Obama weighs-in on CF teacher firings

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - President Barack Obama Monday weighed in on the recent firing of all teachers at the long-struggling Central Falls High School.

Obama said during a speech in Washington Monday that there needs to be "accountability" if a school continually fails its students without improvement.

"If a school continues to fail year after year after year and doesn’t show sign of improvements then there has got to be a sense of accountability. That happened in Rhode Island last week," Obama said.

• See a timeline of intervention at Central Falls High School

The president weighed in Monday while launching an initiative to combat the problem of high school drop outs. The program, called "Grad Nation," is a public/private partnership to improve the country's worst schools. Only 48 percent of Central Falls students graduate.

During his remarks, the president also pointed out just seven percent of students at the high school have tested proficient in math.

"When a school board wasn’t able to deliver change by other means, they voted to layoff the faculty and the staff. And as my education secretary Arne Duncan says, our kids get only one chance at an education, and we need to get it right," Obama said.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan backed the firings last week, after the school district's board of trustees voted to fire 93 teachers, administrators and other staff. No more than half could be hired back under federal law.

Obama continued to say that the students need to be the focus of change.

"Of course getting it right requires more than just transforming our lowest performing schools. It requires giving students who are behind in school a chance to catch up and a path to a diploma," he said. "It requires focusing on students from middle school through high school who face factors at home."

Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist statement on remarks President Obama made on Central Falls High School:

I very much appreciate the support from President Obama for the decisions we have made regarding Central Falls High School. Though these decisions have been difficult, I am confident that we have made our decisions based on the best interest of the Central Falls students.

The need to intervene in our persistently lowest-achieving schools is urgent. It is significant that the President referenced Central Falls High School, with its graduation rate of only 48 percent, at a meeting on dropout prevention. I strongly agree with the President that dropping out of school means not only giving up on your future, but also giving up on your family's future and giving up on your country's future.

To reform Central Falls High School, Superintendent Gallo and the Central Falls School Board chose the turnaround model, which will involve:

• Hiring a new principal who will have sufficient operational flexibility to implement fully a comprehensive approach to substantially improving student achievement and graduation rates;
  
• Effectively screening and evaluating existing staff to determine who will return to the school and recruiting new staff who can work within the turnaround environment to meet the needs of Central Falls students;
  
• Developing a comprehensive instructional program that meets the academic needs of students;
  
• Effectively using data to inform instruction;
  
• Providing high-quality, job-embedded professional development; and,
  
• Creating governance structures, supports, and schedules that expand opportunities for students.

I support Superintendent Gallo’s decision, and I will continue to work with her and the Central Falls community to create a high school that prepares all of its students for success in college, careers, and life.