Examiner.com

    Roosevelt Ave., Central Falls, RI  (public domain)

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This story is a difficult one to rationalize, because both sides have a legitimate point of view, and both sides have their negative aspects. To “pick a side”, so far, has been very challenging. Every good story should have a well-defined hero and villain, but in this case, everyone can claim a part of every piece on that spectrum. 

The easy tag line here is “the only losers here are the children”, but when you see some of the numbers involved; don't they and their parents bear some responsibility as well?

How can this small city of less than 20,000, next door to Pawtucket, RI and Attleboro, MA (and less than an hour from Downtown Worcester) be home to not only one of the worst high schools in Rhode Island, but one of the worst in the entire country?

That's not an exaggeration, by any means. According to the Providence Journal, Central Falls High School Seniors had a graduation rate of 48%. In 2008, 3% of Juniors were proficient at math. In 2009, that number was 7%.

So, Central Falls High School is a failing school. It just so happens that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama announced a new policy toward turning around failing schools this past August. On January 11 of this year, Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist declared Central Falls High School one of the worst in the state, and declared it in need of closure of overhaul.

Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo agreed with the assessment, and said she had a plan to overhaul the school, using one of the models set forth by the Department of Education. They are:

• Turnaround Model – This would include among other actions, replacing the principal and at least 50 percent of the school's staff, adopting a new governance structure and implementing a new or revised instructional program.
• Restart Model – School districts would close failing schools and reopen them under the management of a charter school operator, a charter management organization or an educational management organization selected through a rigorous review process. A restart school would be required to admit, within the grades it serves, any former student who wishes to attend.
• School Closure – The district would close a failing school and enroll the students who attended that school in other high-achieving schools in the district.
• Transformational Model – Districts would address four specific areas:

-Developing teacher and school leader effectiveness, which includes replacing the principal who led the school prior to commencement of the transformational model,

-Implementing comprehensive instructional reform strategies,

-Extending learning and teacher planning time and creating community-oriented schools, and

-Providing operating flexibility and sustained support.

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