasis mine.)
Contact the White House switchboard in support of these teachers -- whose efforts to turn their school around were rewarded by mass firings and disrespectful, ill-informed, public comments made by the president. Obama was wrong. He should own that and apologize to those teachers.
White House comment line:
202-456-1111
Email contact form:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Wall Street gets bonuses for failure. KBR gets a new 2.8 BILLION dollar contract after they electrocuted our troops with their shoddy wiring. At a minimum, Obama needs to apologize to these teachers, whose hard won successes at Central High were disappeared by the White House. If he can apologize to Jim Crowley, who is known in the Cambridge black community as "Jim Crow" and who lied on his police report, Obama can apologize to these teachers for misrepresenting their work at Central Falls High School.
Please contact the White House.
White House comment line:
202-456-1111
Email contact form:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
